i  ' 


A^  Oft  '-r^ 


Presented    to    Princeton    Theological   Seminary 
By  the  Hev.  Wendell  Pfime,  D.D. 

To  be  Kept  Ahvays  as  a  Separate  Collection. 


SCO 


THE    ANNALS 


THE  EMLISH  BIBLE. 


CHRISTOPHER    ANDERSON. 


ABRIDGED  AND  CONTINUED 

BY   SAMUEL   IREN^US   PRIME, 

SECRETARY     OF     THE     AMERICAN    BIBLE     SOCIETY, 


NEW  YORK: 
ROBERT  CARTER  &  BROTHERS, 

No.     285     BROADWAY. 

1849. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1849, 

BY  ROBERT  CARTKR  &  BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


THOMAS    B.   SMITH,    STKREOTVPKR,  ROBERT   CRAIGHEAD,   PRINTER, 

216  WILLIAM  STREET,  N.  Y.  112  FULTON   STREET. 


PREFACE. 


In  the  literature  of  this  country,  although  it  has  been  so  often  felt  and 
regretted,  a  more  observable  deficiency  does  not  exist,  than  that  of  there 
being  no  history  of  the  English  Bible.  It  may  have  been  imagined,  that 
such  a  narrative  could  embrace  no  heart-stirring  incidents,  or  incidents 
laid  as  the  foundation  of  a  great  design,  no  frequent  peril  of  life,  no  hair- 
breadth escapes,  nor,  especially,  any  of  those  transactions  in  which  the 
vital  interests  of  this  nation  have  been  involved.  No  mistake  coidd  have 
been  greater,  but  whatever  has  been  the  cause,  the  defect  is  notoiious. 

The  Sacred  Volume,  indeed,  carries  internal  evidence  of  its  divine  origin, 
and  that  in  abundance  ;  but  still,  with  reference  to  the  Bible  now  being- 
used  daily,  no  questions  can  be  more  natural  than  these — When  was  this 
volume  first  translated  from  the  original,  and  put  into  print  ?  Who  was 
the  man  that  labored  night  and  day  to  accomplish  this  ?  Like  his  Divine 
Master,  was  he  betrayed  unto  death  ?  If  so,  who  betrayed  him  ?  What 
became  of  his  betrayers  ?  Or,  was  there  any  one  man  who  befriended 
him,  in  his  last  days,  or  final  trial  ?  And  since  all  this,  and  much  more, 
did  take  place  abroad  ;  in  the  first  transmission,  in  the  secret  and  singular 
conveyance  of  the  heavenly  treasiire  to  our  shores,  what  were  the  distinct 
tokens  of  a  superintending  Providence  to  be  observed  and  adored  ?  What 
were  the  notable  circumstances  connected  with  its  earliest  triumphs  over 
the  prejudice  and  passion  of  our  common  nature  ?  Or,  in  short,  ho'w  has 
this  Sacred  Volume,  revised,  and  re-revised,  after  three  hundred  years, 
come  down  into  our  hands  ?  And  yet,  up  to  the  present  moment,  should 
anj'  individual  apply  to  his  Christian  teacher,  or  any  child,  to  his  Parent, 
and  put  these  and  other  deeply-interesting  questions,  no  definite  answer 
can  be  returned  ;  nor  is  there  a  single  publication,  which,  if  it  lead  not 
astray,  will  not  leave  the  inquisitive  reader  nearly  as  far  from  satisfaction 
as  when  he  beg-an.  If  a  Translator,  in  whose  train  all  others  have  followed, 
must  be  allowed  to  rank  far  above  all  mere  Reformers,  it  is  strange  if,  on 
such  a  subject,  historians  generally  shoidd  have  slumbered  or  slept ;  yet 
the  histories  of  Halle  and  Foxc,  of  Stowe  and  Strype,  of  Burnet  and  Col- 
lier, of  Turner  and  Lingard,  or  Soame,  as  well  as  the  histoiy  of  Transla- 
tions by  Lewis,  Herbert,  or  Dibdin,  with  the  Biblical  literature  of  Townley, 
of  Cotton,  or  of  Home,  may  all  be  read,  and  they  must  be,  when  such  a 


IV  PREFACE. 

period  is  explored  ;  but  from  all  these  sources  put  together,  still  the 
reader  can  form  no  conception  of  what  actually  took  place,  Avith  regard 
to  the  Scriptures.  The  incidental  circumstances  mentioned  are  not  only 
few  in  number,  but  scarcely  one  of  them  appears  in  its  true  light  or  ap- 
propriate connection.  Many,  and  by  far  the  most  curious  and  productive 
incidents,  have  remained  in  utter  oblivion. 

To  many,  no  doubt,  it  might  seem  too  bold,  were  we  at  once  to  affirm 
that  the  English  Bible  is  at  present  in  the  act  of  being  perused  from  the 
rising  to  tlie  setting  sun.  The  assertion  might  appear  little  else  than  a 
figure  of  speech,  or  an  event  to  be  anticipated  ;  and  yet  this  is  no  more 
than  the  half  of  the  truth.  The  English  Bible,  at  this  moment,  is  the 
only  version  in  existence  on  which  the  sun  never  sets.  We  know  full  well 
that  it  is  actually  in  use  on  the  banks  of  the  Ottawa  and  St.  Lawrence,  as 
well  as  at  Sidney,  Port  Philip,  and  Hobart  Town ;  but  before  his  evening 
rays  have  left  the  spires  of  Quebec  or  Montreal,  his  morning  beams  have 
already  shone  for  hours  upon  the  shores  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand. 
And  if  it  be  reading  by  so  many  of  our  language  in  Canada,  while  the  sun 
is  sinking  on  Lake  Ontario ;  in  the  eastern  world,  where  he  has  risen  in 
his  glory  on  the  banks  of  the  Ganges,  to  the  self- same  Sacred  Volume, 
many,  who  are  no  less  our  countrymen,  have  already  turned.  Yet  are 
all  these  but  as  branches  from  one  parent  stock,  under  whose  shade  this 
version,  corrected  and  recorrected,  has  been  reading  by  myriads  for  three 
hundred  years. 

The  Scriptures  in  English  manuscript,  the  revival  of  Letters,  as  well  as 
the  Invention  of  Printing,  preceded,  by  many  years,  any  application  of 
that  noble  art  to  our  Enghsh  version.  But  the  entire  period  may  be,  or 
rather  ought  to  be,  regarded  as  containing  a  series  of  events,  2^'>'climinary 
to  that  memorable  occurrence,  and,  therefore,  though  but  slightly  sketched, 
they  require  to  be  noticed  in  the  light  of  a  deliberate,  yet  appropriate 
introduction.  This,  accordingly,  has  been  attempted,  as  due  to  the  history 
following. 

In  point  of  time,  the  history  of  our  English  Scriptures,  from  the  date 
of  their  first  appearing  in  print,  will  be  found  to  take  precedence  of  all  the 
Institutions,  Establishments,  or  local  interests,  within  our  shores.  No 
section  of  Christians,  it  will  be  seen,  of  whatever  name,  can  possess  any 
title  to  rank  itself  as  having  been  essential,  either  to  the  progress  or  to  the 
general  prevalence  of  the  English  Scriptures,  much  less  to  their  original 
introduction.  This  is  an  undertaking  which  has  been  uniformly  conducted 
above  their  sphere  of  judgment.  Should  this  general  prevalence  tuin 
out  to  have  been  almost  equally  independent  of  the  civil  power,  from 
Henry  the  Eighth  down  to  Charles  the  Second,  or  rather  to  the  present 
hour,  it  will  form  altogether  by  far  the  most  singular  fact,  as  such,  in  the 
annals  of  the  kingdom.  It  is  a  feature  in  the  history  of  our  Bible,  claiming 
supreme  attention  from  the  existing  age. 


PREFACE. 


Upon  the  whole,  the  present  forms  a  department  in  past  history,  with 
which  every  Minister  of  the  truth,  and  every  parent,  ought  to  liave  been 
famihar  long  ago.  As  it  regards  instruction,  as  well  as  ground  for  new 
reflections,  it  will  be  found  to  occupy  a  course  or  channel  peculiar  to  it- 
self. Perhaps  the  fifth  book  in  our  New  Testament  Scriptures,  may  in 
part  explain  its  character.  Men,  indeed,  have  entitled  that  book  "  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles  ;"  but  it  is  in  reality  a  history  of  the  way  and  manner 
in  which  "  the  Word  of  the  Lord  grew  and  multiplied," — the  Apostles 
themselves,  whether  as  individuals  or  as  a  body,  being  treated  in  perfect 
subordination  to  the  grand  or  leading  design.  In  some  faint  resemblance 
to  this  manner,  so  ought  the  history  of  the  Divine  Word,  in  our  native 
tongue,  to  have  been  attempted  long  since ;  leaving  men  and  things, 
whether  great  characters  or  national  events,  in  the  subordinate  places 
which  have  actually  belonged  to  them.  At  the  same  time,  such  men  and 
such  events,  viewed  as  the}''  have  now  been,  sometimes  in  contrast,  and  at 
other  times  in  connection  with  the  progress  of  Divine  Revelation  itself, 
lend  a  peculiar  zest  or  life  to  the  entire  narrative. 

This  history  may,  and  it  will  furnish  motives  to  action,  such  as  can  be 
drawn  from  no  other  retrospect.  It  forms  a  key,  if  not  the  only  one,  to 
our  highest  imperative  obligations ;  and  it  may  well  be  pondered,  as  the 
path  by  which  Jehovah  led  our  forefathers,  in  a  way  of  his  own  devising, 
with  more  than  "  the  pillar  of  a  cloud  by  day,  and  a  pillar  of  fire  by  night." 
In  this  view,  the  historj^  though  never  written  before,  and  therefore  not 
understood,  can  never  be  out  of  date.  It  involves  the  commencement  and 
continuance  of  a  cause,  which  is  but  pursuing  its  course  in  our  own  day, 
not  only  to  a  wider  extent,  but  with  greater  energy  than  ever  before,  and 
yet  to  be  pursued  with  greater  still. 

Edinburgh,  I9th  February,  1845. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

VAOS 

Brief  survey  of  the  ages  which  preceiled  any  printing  of  the  Scriptures  in  the 
English  tongue — Including  the  revival  and  triumph  of  classical  learning  and 
the  arts,  contrasted  with  the  times  of  VVicklifle,  with  his  version  of  the  entire 
Sacred  Volume,  and  its  elTects — The  invention  of  printing,  its  rapid  progress  to 
perfecuon,  and  the  point  to  which  the  European  nations,  but  more  especially 
England  and  Scotland  had  been  brought,  before  ever  this  invaluable  art  was 
applied  to  any  version  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  the  language  spoken  by  the 
people, xiii 


BOOK   I.— ENGLAND, 

THE    REIGN   OF   HENRY   THE  EIGHTH. 

SECTION    I.— 1484  ?-1509-1523. 

From  the  birth  of  Tyndale,  the  original  translator,  to  his  embarkation  for  the  Con- 
tinent, in  pursuit  of  his  design, 37 

SECTION  II.— 1524-1525. 

The  New  Testament  in  English  preparing  by  Tyndale,  for  circulation  in  his  na- 
tive land  ;  and  in  two  editions  from  the  press  by  the  close  of  1525 — State  of 
England  immediately  before  the  reception  of  either  edition,       .         .         .         .47 

SECTION  III.— 1526. 

Memorable  introduction  of  the  New  Testament  into  England — The  first  two  edi- 
tions— The  first  alarm  in  London,  Oxford,  Cambridge — The  first  burning  of  books 
— New  Testament  denounced  by  the  King  and  VVolsey — Then  by  Tunstal  and 
Warham — The  Third  Edition — Violent  contention  respecting  it — Burning  the 
Sacred  Volume,  abroad  and  at  home — But  all  this  fury  is  ineffectual,        .  59 

SECTION   IV.— 1527. 

The  Translator's  progress — His  earliest  compositions — Agitation  of  Europe— Sack 
of  Rome — Consequences — Persecution  in  England— Virulent  Opposition  to  the 
New  Testament — Warham  and  the  Bishops  buying  it  up — Fresh  importations — 
The  Fourth  Edition — Scriptures  singularly  introduced  once  more,     .         .        .77 

SECTION  v.— 1528. 

Tyndale  and  Fryth — England  and  Spain — England  and  Italy — Retrospect — Pres- 
ent persecution  in  England — Arrested  by  prevaiUng  disease — Persecution  in 
Antwerp — Nobly  withstood,  and  the  English  Envoy  defeated — Wolsey's  pursuit 
after  Tyndale  and  others — His  eff'orts  are  all  in  vain, 88 

SECTION  VI.— 1529. 

Tyndale's  progress  in  the  Old  Testament — Persecution  in  England — Thwarted 
once  more — Tunstal  at  Antwerp — Wolsey's  career — Tyndale's  influence  in  the 
Palace — Cranmer  first  employed — Wolsey's  fall — Lord  Chancellor  More — Rise 


Viii  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

of  Crumwell— Parliament  assembled— Commotion  there— More,  the  Bishops, 
and  the  Kincr,  in  league  against  the  Scriptures— Coverdale  sent  to  Hamburgh 
—Another  or  filth  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  so  dreaded  by  the  authorities,  108 

SECTION  VII.— 1530. 

Tyndale's  progress  in  the  Old  Testament— Practice  of  prelates— State  of  England 
—Wolsey's  final  ruin,  sickness,  death— Persecution  goes  on— King  and  prelates 
denounce  the  Scriptures— Latimer's  bold  remonstrance— New  Testaments  burnt   • 
by  Tunstal— .\nother,  the  sixth  edition— Vigorous  importation  going   forward 
—Death  of  S.  Fyshe, 1-- 

SECTION   VIII.— 1531. 

Konnidable  opposition— Pursuit  after  Tyndale  by  the  King  and  Crumwell— Still  in 
vain— Tyndale's  answer  to  Sir  T.  More— Epistle  of  John  expounded— Jonah, 
with  a  prologue— Critical  state  of  England— Renewed  persecution— Brother 
of  Tyndale— Bilney—Bayficld— Many  books  importing— Constantyne  caught 
—Escapes— Persecution  "abroad— Powerful  remonstrance  from  Antwerp,  by 
Vaughan  the  English  ambassador,  with  Crumwell,  including  the  King  and  the 
Lorcf  Chancellor  More, 134 

SECTION   IX.— 1532. 

Tyndale's  progress — Exposition  in  Matthew— His  sentiments  under  persecution — 
'The  King  not  appeased — Renewed  pursuit  of  Tyndale — Now  by  Sir  Thomas 
Elyot — S°till  in  vain — State  of  England — Parliament — The  Bishops  fined — The 
King's  affairs — Persecution  goes  on — Bainham — Latimer — More  against  Tyn- 
dale—Frvth  arrives  in  England — In  peril — In  the  Tower— Writing  there  in  de- 
fence of  the  truth,  and  addressing  the  Christians  in  England,    .         .         .         .149 

SECTION   X.— 1533. 

One  distincruisliing  feature  of  Tyndale's  course  and  character  as  compared  with 
all  his  contemporaries — His  answer  to  Sir  T.  More — His  letter  to  Fryth  in  prison 
— State  of  England — Fry th's  voice  from  the  Tower — Strange  condition  of  Eng- 
land— The  King  married — Cranmer's  procedure — Gardiner  roused — Fryth's  ex- 
amination before  the  Bishops  assembled — His  triumph  in  argument — Martyrdom 
— England  and  the  Continent — One  effect  of  Fryth's  death — Sir  T.  More  writing 
still — One  povi'erlul  opponent  at  home — More,  considered  as  a  controversialist 
— His  prodigious  exertions — Other  qualities — Finally  overcome — The  prospect 
brightening. IGO 

SECTION   XL— 1534. 

Tyndale  all  alone  after  Fryth's  death — Genesis,  second  edition — Fresh  issue  of 
the  Pentateuch — Surreptitious  edition  of  the  New  Testament  by  Joye — The  cor- 
rected and  improved  edition  by  Tyndale — Joy's  interference  explained — State 
of  England — Parliament  assembled — Separation  from  Rome — Constructive  trea- 
son— More  and  Fisher  in  trouble — The  Pontiff's  supremacy  at  an  end — Divine 
truth  in  progress — Harman  in  London — Restored  to  favor  by  the  Queen — Glance 
at  the  past  and  present — The  New  Testament  importing  in  several  editions,  in 
forcible  contrast  with  the  idle  dreams  of  the  Convocation,  .         .         .         .175 

SECTION   XII.— 1535. 

Tyndale's  apprehension  at  Antwerp — Imprisonment  in  the  Castle  of  Vilvorde — 
Distinct  information  conveyed  to  Crumwell  and  Cranmer — The  strenuous  exer- 
tions of  Thomas  Poyntz — Risking  his  own  life  for  Tyndale's  sake — Tyndale's 
progress  in  prison — State  of  England— Key  to  its  commotion — Henry's  suprem- 
acy— Fisher  and  More  fall  before  it — The  odium  ensuing — Cranmer  and  the 
Bishops — The  Bishops  applied  to  for  a  tran.slation  of  the°New  Testament — A 
fruitless  attempt— with  fresh  editions  of  Tyndale's  translation,  printed  and  im- 
porting this  year,         ............  187 

SECTION   XIII.— 1536. 

Last  year  of  Tyndale — State  of  England— Monasteries — The  two  Queens — Anne 
Bofeyn — Parliajiient — Queen  Anne's  treatment  reviewed— Her  character — The 


CONTENTS.  IX 

1  ...  PAGE 

new  or  unprecedented  Convocation — Latimer  preaching  before  it — State  of  par- 
ties there — Old  and  new  learning — Proceedings  in  Convocation — The  first  arti- 
cles— Crumwell's  first  injunctions — No  Bible  mentioned — Tyndale's  latter  days 
— Home  and  abroad  now  deeply  implicated — The  martyrdom  ofTyndale — His 
benevolent  character — His  reward — The  only  prosperous  cause,  or  the  year 
which  excelled  all  the  preceding.         .........  197 

SECTION   XIV.— 1537. 

Memorable  introduction  of  the  entire  Sacred  Volume — Myles  Coverdale — His  cir- 
cumstances compared  with  Tyndale's — Coverdale's  temporary  success — The  re- 
markably sudden  change— Tyndale's  Bible — State  of  England  before  its  intro- 
duction— Cranmer's  previous  engagements — Tyndale's  Bible  arrived — Immedi- 
ately received — Must  be  bought  and  read — The  King  agrees — This  at  first  seems 
to  be  incredible — Grafton  the  proprietor — All  parties  most  memorably  overruled 
— Distinction  between  the  Bible  rejected  and  the  Bible  received — Conclusion  of 
the  first  year  of  triumph, 226 


BOOK   II.— ENGLAND. 

REIGN  OP   HENRY   THE   EIGHTH. 

SECTION   I.— 1538. 

The  second  year  of  triumph — The  English  Bible  printing  in  Paris — Press  inter- 
rupted— Inquisition  overiuatched — The  Bible  finished  in  London — First  injunc- 
tions for  Tyndale's  Bible — New  Testaments,  fresh  editions — Coverdale's  Testa- 
ments— The  destitute  state  of  England — .Joy  over  the  Scriptures — Retrospect,  .  259 

SECTION   II.— 1539. 

Eventful  year — Henry  still  a  widower— Parhament  and  Convocation — Royal  mes- 
sage— Mitred  abbots — Dissolution  of  Monasteries — New  articles — Bills  of 
attainder — The  six  articles  applied — Frustrated — Cranmer  safe — Latimer  im- 
prisoned— The  tide  turning — Execution  of  Abbots — Crumwell's  policy — Mon- 
astic spoils — The  Scriptures  printing  in  various  editions— Crumwell's  remarkable 
energy  in  this  department — The  King  swayed  once  more — The  cause  in  progress 
— Cranmer  busy  in  prospect  of  his  first  edition,  next  spring — It  is  distinctly 
sanctioned  by  Henry — Singular  proclamation — Henry  now  commanding  all  his 
subjects  to  use  the  Scriptures  in  English, 280 

SECTION  III.— 1540. 
Political  affairs — Henry's  fourth  marriage — Gardiner  against  Barnes  and  Garret 
—Parliament  opened— Crumwell  now  Earl  of  Essex— The  use  all  along  made 
of  him  by  Henry— Henry  has  taken  offence— Crumwell  apprehended— Parties 
opposed  to  him — First  charges — Bill  of  attainder — Henry's  fourth  marriage 
annulled— Final  charges  against  Crumwell— His  death  and  character— More 
executions— Henry's  fifth  marriage— The  old  learning  party  in  triumph— The 
large  folio  Bibles,  in  six  editions— The  first  of  Cranmer's— A  different  edition 
—The  second  of  Cranmer's — The  third  preparing,  to  be  issued  next  year,  but 
with  a  different  title— Q,uarto  New  Testament,  ......  302 

SECTION  IV.— 1541. 

European  powers  verging  to  hostility— The  third  large  Bible,  with  Tunstal's 
name,  by  command- The  iburth,  in  May,  with  Cranmer's  name— Expense  of 
these  large  undertakings— The  memorable  proprietor,  Anthony  Marler— The 
fifth  great  Bible,  with  Tunstal's  name— The  sixth,  with  Cranmer's  name- 
Gardiner  returned,  to  witness  the  progress  now  made  during  his  absence,         .  320 

SECTION   v.— 1542. 

The  enemy  on  the  rack— Parliament  opened— The  fifth  Queen  executed— Con- 
vocation   met— The  Bible  introduced  there    for  discussion  at  last— Singular 


X  CONTENTS, 

PAOE 

display— Gardiner's  grand  effort  in  opposition— Cranmer  informs  the  King— 
Progress  of  the  trutli  in  England -^^ 

SECTION   VI.— 1543. 

Parliament  opened— The  Convocation,  baffled,  acknowledge  their  inability  to  stay 
the  progress  of  divine  truth  by  applying  now  to  Parliament— Parliament  dis- 
graces Itself  by  malignant  but  vain  opposition— Bonner  withdrawn  or  sent 
abroad— Extraordinary  arrangement  of  all  the  European    powers— Henry  s 


sixth  marriage. 


331 


SECTION  VII.— 1544. 


Parliament  assembled— Henry's  style  and  title— Longs  to  be  King  of  France  !— 
War  with  Scotland— Henry  in  France-Gardiner-Cranmer— Henry  s  con- 
fession of  impotence  in  all  his  injunctions  to  his  bishops— His  inconsistency— 
New  Testament  of  Tyndale's  a  foreign  print, 3J5 

SECTION   VIII.— 1545. 

War  with  France — Undermining  Cranmer — His  enemies  covered  with  shame — 
Henry  addressing  his  Privy  Council— His  opinion  of  it— Addressing  his  Parlia- 
ment for  the  last  time,         ...........  338 

SECTION   IX.— 1546. 

Peace  with  France  and  Scotland — Persecution  revived — Anne  Askew— Her  mar- 
tyrdom, along  with  three  other  individuals — Enmity  to  English  books — The 
Supplication  of  the  Poor  Commons — The  Queen  in  danger — Gardiner  in  trouble 
— Norfolk  and  his  son,  Surrey,  arraigned — Execution  of  Surrey — Norfolk 
doomed  to  die,  and  only  escapes  by  the  death  of  the  King  himself— Henry  and 
his  courtiers — Henry,  Francis,  Charles,- "         .  345 


BOOK  III.— ENGLAND. 

FROM    EDWARD  THE    SIXTH   TO   THE   COMMONWEALTH. 

SECTION   I.— 1547-1553. 

Reign  or  Edward. — A  reign,  however  brief,  distinguished  as  having  no  parallel 
in  British  history,  witli  regard  to  the  printing  and  publication  of  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  in  tlie  language  of  the  people, 358 

SECTION   II.— 1553-1558. 

Reign  of  Q,ueen  Mary. — A  reign,  discovering  the  actual  state  of  the  nation,  as 
such ;  but  one,  however  painful  in  its  details,  which  so  far  from  retarding  the 
progress  of  divine  truth,  only  deepened  the  impression  of  its  value  ;  and  as  it 
became  the  occasion,  so  it  afforded  the  opportunity  for  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
being  given  afresh  to  England,  more  carefully  revised — The  exiles  from  the 
kingdom  proving,  once  more,  its  greatest  benefactors, 367 

SECTION   III.— 1558-1603. 

Reign  of  Elizabeth. — A  reign,  extending  to  more  than  forty-four  years,  but,  how- 
ever powerful  in  every  other  departmi-nt,  having  no  actual  control  over  the 
choice  or  preference  of  the  people  of  England,  with  regard  to  the  Sacred  Script- 
ures in  their  native  tongue,  and  thus  presenlinf  the  only  exception  to  unlimited 
sway 38G 

SECTION   IV.— 1603-1650. 

James  the  First  to  the  Commonwealth.— Accession  of  James — Conference  at 
Hampton  Court  explained — Revision  of  the  Scriptures — Our  present  version — 
The  revisors — Instructions  given — Progress  made — Revision  of  the  whole — 
Money  paid  by  the  patentee—The  present  version  published— No  proclamation, 


CONTENTS.  Xr 

PAGE 

no  order  of  Privy  Council,  or  any  act  of  the  Legislature  upon  record,  on  the 
subject — Did  not  become  the  version  generally  received  throughout  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  till  about  forty  years  aftervs^ards— The  London  Polyglot 
Bible  published  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 400 


BOOK   IV.— SCOTLAND. 

FROM  JAMES   THE   FIFTH  TO   THE   COMMONWEALTH. 

Introduction. — Brief  notice  of  Scotland  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries — The  opening  of  the  sixteenth  before  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  print 
were  first  imported,      ............  417 

SECTION   I.— 1526. 

Reign  of  James  the  Fifth.— State  of  Scotland— The  first  introduction  of  the 
Sacred  Volume  in  print,  that  is,  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  English  language 
— Earliest  arrivals  at  Edinburgh  and  St.  Andrews, 423 

SECTION  II.— 1627-8. 

Anno  1527-28 — Consternation  of  the  authorities  in  Scotland — The  New  Testa- 
ment soon  followed  by  one  living  voice,  that  of  Patrick  Hamilton — His  martyr- 
dom— Alexander  Seton,  the  next  witness,  persecuted — He  escapes  to  England 
— The  New  Testament  goes  on  to  be  imported, 427 

SECTION   III.— 1529-34. 

From  1.529  to  1534 — All-important  period,  hitherto  unnoticed — Alexander  Ales — 
Cruelly  persecuted  by  Hepburn,  the  Prior  of  St.  Andrews — At  last  escapes  by 
sea,  from  Dundee,  first  to  France,  and  then  to  Germany — He  writes  to  James 
v.;  or  the  commencement  of  the  first  regular  controversy  in  Britain  respecting 
the  Scriptures  printed  in  the  vulgar  tongue — The  abusive  publication  of  Coch- 
Iseus  professedly  in  reply — Answer  of  Ales  to  the  calumnies  of  Cochteus — Ales 
pleads,  most  earnestly,  tor  the  New  Testament  to  he  read — Cochlaeus,  quite  en- 
ratred,  addresses  James  V. — Persecutions  an-d  martyrdoms,         ....  433 

SECTION  IV.— 1535-37. 

From  1535  to  1537 — State  of  Scotland — Provincial  council  of  the  prelates — Agita- 
tion— Reading  of  the  New  Testament  forbidden  by  proclamation — Progress  of 
the  cause, 448 

SECTION  v.— 1538-42. 

From  1538  to  1542 — Beaton  a  Cardinal,  and  persecution  revived — The  martyr- 
doms of  1538 — The  cause  of  all  the  tumult  in  opposition  traced  to  the  New 
Testament  in  the  native  tongue — Another  martyrdom — Men  escaping — Death 
of  the  King,  James  v., 454 

REIGN  OF  MARY  QUEEN   OF   SCOTS.— 1543. 

The  year  1543,  a  memorable  one — Critical  state  of  the  Government — Remarkably 
sudden  change — The  Primate  of  St.  Andrews,  though  a  Cardinal,  in  prison — 
General  perusal  of  Scriptures  sanctioned — More  martyrdoms  by  hanging, 
drowning,  and  the  flames — The  death  of  Beaton 461 

QUEEN  MARY,  JAMES  VI.,  TO  THE  COMMONWEALTH.— 1543— 1650. 

From  1543  to  1650— Singular  history  of  the  Scriptures  in  Scotland,  during  this 
entire  period — Not  supplied  from  its  own  native  press,  but  by  importation,  for 
more  than  a  hundred  years— State  of  literature  and  education— The  Apocrypha 
-  -The  present  version  of  the  Bible  become  the  only  one  in  use,         .        .        .  468 


Xli  CONTENTS. 

BOOK   v.— GREAT   BRITAIN. 

FROM   THE   COMMONWEALTH   TO   QUEEN   VICTORIA. 
SECTION  I.— 1650-1780. 


PAGE 


The  Commonwealth  to  George  the  TntRD.— The  Revolution  of  1688-9— Pre- 
ceding opposition  to  the  Scriptures  by  James  II.— Consequences  of  the  Revolu- 
tion—State of  the  Bible  press  in  England— Canne's  Bible— Guy's  Bibles— 
Baskerville's— Blayney's  Bible— State  of  the  Bible  press  in  Scotland— .Tames  II. 
equally  busy  in  opposition  there— The  number  of  Bibles  is  now  past  all  human 
computation  —The  results,  if  but  too  feeble  in  Britain,  must  be  looked  for  else- 
where,  477 

SECTION   II.— NORTH  AMERICA.— 1620-1780. 

The  reign  of  James  the  Fir.st  to  George  the  Third. — The  Bible  first  beheld  by 
the  natives  in  America,  an  English  one — Copies  carried  away  to  New  England 
by  the  refugees  and  following  settlers— Extraordinary  results — Williams,  Ehot, 
Mather,  Edwards,  Brainerd— The  English  Bible  is  at  last  printed  in  America — 
The  first  edition  in  1782 — The  first  Bibles  in  octavo,  quarto,  and  folio,  printed 
there  in  1791, 484 

III.— OR  FINAL  SECTION.— 1780-1844. 

REIGN  OF  GEORGE  THE  THIRD  TO  QUEEN  VICTORIA. 

The  last  sixtv-foiir  years.— The  commencement  of  a  greater  movement  than 
ever  before — The  Revolutionary  movement  in  France — Action  is  called  for — 
The  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  events,  as  a  secret  mover,  unobserved  The  first 
feeble  movement  taking  its  name  from  the  Bible — The  second — Its  entire  failure 
no  ground  for  discouragement^Ten  years  before  Divine  Providence  fixed  on 
one  young  man — Two  other  men  go  to  his  aid — The  Bible  without  either  note 
or  comment  draws  more  attention — The  destitution  of  it  in  Wales — The  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  with  its  auxiliaries— Their  exertions  up  to  the  present 
day — Fall  in  the  price  of  the  Sacred  Volume — American  Bible  Society — 
Conclusion  as  cheering  as  it  was  unanticipated,        ......  490 


INTRODUCTION. 


BRIEF  SURVEY  OF  THE  AGES  WHICH  PRECEDED  ANY   PRINTING  OF    THE  SCRIPTURES 

IN  THE  ENGLISH  TONGUE INCLUDING  THE  REVIVAL  AND    TRIUMPH  OF  CLASSICAL 

LEARNING  AND    THE    ARTS,  CONTRASTED  WITH    THE    TIMES    OF  "WICKLIFFE,  WITH 

HIS  VERSION  OF  THE  ENTIRE  SACRED  VOLUME,  AND  ITS  EFFECTS THE  INVENTION 

OF  PRINTING,  ITS  RAPID  PROGRESS  TO  PERFECTION,  AND  THE  POINT  TO  WHICH 
THE  EUROPEAN  NATIONS,  BUT  MORE  ESPECIALLY  ENGLAND  AND  SCOTLAND,  HAD 
BEEN  BROUGHT,  BEFORE  EVER  THIS  INVALUABLE  ART  WAS  APPLIED  TO  ANY 
VERSION  OF  THE  SACRED  SCRIPTURES  IN  THE  LANGUAGE  SPOKEN  BY  THE  PEOPLE. 

The  darkest  hour  in  the  night  of  Europe,  is  an  era  respecting 
which  historians  are  not  even  yet  agreed.  It  has  been  regarded 
by  many  as  being  in  the  tenth  century.  One  or  two  other  writers 
consider  the  seventh  or  eighth  century  to  be  the  lowest  in  point  of 
depression,  or  the  nadir  of  the  human  mind ;  and  they  suppose 
that  its  movement  in  advance  began  with  Charlemagne,  while 
England  can  never  forget  her  own  Alfred  the  Great.  A  few  mod- 
erns, too  fastidious,  or  by  no  means  so  affected  by  the  gloom  and 
barbarity  of  the  middle  ages,  profess  to  be  tender  of  allowance  as 
to  the  extent  of  this  darkness,  and  would  fondly  persuade  us  to 
adopt  a  more  cheerful  retrospect.  But  speaking,  generally,  with 
reference  to  the  people  at  large,  the  entire  period,  from  the  fifth  or 
sixth  to  the  fourteenth  century,  presents,  at  the  best,  but  a  tedious 
and  dreary  interval  in  the  history  of  the  human  mind.  Individual 
scholars,  indeed,  like  stars  which  shed  their  light  on  the  surround- 
ing gloom,  there  ever  were ;  and  wherever  there  existed  any 
marked  regard  for  Sacred  Writ,  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  there 
the  life-spark  of  Christianity  was  preserved.  The  Albigenses,  the 
Waldenses,  and  other  parties,  might  be  adduced  in  proof ;  the  per- 
secution and  dispersion  of  whom,  had  considerable  influence  in 
diffusinof  the  liffht  which  its  enemies  labored  to  extino'uish. 

It  was  not,  however,  till  after  a  long  and  profound  sleep  through- 
out the  dreams  and  visions  of  the  middle  ages,  that  the  human 
mind  was  at  last"  effectually  roused  to  action  ;  and  in  none  of  the 
countries  throughout  Europe  more  decidedly  than  in  Italy  and 
England.  But  still,  for  some  great  moral  purpose,  worthy  of  infinite 
wisdom,  and  to  be  afterwards  disclosed,  that  mind,  throughout  all 
these  western  kingdoms,  was  first  to  be  permitted  to  discover  what 
was  the  utmost  vigor  of  its  native  strength. 

First  came  the  age  of  the  chisel,  and  the  painter's  pencil,  and 
the  pen,  not  to  say  of  the  music  of  the  human  voice.     Those  stu- 


Xiv  INTRODUCTION. 

pendous  fabrics,  which  began  to  be  erected  from  the  tenth  to  the 
twelfth  centuries,  in  which  the  massive  duhiess  of  the  Lombards 
was  giving  way  to  the  influence  of  the  Saracens  of  Spain,  still  stand 
out  in  proof,  that  many  hands  were  already  busy,  under  the  guid- 
ance of  some  presiding  ingenious  mind.  Literature  and  the  fine 
arts,  more  especially  classical  learning,  painting,  and  sculpture, 
were  then  to  enjoy  that  triumph,  the  spoils  of  which  now  adorn  the 
Avails  of  every  palace,  as  well  as  the  cabinets  and  libraries,  the  gal- 
leries and  public  rooms,  of  every  city  in  Europe.  This  triumph, 
too,  must  take  place  in  Italy,  or  in  the  very  seat  of  that  extraor- 
dinary power  which  had  ruled  for  ages,  with  unmeasured  sway, 
over  all  the  west ;  for,  throughout  the  long  preceding  night,  it 
could  never  be  said  that  Rome  herself  had  been  either  asleep  or 
inactive. 


THE  THIRTEENTH  CENTURY. 

In  England,  at  the  commencement  of  this  century,  poor  King 
John  was  actually  promising  to  make  his  kingdom  tributary  to  the 
Pontiff,  with  a  proffer  of  not  less  than  a  thousand  merks,  or  a  sum 
equal  to  £20,000  now,  over  and  above  the  old  tribute  :  and  although 
the  Barons  soon  after  waested  Magna  Charta  from  him,  to  show 
how  low  the  kingdom  had  sunk,  we  find  the  Pontiff,  at  this  same 
John's  request^  annulling  the  proceedings.  The  great  charters, 
it  is  true,  were  confirmed  by  his  successor,  Henry  IIL  ;  but  the 
power  of  Rome  was  growing  every  day  during  his  fifty-six  years' 
reign.  It  was  then  that  the  Pontiff  w^as  exclaiming — "  Truly, 
England  is  our  garden  of  delight !  It  is  an  unexhausted  well ! 
and  where  so  much  abounds,  much  may  be  acquired."  No  wonder 
that  he  thus  exulted,  when  his  income  from  England  was  three 
times  as  much  as  that  of  the  King  on  the  throne."  But,  above 
all,  in  proof  of  the  Pontiff's  power  towards  the  west,  this  was  the 
era  of  that  detestable  persecution  of  the  Albigenses,  pursued  with 
such  hideous  cruelty.  The  execrable  measure,  in  which  plunder 
was  the  grand  object,  was  counselled,  planned,  and  commanded  by 
Rome. 

Now,  if  we  seek  for  any  relieving  contrast  throughout  the  entire 
century,  it  is  to  Italy  itself  that  we  must  turn  our  eye.  Even  in 
the  neighboring  Republic  of  Florence,  it  is  true,  amidst  the  sur- 
rounding gloom,  Dante  had  begun  to  sing,  in  his  own  style,  about 
paradise,  and  the  infernal  regions,  not  forgetting  to  intermingle 
certain  severe  allusions  with  his  poem  ;  and,  besides  this,  there 
was  his  treatise  "  Monarchia,"  distinctly  hostile  to  the  claims  of 
Rome  :  but  for  the  bolder  contrast  to  tlie  sentiments  of  all  Europe, 
we  must  look  to  Venice.  It  is  admitted  that  in  the  commencement 
of  this  century  the  Venetians  had  chosen  to  apply  to  Rome  for  an 
indulgence,  but  this  was  merely  to  facilitate  a  treaty  with  the 
Cahphs  of  Egypt.  Eager  to  retain  their  commerce  with  the  East 
Indies,  they  wished  to  open  a  communication  between  the  Nile  and 


INTRODUCTION.  XV 

the  Red  Sea  ;  and  had  they  succeeded,  perhaps  the  trade  might 
never  have  passed  from  their  hands.  Still,  this  application  be- 
trayed no  disposition  to  bow  allegiance.  On  the  contrary,  this 
ancient  Republic  had  reigned,  for  more  than  two  centuries,  as 
Lords-paramount  of  the  Adriatic  :  and  although  that  gulf  washed 
the  shores  of  various  States,  those  of  the  Roman  CImrch  among 
the  number,  not  one  of  them  dared  to  navigate  it,  or  even  fish  in 
its  waters,  without  a  license  from  Venice,  for  which  they  paid  a 
heavy  tribute.  When  one  sovereign  Pontiff  presumed  to  inquire, 
by  what  right  they  pretended  to  domineer  there,  the  brief  reply 
given  was — "  That  sea  is  ours." 

But  the  sea  would  not  suffice  any  longer  as  the  bounds  of  their 
sovereignty  ;  and,  therefore,  about  the  middle  of  this  century,  they 
began  to  acquire  land.  Arvi  in  Romagna  was  taken  under  their 
special  profection,  much  in  the  same  style  as  the  provinces  of  India 
have  since  been  taken  under  that  of  Britain. 

It  was  little  more  than  seven  years  after  this  when  the  Pontiff", 
Martin  IV.,  having,  in  his  customary  style,  given  the  sovereignty 
of  Naples  to  Charles  of  Anjou,  and  proclaimed  a  crusade  against 
the  lawful  heir,  chose  also  to  excommunicate  the  Venetians  because 
they  would  not  unite  in  the  outrage.  For  three  long  years,  no 
priests  officiated,  no  prayers  were  offijred  in  their  churches,  and 
without  yielding,  they  allowed  the  Pontiff"  to  die  !  His  successor, 
Honorius  IV.,  at  last  succeeded,  and  removed  the  interdict. 

The  century  closed  at  Venice  by  a  marked  alteration  in  this 
singular  Government,  or  the  exchange  of  the  Republican  form  for 
that  hereditary  aud  severe  Ari=itocracy,  which  became  the  diplo- 
matic model  of  its  day.  But  it  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  the  subject 
farther.  We  have  come  to  the  commencement  of  another  century, 
and  our  assertion  thus  far  is  proved.  The  Pontiff"  and  his  fellows, 
had  been  all  along  more  potent  at  a  distance,  than  at  home  under 
their  native  sky ;  and  the  one  great  lesson  afforded  by  the  Italian 
Republics,  and  especially  Venice,  was  this,  that  the  power  of  Rome, 
when  at  its  height,  was  resistible.  This  too  becomes  still  more 
worthy  of  notice,  inasmuch  as  the  freedom  enjoyed  in  these  com- 
mercial states  was  not  that  which  we  now  understand  by  the  term 
— far  from  it.  In  numerous  instances,  the  lives,  the  property,  and 
even  the  honor  of  the  citizens  were  not  secured;  but  in  ages 
when  the  reason  of  mankind  had  been  subdued,  and  their  rulers 
were  reduced  to  vassals,  these  lesser  communities,  under  an  Italian 
sky,  had  proved  what  reason  and  the  power  of  resistance  could  do. 
Two  hundred  years  before  Henry  the  Eighth  was  born,  Venice 
had  shown  that  Rome's  loudest  thunder  might  fall  innocuous  to 
the  ground.  Immovable  and  unshaken,  and  though  uniting  some 
of  the  most  odious  practices  of  despotism  with  the  name  of  liberty, 
yet  bent  upon  securing  certain  rights,  and  prosperity  to  commerce, 
a  mere  handful  of  people  in  the  adjoining  sea  had  continued  to 
testify  to  the  millions  of  Europe,  that  the  power  they  so  much 
dreaded  might  be  braved  with  impunity. 

Thus  terminated  the  thirteenth  century,  but  we  are  still  more 


Xvi  INTRODUCTION. 

than  two  himdred  years  distant  from  the  period  when  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  were  first  printed  in  the  vernacular  tongue  ;  and  yet 
both  centuries  may  now  be  viewed  with  considerable  advantage 
as  an  approach  or  gradual  introduciion  to  that  important  event. 


THE   FOURTEENTH    CENTURY. 

In  the  course  of  tlie  fourteenth  century,  whether  we  look  to 
Germany,  to  Italy,  or  our  own  country,  the  events  are  equally 
interestilig,  and  full  of  promise.  Within  the  first  of  these,  the  in- 
fluence of  that  singular  confederation,  called  the  "  Hanse  Towns," 
had  begun  to  be  felt.  The  league,  by  this  time,  included  more 
than  sixty  cities.  These  had  commerce  for  their  common  object 
or  bond  of  union ;  but  they  were  the  germs  of  future  freedom, 
and  ultimately  contributed,  in  no  inferior  degree,  to  the  protection 
of  individual  rights.  Thus  early  was  Divine  Providence  in  oper- 
ation with  a  view  to  a  better  day.  At  the  same  time  nothing  can 
be  more  natural  than  that  Italy  should  claim  the  precedence  of 
all  other  nations,  whether  as  to  the  science  of  government,  or  the 
revival  of  learning. 

The  learning  and  refinement  of  Italy,  about  to  assume  that 
position  in  history  which  the  wisdom  of  Greece  had  done  in  the 
days  of  old,  must  enjoy  her  long  reign  of  a  hundred  and  fifty 
years  without  any  superior.  Now  that  the  human  mind  is  waking 
up,  let  the  Italian  -  imagine  that  all  knowledge  consisted  in  know- 
ing and  imitating  the  ancient  masters,"  and  let  "  the  highest  glory 
be  attached  to  classical  learning ;"  let  the  "  chief  works  of  antiquity 
be  rendered  intelligible,"  and  the  men  of  Italy  "  collect,  collate, 
and  explain  them."  In  short,  as  Greece  is  coming  to  the  assist- 
ance of  Rome,  and  "  the  great  masters"  inust  first  rise  to  show  the 
extent  of  their  powers  ;  since  the  former,  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Christian  era,  had  stood  in  a  peculiar  relation  to  the  sur- 
rounding nations — so,  let  Italy  now  stand  in  the  same  relation  to 
Europe.  Distinguished  for  classical  learning,  and  first  in  the  arts, 
if  not  the  sciences,  she  claims  to  be  the  well-spring  of  all  the 
less  civilized  nations  in  the  west.  Minute  criticism  may  here  be 
dispensed  with,  nor  does  any  admirer  of  the  Sacred  Volume  need 
to  object  to  the  fullest  concession.  Let  Dante  and  Petrarch  for 
the  moment,  and  Boccaccio  and  Poggio  Bracciolini  lead  the  way. 

In  all  this,  however,  it  must  now  be  granted  in  return,  there 
was  literally  nothing  of  Divine  light,  properly  so  called — no  rev- 
erent, distinct  approach  to  the  Sacred  Volume  ;  and  this  becomes 
the  more  observable,  as  the  only  country  in  Europe  to  which  we 
can  look  for  this,  was  that  which,  of  all  others,  was  held  in  great- 
est contempt  by  Italy ;  to  say  nothing  of  its  being  at  once  the 
most  distant  from  Rome,  if  not  also  the  most  oppressed  by  that 
power.  This  was  no  other  than  our  native  land.  Bracciolini,  the 
last  of  these  Italian  scholars,  had  actually  visited  it,  and  viewed 
this  country  with  chagrin,  if  not  disdain,  w4ien  compared  with  the 


INTRODUCTION.  XVII 

enthusiastic  love  of  classical  literature  which  polished  and  adorned 
his  country. 

Yes,  so  far  as  the  revival  of  learning  was  concerned,  it  is  worthy 
of  particular  notice  tliat,  in  England,  it  was  associated,  even  from 
this  early  period,  with  a  special  leaning  towards  the  Oracles  of 
God,  and  tliat  on  the  part  of  several  eminent  men,  all  alike  well 
known,  not  only  at  home,  but  as  distant  as  Italy.  Of  these,  hi 
proof,  we  cannot  omit  to  notice  four — Robert  Grossteste,  Richard 
Aungerville,  Richard  Fitzralph,  and,  above  all,  our  own  Wick- 

LIFFE. 

John  Wickliffe,  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  was  born  m  the  year 
1324,  and,  in  1360,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  first  came  into  public 
view,  where  he  conspicuously  remained  to  the  day  of  his  death,  or 
the  31st  of  December,  1384.  For  his  life  and  opinions  we  refer  to 
other  sources,  and  must  here  confine  our  attention  to  that  work 
which  will  ever  give  the  chief  distinction  to  his  name. 

Before  the  commencement  of  such  a  design,  the  position  of 
Wickliffe  should  be  contemplated.  To  say  nothing  of  the  Ma- 
hometan and  Pagan  worlds,  two  other  communities  had  extended 
their  influence  over  the  nations.  Alike  opposed  to  the  right  of  pri- 
vate judgment,  and  the  rising  freedom  of  the  human  mind,  and 
now  equally  sunk  into  a  state  of  unutterable  depravity,  both  had 
fixed  a  malignant  eye  on  that  very  book  which  Wickliffe  had  de- 
termined to  give  to  his  country.  These  two,  it  is  well  known, 
were  the  Eastern  and  Western,  or  the  Greek  and  Latin  Churches. 
Both  had  not  only,  and  long  since,  utterly  neglected  and  contemned 
the  Sacred  Writings,  but  both  had  interdicted  their  translation  into 
any  vernacular  tongue.  That  it  was  not  only  unlawful,  but  in- 
jurious, for  the  people  at  large  to  read  the  Scriptures,  had,  indeed, 
for  ages,  been  regarded  as  an  axiom,  by  all  these  nations.  Nor 
was  this  idea  left  to  pass  current  merely  as  a  received  opinion. 
Not  to  mention  other  proofs,  more  than  an  hundred  and  fifty  years 
before  Wickliffe  had  finished  his  determined  purpose,  or  in  the 
year  1229,  at  the  Council  of  Toulouse,  when  forty-five  canons 
were  passed  and  issued  for  the  extinction  of  heresy  and  the  re- 
establishment  oi  peace,  what  were  two  of  those  canons  ?  One  in- 
volved the  first  court  of  inquisition,  and  another  the  first  canon, 
which  forbade  the  Scriptures  to  the  laity,  or  the  translation  of  any 
portion  of  them  into  the  vulgar  tongue.  The  latter  was  ex- 
pressed in  very  pointed  terms. 

"  We  also  forbid  the  laity  to  possess  any  of  the  books  of  the 
Old  or  New  Testament,  except,  perhaps,  the  Psalter  or  Breviary 
for  the  Divine  Offices,  or  the  Hours  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which 
some,  out  of  devotion,  wish  to  have ;  but  having  any  of  these 
books  translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue,  we  strictly  forbid.''' 

In  the  face  of  all  this,  and  far  more  than  can  now  be  explamed. 
]nust  Wickliffe  commence  his  heartfelt  task ;  and  so  he  did,  with 
his  eyes  open  to  the  prejudices  of  a  world.  His  translation,  which 
was  finished  in  the  year  1380,  is  supposed  to  have  occupied  him, 
amidst  various  interruptions,  for  many  years.     Some  have  imag- 

2 


XVIII  INTRODUCTION. 


ined  that  this  great  work  employed  the  translator  for  ten  years 
only,  but  Mr.  Baber,  with  far  greater  probability,  has  said,  "From 
an  early  period  of  his  life  he  had  devoted  his  various  learning, 
and  all  the  powerful  energies  of  his  mind,  to  effect  this,  and,  at 
length,  by  intense  aj)plication  on  his  own  part,  and  with  some 
assistance  from  a  few  of  the  most  learned  of  his  followers,  he  had 
the  glory  to  complete  a  book,  which,  alone,  would  have  been  sufii- 
cient  (or  at  least  ought)  to  have  procured  him  the  veneration  of 
his  own  age,  and  the  commendations  of  posterity." 

In  accounting  for  such  a  movement  as  this,  it  has  been  but  too 
connnon  to  inquire  after  something  similar  which  had  happened  in 
the  earth,  and  loosely  supposing  some  connection  between  them, 
as  cause  and  effect,  thus  leave  the  extraordinary  event,  without 
the  slightest  reference  to  the  finger  of  God.  Any  inlluential  con- 
nection, however,  between  the  Waldenses  or  Vaudois  and  Wick- 
liffe  has  never  been  clearly  proved,  and  probably  never  will.  At 
all  events,  before  he  could  be  stimulated  by  their  example,  he 
seems  to  have  taken  his  ground,  as  it  is  only  in  his  latest  composi- 
tions that  a  few  slight  references  to  them  are  to  be  found,  as  to  a 
people  with  whose  sufferings  he  sympathized.  He  was  on  the 
Continent,  at  Bruges,  it  is  true,  from  1374  to  1376,  but  he  had 
connnenced,  and  must  have  been  far  advanced  in  his  undertaking, 
long  before  then.  In  short,  as  far  as  the  term  can  be  applied  to 
any  human  being,  the  claims  of  Wickliffe  to  originality,  have  novv^ 
come  to  be  better  understood,  and  every  Christian  will  recognize 
the  "  secret  mover ;"  while,  in  reference  to  the  times  following, 
when  tracing  the  history  or  influence  of  Divine  Truth  throughout 
Europe,  the  habit  of  ascending  no  higher  than  Germany  is  past, 
or  passing  away. 

Down  to  the  period  of  about  two  years  before  Wickliffe  had 
completed  his  translation,  the  only  ideas  or  incidents  which  had 
any  powerful  influence  upon  mankind  generally,  were  such  as 
stood  connected  with  the  Pontiff,  and  his  peculiar  system  of  rule 
or  government ;  but,  in  reference  to  this  subject,  by  the  year  1378, 
among  the  European  nations,  there  had  sprung  up  a  marked  dif- 
ference of  opinion.  One  question  engrossed  them  all,  and  it  was 
nothing  less  than  this— TFAo  was  Pontiff ?  In  the  year  1305, 
through  the  influence  of  France,  the  Court  of  Rome  had  been 
translated  into  that  kingdom,  and  there  it  remained  for  seventy- 
four  years,  to  the  great  damage  of  Rome  as  a  city,  but  without 
any  rent  or  division  in  the  system.  Edward  the  Third  had  ex- 
pired on  the  2l3t  of  June,  1377,  after  a  reign  of  above  half  a  cen- 
tury, and  about  that  very  moment  Gregory  XI.  had  ordered  Wick- 
hffe  to  be  seized  and  imprisoned,  till  faither  orders.  Early  in  the 
following  year,  although  our  translator  of  the  Scriptures  had  not 
only  stood  high  in  favor  with  the  late  King,  but  stiil  did  so  with 
many  in  Parliament,  and  was  powerfully  protected  by  John  of 
Gaunt,  Duke  of  Lancaster,  he  was  summoned  by  the  Bishops  to 
answer  for  liimself  at  St.  Paul's.  Thus  did  this  body  of  men  first 
come  out,  appearing  as  a  distinct  interest  in  the  kingdom,  and  thus 


INTRODUCTION.  XIX 

tliey  will  remain  for  above  five  generations  to  come  ;  proving  ever 
and  anon,  upon  all  occasions  of  alarm,  that  they  were  the  deter- 
mined opponents  of  Divine  Truth.  As  a  body,  they  will  oppose 
its  being  conveyed  to  the  people,  and  at  every  successive  step  of 
progress.  Their  malice  at  this  time,  however,  was  overruled,  as 
it  will  so  often  and  conspicuously  be,  a  century  and  a  half  later  ; 
but,  in  the  meaLnvhile,  nothing  must  prevent  Wickliife  from  fm- 
ishing  his  translation.* 

The  year  1378  was  in  truth  an  important  one  as  it  regarded 
our  translator's  design.  On  the  27th  of  March  the  reigning  Pon- 
tiff had  died ;  an  event  which  not  only  put  an  end  to  the  bulls 
against  Wickliffe,  but  gave  rise  to  what  was  called  "  the  great 
scldsm  ;"  so  that  soon  after  there  were  two  Pontiffs — one  beyond 
the  mountains,  as  the  Italians  said,  and  one  at  Rome — consigning 
each  other  to  perdition.  Of  this  state  of  things  Wickliffe  did  not 
fa'il  to  avail  himself  "  He  saw  the  head  of  the  body  cloven  in 
twain,  and  the  two  parts  made  to  fight  with  each  other ;"  and  hj? 
immediately  sent  forth  two  tracts,  one  upon  "  the  schism"  itself, 
and  the  other  upon  "the  truth  of  Scripture."  Every  city  and 
state  became  agitated,  and  as  the  question  soon  divided  the  nations 
throughout,  it  so  happened  that  England  and  Scotland  were  of 
opposite  opinions  :  the  former  holding  fast  by  Urban  VI.  of  Rome, 
who  had  been  first  chosen  ;  the  latter  followed  Clement  VII.  of 
Avignon.  England  and  France  indeed  became  the  most  ardeni 
supporters  of  the  opposite  parties,  while  such  was  the  extent  to 
Avhich  the  controversy  had  gone,  that  some  men  of  the  University 
of  Paris  had  begun  to  think  of  a  plurality  of  Pontiffs,  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  one  to  every  kingdom.  The  idea  of  one  power  exer- 
cising authority  over  all  nations  had  seemed  to  them  untenable,  if 
not  injurious. 

Soon  after  this,  in  the  year  1379,  Wickliffe,  as  divinity  professor, 
had  gone  to  fulfil  his  accustomed  annual  duty  at  Oxford,  but  there 
he  was  seized  with  an  alarming  illness.  The  friars,  imagining 
that  his  course 'was  now  near  an  end,  contrived  to  visit  him.  Four 
of  their  ablest  men  had  been  selected,  or  a  friar  from  each  of  the 
mendicant  orders,  and  they  were  admitted  to  a  patient  hearing. 
After  reminding  him  of  the  great  injury  he  had  done  to  their  order 
— for  Wickhffe  was  a  determined  enemy  to  all  idleness  and  all 
extortion — they  exhorted  him,  as  one  near  to  death,  that  he  would 
now,  as  a  true  penitent,  bewail  and  revoke,  in  their  presence,  what- 
ever he  had  said  to  their  disparagement.  As  soon  as  they  had 
done,  Wickliffe,  calling  for  his  servant,  desired  to  be  raised  up  on 
his  pillow  ;  when,  collecting  all  his  strength,  with  a  severe  and 
expressive  countenance,  and  in  a  tone  of  voice  not  to  be  misunder- 
stood, he  exclaimed,  '■'■  I  shall  not  die,  but  live,  to  declare  the  evil 
deeds  of  the  friars.^''     Confused,  if  not  confounded,  little  expecting 

*  The  assembly  at  St.  Paul's  having  broken  up  in  riot  and  confusion,  there  was  a 
second  attempt  to  execute  their  purpose  in  a  Synod  at  Lambeth  in  June,  but  the 
Bishops  were  deterred  from  coming  to  any  definite  sentence  by  a  message  from  the 
Queen-Mother  by  Sir  Lewis  Clifford. 


XX  INTRODUCTION. 

such  a  reply,  they  immediately  left  him  ;  and  Wicldiffe  recovered, 
to  finish  in"the  year  following  his  translation  of  the  entue  Bible. 

Extraordinary,  however,  as  the  character  of  Wicldiffe  was,— a 
man  confessedly  far  above  all  his  contemporaries,  it  may  still  be 
inquired,  whether  he  was  quahfied  for  the  task  of  translating  the 
Sacred  Volume?  The  Scriptures  had  been  originally  given  in 
Hebrew  and  Greek;  but  so  far  from  the  nations  of  the  West  fur- 
nishing men  sufficiently  acquainted  with  either,  England  at  least 
had  sunk  into  greater  ignorance  even  since  the  days  of  Grossteste  ; 
nay,  an  hundred  and  iifty  years  later,  when  Tyndale  had  trans- 
lated from  the  original  tongues,  some  of  the  priests  of  the  day  were 
trying  to  persuade  the  people  that  Greek  and  Hebrew  were  lan- 
guages newly  invented.  Here,  it  is  true,  was  Wickliff'e,  an  able 
and  acute,  a  zealous  and  determined  man,  and  withal  an  excellent 
Latin  scholar,  but  of  Greek  or  Hebrew  he  knew  nothing.  Nor 
was  it  at  all  necessary  that  he  should  possess  such  erudition,  since  a 
translation  from  either  Greek  or  Hebrew  would  not  have  har- 
monized loith  tlie  first.,  or  the  j) resent,  intention  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence. A  reason  there  was,  and  one  worthy  of  infinite  wisdom, 
why  not  only  the  English  translation,  but  most  of  the  first  Euro- 
pean versions  must  be  made  from  the  Latin.  These  nations, 
including  our  own,  had  nothing  in  common  Avith  the  Greek  com- 
nnmity,  but  for  ages  they  had  been  overrun  by  the  Latin.  This 
language,  long  since  dead,  even  in  Italy,  had  been  the  refuge  and 
stronghold  of  their  oppressor,  from  generation  to  generation  ;  and 
upon  looking  back,  no  spectacle  presented  to  the  eye  is  so  remark- 
able, as  that  of  so  many  different  nations,  equally  spell-bound  by 
the  same  expedient.  There  was  a  Latin  service,  and  there  was  a 
Latin  Bible,  professedly  received,  but  the  possession  of  even  this 
had  been  forbidden  to  the  people  at  large  ;  very  much  in  the  same 
spirit  as  the  Shasters  of  India  are  forbidden  by  the  Brahmins  to  be 
looked  upon,  or  even  heard,  by  the  people.  It  was  the  Latin 
Bible,  therefore,  long  buried  in  cloisters,  or  covered  with  the  dust 
of  ages,  which  must  now  be  brought  forth  to  view.  Confessedly 
imperfect,  it  was  of  importance  first  to  prove  that  it  had  all  along 
contained  enough  for  mortal  man  to  know,  in  order  to  his  eternal 
salvation ;  and  once  translated  into  any  native  tongue,  not  only 
will  the  language  touch  the  heart,  but  the  people  at  last  know 
what  that  mysterious  book  was,  from  which  they,  had  been  de- 
barred so  wickedly  and  so  long.  Although,  therefore,  th«  nation 
was  yet  an  hundred  and  fifty  years  distant  from  the  English  Bible, 
properly  so  called,  the  present  should  be  regarded  as  the  first  pre- 
liminary step.  An  all-disposing  foresight,  far  above  that  of  any 
human  agent,  is  now  distinctly  visible  in  drawing  first  upon  that 
very  language  which  had  been  employed  for  ages  as  the  instru- 
ment of  mental  bondage.  It  shall  now  be  made  to  contribute  to 
the  emancipation  of  the  human  mind.  Latin,  it  is  true,  had  been 
the  conventional  language  of  the  priests  and  students  of  different 
countries  ;  but  still,  so  long  as  this  language  remained  untouched 
by  a  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  any  vernacular  tongue,  it  is 


INTRODUCTION.  XXI 

a  historical  canon  that  no  nation  was  ever  greatly  moved.  This 
holds  true  of  our  own  country,  in  tlie  age  of  manuscript,  but  it 
will  become  far  more  enijjhatically  so,  even  seventy  years  after  the 
invention  of  printing,  when  the  Scriptures,  once  translated  from 
the  original  tongues,  come  to  be  printed  in  the  language  then 
spoken,  and  spoken  still. 

At  such  a  period  as  this  the  translation  of  WicklifFe  could  only 
be  diifused,  of  course,  by  the  laborious  process  of  transcription  ; 
but  transcribed  it  was  diligently,  both  entire  and  in  parts,  and  as 
eagerly  read.  There  were  those  who,  at  every  hazard,  sought 
wisdom  from  the  Book  of  God,  and  their  number  could  not  be  few. 
A  contemporary  writer  has  affirmed  that  "  a  man  could  not  meet 
two  people  on  the  road,  but  one  of  them  was  a  disciple  of  Wick- 
liflfe."  This  was  the  testimony  of  an  enemy,  and  not  improbably 
the  language  of  hatred  and  fear  combined,  uttered  with  a  wish  to 
damage  the  cause  ;  it  was  the  testimony  of  an  ecclesiastic,  a  Canon 
of  Leicester,  in  reference  to  an  era  hailed  by  the  people ;  and 
although  the  Word  of  Truth  had  not  "  free  course,"  there  can  be 
no  question  that  it  was  glorified  in  the  reception  given  to  it  by 
many.  "  The  soldiers,"  he  says,  "  with  the  clukes  and  earls,  were 
the  chief  adherents  of  this  sect — they  were  their  most  strenuous 
promoters  and  boldest  combatants — their  most  powerful  defenders 
and  their  invincible  protectors."  A  very  remarkable  admission,  as 
it  accounts  for  the  great  progress  made,  in  spite  of  opposition.  All 
this  and  much  more  is  uttered  in  the  tone  of  lamentation ;  and 
what  was  the  occasion,  as  expressed  by  the  Canon  himself? 
"  This  Master  John  Y/ickliffe,"  says  he,  "  hath  translated  the  Gos- 
pel out  of  Latin  into  English,  which  Christ  had  intrusted  with  the 
clergy  and  doctors  of  the  Church,  that  they  might  minister  it  to 
the  laity  and  weaker  sort,  according  to  the  state  of  the  times  and 
the  wants  of  men.  So  that  by  this  means  the  Gospel  is  made 
vulgar,  and  laid  more  open  to  the  laity,  and  even  to  iconien  wlio 
can  read,  than  it  used  to  be  to  the  most  learned  of  the  clergy  and 
those  of  the  best  understanding  !  And  what  was  before  the  chief 
gift  of  the  clergy  and  doctors  of  the  Church,  is  made  forever  com- 
mon to  the  laity  !" 

It  was  in  the  same  spirit  that  another  contemporary  writer  urged 
that  "the  prelates  ought  not  to  suffer  that  every  one  at  his  pleasure 
should  read  the  Scripture,  translated  even  into  Latin;  because,  as 
is  plain  from  experience,  this  has  been  many  ways  the  occasion  of 
falling  into  heresies  and  errors.  It  is  not,  therefore,  politic  that 
any  one,  wheresoever  and  whensoever  he  will,  should  give  himself 
to  the  frequent  study  of  the  Scriptures." 

These  men  specially  referred  to  a  period  which  lasted  for  about 
twenty  years,  or  from  1380  to  1400,  and  it  was  one,  though  but 
too  short,  which  distinguished  this  country  from  every  other  in 
Euro»pe.  However  travisient,  or  but  like  an  handful  of  corn  for 
all  England,  in  any  sketch  of  the  times  it  should  never  pass  un- 
noticed. 

While   the  nations   generally  were    discussing   the   respective 


Xxii  INTRODUCTION. 

claims  of  two  rival  Pontiffs,  amidst  all  the  confusion  of  the  times, 
and  although  there  were  many  adversaries,  for  the  last  twenty- 
years  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  England,  no  authoritative  stop 
must  be  put  to  the  perusal  of  "the  Divine  record.  The  Bishops,  it 
is  true,  with  the  Primate  of  Canterbury  at  their  head,  may  rage 
and  remonstrate,  may  write  to  Rome  and  receive  rephes,  but  in 
vain.  The  entire  Sacred  Volume  had  been  translated,  the  people 
were  transcribing  and  readuig,  and  the  translator  had  frequently 
expressed  himself  in  the  boldest  terms.  "The  authority  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,"  said  he,  "infinitely  surpasses  any  writing,  how 
authentic  soever  it  may  appear,  because  the  authority  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  infinitely  above  that  of  all  mankind." — "The  authority 
of  the  Scriptures  is  independent  on  any  other  authority,  and  is  pref- 
erable to  every  other  writing,  but  especially  to  the  books  of  the 
Church  of  Rome." — "I  am  certain,  indeed,  from  the  Scriptures, 
that  neither  Antichrist,  nor  all  his  disciples,  nay,  nor  all  fiends, 
may  really  impugn  any  part  of  that  volume  as  it  regards  tlie  ex- 
cellence of  its  doctrine.  But  in  all  these  things  it  appears  to  me 
that  tlie  believing  man  should  use  this  rule — If  he  soundly  under- 
stands the  Sacred  Scripture,  let  him  bless  God;  if  he  be  deficient  in 
such  perception,  let  him  labor  for  soundness  of  mind.  Let  him 
also  dwell  as  a  grammarian  upon  the  letter,  but  be  fully  aware  of 
imposing  a  sense  upon  Scripture  which  he  doubts  the  tfoly  Spirit 
does  not  demand." 

Many  other  passages,  in  terms  as  strong,  might  be  quoted  from 
his  writings  :  and  "  among  his  latest  acts,"  says  Vaughan,  "  was 
a  defence  in  Parliament  of  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into 
English.  These  he  declared  to  be  the  property  of  the  people,  and 
one  which  no  party  should  be  allowed  to  wrest  from  them." 

Now  that  the  cause  of  such  a  man,  as  well  as  that  he  himself 
should  have  been  so  befriended,  was  one  of  the  distinguishing  feat- 
ures of  the  present  period.  The  Duke  of  Lancaster  continued  to 
be  his  shield  for  years ;  and  although,  when  Wickliffe,  in  addition 
to  grievances  felt,  went  on  to  Christian  doctrines,  the  Duke  faltered 
in  his  support,  yet  nearly  six  years  after  the  translator  was  in  his 
grave,  the  same  voice  was  heard  in  favor  of  the  translation.  In 
the  thirteenth  of  Richard  II.,  or  139(J,  a  bill  was  proposed  to  be 
brought  into  the  House  of  Lords  for  suppressing  it,  when  Lancaster, 
in  boldly  opposing  this,  told  them,  "That  he  would  maintain  our 
liaving  this  law  in  oiu-  own  tongue,  whoever  they  should  be  thst 
brought  in  the  bill ;"  and  once  introduced,  it  was  immediately  thrown 
out.  But  Lancaster  was  not  the  only  friend:  to  his  brother,  the 
Duke  of  Gloucester,  Wickliffe  dedicated  at  least  one  of  his  pieces ; 
and  on  one  important  occasion,  when  the  former  gave  way,  the 
Queen-Mother,  or  widow  of  the  Black  Prince,  put  a  stop  to  perse- 
cution. Lord  Percy,  Earl-Marshal,  was  also  friendly ;  but  perhaps, 
above  all,  much  was  owing  to  the  reigning  Queen,  and  that  for 
ten  years  after  Wicklifi'e's  death.  Ann  "of  Luxemburg,  the  sister  of 
the  Emperor  Weuceslaus,  and  of  the  King  of  Bohemia,  as  consort 
of  Richard  II.,  had  arrived  in  this  country  in  December,  13S1 ;  an 


INTRODUCTION,  XXIU 

event  of  great  importance  in  connection  with  Wickliffe's  exertions. 
If  lie  had  so  far  enlightened  England,  his  writings  were  also  to 
electrify  Bohemia,  so  that  Ann  had  "come  to  the  kingdom  for  such 
a  time  as  this."  This  lady,  already  acquainted  with  three  languages, 
Bohemian,  German,  and  Latui,  soon  acquired  that  of  this  country, 
and  for  years  was  distinguished  for  her  diligent  perusal  of  tlie 
Scriptures  in  English.  This  nuich  was  testified  of'iier  by  a  very 
notable  witness — the  Lord  Chancellor  Arundel,  then  Archbishop 
of  York,  when  he  came  to  preach  at  her  interment.  "  Although 
she  was  a  stranger,"  he  said,  -'yet  she  constantly  studied  the  four 
gospels  in  English ;  and  in  the  study  of  these,  and  reading  of  godly 
books,  she  was  more  diligent  than  the  prelates,  though  their  office 
and  business  require  this  of  them."  The  gospels  in  English,  he 
added,  the  Queen  had  sent  to  himself  to  peruse,  and  he  had  replied 
that  they  were  '■'•good  and  trueP  Queen  Ann's  course  of  reading 
was  even  well  known  to  Wickliffe,  before  he  expired  in  1384,  so 
that  she  must  have  served  as  a  powerful  example  to  others,  for  at 
least  ten  years.  The  translator  had  thus  early  inquired,  whether 
"to  hereticate"  her  on  account  of  her  practice,  "would  not  be  Luci- 
ferian  folly." 

The  ttueen,  says  Rapin,  was  a  great  favorer  of  Wickliffe's  doc- 
trine, and  had  she  lived  longer  would  have  saved  his  followers ; 
but  the  illustrious  foreigner  once  interred,  and  thus  so  remarkably 
eulogized,  a  different  scene  immediately  opened  to  view. 

After  his  Queen's  death,  Richard  II.,  the  grandchild  of  Edward 
III.,  had  gone  to  Ireland,  there  to  prolong  the  misgovernment  of 
that  country;  and  only  four  months  had  elapsed,  when  this  very 
man,  Arundel,  who  afterwards  was  the  main  instrument  in  de- 
throning the  King,  and  one  of  the  bitterest  enemies  of  Divine 
Truth  in  the  next  century,  was  in  great  alarm.  In  deep  hypoc- 
risy, at  Westminster,  he  might  choose  to  twit  the  prelates  with 
their  ignorance  of  Scripture,  in  comparison  Vvatli  a  Queen  who  had 
to  acquire  the  language,  and  thus  please  the  ear  of  his  Majesty, 
as  well  as  seem  to  lament  his  loss ;  but  he  had  no  intention  that 
the  people  should  take  the  hint,  or  advance,  and  show  him,  as  well 
as  liis  brethren,  the  way.  The  remarkable  though  transient  period, 
however,  to  which  we  now  refer,  was  as  distinguished  for  boldness 
of  sentiment,  as  for  the  protection  providentially  afforded  to  those 
who  were  searching  the  Scriptures  for  themselves. 

On  the  29th  of  January,  1395,  a  Parhament  was  held  at  West- 
minster, and  the  time  had  come  to  speak  out.  The  sentiments 
were  not  those  of  a  feeble  band,  whispered  in  secret.  They  were 
expressed  in  the  shape  of  a  remonstrance,  and  presented  to  the 
House  of  Commons.  They  were  posted  at  St.  Paul's,  and  also  at 
Westminster.  This,  let  it  be  observed,  was  above  a  hundred  and 
twenty  years  before  Luther's  voice  was  heard ;  and,  taken  all  in 
all,  the  argument  throughout  may  be  compared  to  an  arrow,  shot 
from  a  bow  as  strong  as  the  intrepid  German  afterwards  ever 
bent. 

Richard,  still  in  Ireland,  was  preparing  to  take  the  field  again, 


Xxiv  INTRODUCTION. 

when  Arundel,  our  preacher  at  Westminster  in  August  last,  had 
reached  him  in  May,  and  accompanied  by  Braybrook,  the  Bishop 
of  London.  Six  or  seven  years  before  this,  the  disciples  of  Wick- 
liffe  had  been  congregating  in  different  places,  and  actually  ap- 
pointing ministers  among  themselves  to  perform  Divine  service, 
after  th^eir  own  sentiments:  while  his  "poor  priests,"  as  they  were 
styled,  had  been  travelling  and  preaching,  barefooted,  through  the 
country ;  but  this  pointed  and  posted  remonstrance  had  filled 
Arundel,  Braybrook,  and  their  brethren,  with  dread.  They  en- 
treated the  King,  in  name  of  the  clergy,  to  return,  intimating  that 
the  least  delay  might  occasion  irreparable  damage.  The  followers 
of  Wickhffe,  they  said,  had  made  instance  to  set  on  foot  a  refor- 
mation— they  had  many  friends  in  the  kingdom,  nay,  in  the  Par- 
liament itself,  and  the  clergy  were  afraid  they  would  proceed  to 
action.  Richard  listened,  immediately  left  the  management  of  his 
war  to  the  Earl  of  March,  and  returned.  He  took  certain  meas- 
ures, it  is  true,  to  check  the  rising  tide  of  sentiment,  but  still  the 
Scriptures  were  7iot  suppressed,  nor  was  there  one  drop  of  blood 
shed  for  Avhat  "they  called  heresy,"  till  the  commencement  of  the 
next  century,  under  Henry  the  Fourth. 

Under  a  monarch  so  weak  and  ill-advised  as  Richard  H.,  a  man 
who  minded  only  trifles,  and  thought  of  nothing  save  his  own 
pleasures,  that  the  close  of  the  fourteenth  century  should  have 
been  thus  distinguished  must  appear  strange,  but  it  is  not  unac- 
countable. This  was  only  the  commencement  of  a  series  of  strik- 
ing proofs,  that,  in  first  conveying  to  the  people  of  this  country  the 
Word  of  Life,  Divine  Providence  would  dispense  with  what  has 
been  called  "royal  sanction."  Certain  individuals  near  the  throne, 
and  more  enlightened,  had  been  permitted  to  act,  and  Richard 
must  have  allowed  his  Queen  to  have  had  considerable  influence, 
and  so  gratify  her  wishes ;  but,  independently  of  these  parties,  the 
King  himself,  bent  upon  increasing  the  royal  prerogative,  was  no 
friend  to  any  control  from  abroad.  For  a  hundred  years  past, 
under  the  three  first  Edwards,  the  power  of  the  Crown,  and  the 
influence  of  the  Commons,  as  a  branch  of  the  legislature,  had  been 
increasing  by  slow  degrees,  and,  more  especially,  three  memorable 
statutes  had  been  passed,  viz.,  those  of  Mortmain,  Provisors,  and 
Pra?munire.  Now,  these,  even  under  this  present  monarch,  had 
been  not  merely  recognized,  but  the  power  of  the  last  two  generally 
strengthened.  Some  parties  having  ventured  abroad,  to  solicit 
their  repeal,  Richard,  by  a  proclamation,  ordered  their  return  to 
England,  on  pain  of  death  and  forfeiture  of  estate.  Nor  could 
these  statutes  ever  be  repealed.  Why  they  lay  inoperative  or 
dormant  for  an  hundred  and  thirty  years  will  be  afterwards  ex- 
plained ;  but  there  they  were,  as  powerful  instruments,  to  be  wielded 
another  day,  by  Henry  the  Eighth,  upon  the  fall  of  Cardinal 
Wolsey.  As  for  Richard  H.,  he  drove  on,  till  the  power  which  he 
sought  rather  to  reduce  than  promote,  at  last,  and  through  Arundel, 
artfully  secured  his  deposition,  in  September,  1399. 

At  the  conclusion,  therefore,  of  the  fourteenth  century,  we  con- 


INTRODUCTION.  XXV 

cede  to  Petrarch,  or  Boccaccio  and  his  fellows,  all  that  is  demanded 
as  to  the  revival  of  learning  in  Italy  ;  nor  has  England  any  occa- 
sion to  be  ashamed  of  the  contrast  or  distinction  between  the  two 
countries.  The  pursuits  of  both  were  but  in  their  infancy.  Li 
the  former,  "  imagining  that  all  knowledge  was  to  be  found  in  the 
ancient  Masters,"  they  were  beginning  to  seek  after  Mount  Par- 
nassus and  their  old  Romans  ;  but  in  the  latter  they  were  in  search 
of  Mount  Zion  and  the  fishermen  of  Galilee.  The  Italian  had  be- 
come eager  after  the  wisdom  of  Greece,  and  the  nervous  oratory 
of  his  forefathers  ;  the  Englishman,  after  the  wisdom  of  God,  and 
the  course  pursued  by  the  first  planters  of  Christianity.  If  anv  of 
our  countrymen  Avere  looking  to  Greece  at  all,  it  might  be  only  to 
such  as  had  proved  to  "  be  the  first-fruits  of  Achaia  unto  God,"  and 
if  to  Rome,  it  was  only  to  those  in  the  imperial  city,  once  so  be- 
loved, "  whose  faith  was  spoken  of  throughout  the  whole  world." 

The  manuscripts  of  Wickliffe's  version  complete,  are  numerous 
still ;  and  perhaps  not  much  less  so  than  those  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment separately,  not  to  mention  different  pieces,  or  entire  books  of 
the  translation.  In  examining  some  of  these,  whether  in  the 
Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford,  in  the  British  Museum,  or  in  private 
collections,  we  have  been  struck  with  their  legibility  and  beauty. 
They  have  all,  indiscriminately,  been  called  Wickliffe's  version, 
but  variations  of  expression  are  to  be  found  in  a  few  ;  and  it  is  not 
so  generally  known  that  we  possess  two  distinct  versions,  one 
under  Wickliffe's  own  eye,  and  another  a  recension  of  the  entire 
sacred  text. 

It  is  certainly  a  singular  circumstance  that  this  translation  of 
Wickliffe  has  never  been  printed  !  The  New  Testament,  it  is  true, 
was  published  by  Mr.  Lewis,  in  the  year  1731,  or  three  hundred 
and  fifty  years  after  it  was  finished,  and  once  more  by  Mr.  Baber, 
in  1810 ;  but  the  Bible  entire,  now  four  hundred  and  sixty-four 
years  old,  has  never  yet  been  published.  By  the  time  that  Tyndale 
was  born,  indeed,  it  would  not  have  been  intelligible  to  the  people 
at  large  ;  moreover,  it  was  from  the  Latin  Vulgate,  and  the  period 
had  arrived  when  the  translation  must  be  drawn  from  the  original 
tongues.  But  still,  even  as  a  most  interesting  literary  production, 
one  could  never  have  imagined  that  above  twenty  sovereigns  would 
have  sat  on  the  throne  of  England  since  the  invention  of  printing, 
before  such  a  work  had  issued  from  the  press.  By  Fabricius,  a 
foreigner,  as  well  as  others,  this  has  been  often  referred  to  as  a 
national  disgrace,  but  happily,  the  reproach,  at  last,  is  in  the  course 
of  being  wiped  away.  Both  these  versions  to  which  we  have  al- 
luded are  now  printed  in  parallel  columns,  at  the  Oxford  University 
press. 

Thus  then,  whatever  darkness  reigned,  or  enmity  was  shown  in 
this  country,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  next  century,  these 
precious  volumes  were  preserved,  and  the  surviving  copies  remain, 
like  so  many  veritable  torch-bearers  for  the  time  being.  They 
may.  and  indeed  must  have  shone  often  in  secret,  or  at  the  mid- 


XXvi  INTRODUCTION. 

night   hour,    and   certainly  not  without   effects,  to  be   disclosed 
another  day. 

THE  FIFTEENTH  CENTURY. 

Althouq-h,  strictly  speaking-,  only  a  century  of  preparation,  still 
the  Jif/eenth  must  ever  be  esteemed  more  important  than  any  that 
had  preceded  it,  and,  in  one  point  of  view,  more  influential  than 
any  that  has  followed  since.  When  it  is  observed  than  an  art, 
then  first  applied,  though  nearly  four  hundred  years  old,  is  only 
now  rising  to  greater  power  in  this  country  every  day,  and  is  ev- 
idently destined  to  be  employed  by  all  nations,  no  wonder  that  it 
shoukl  be  so  regarded. 

This  requires  to  be  considered  half  and  half,  as  there  was  a  ma- 
terial difference  between  the  first  and  the  second.  During  the^/\s-^, 
we  see  the  continuance  of  the  great  Western  schism,  the  union  of 
the  Eastern  and  Western  Cluirches  before  they  w^ere  shaken  to  the 
ground,  closing  with  the  noted  licentious  jubilee,  under  Nicholas 
v.,  at  Rome  in  1450.  During  the  second,  we  are  engrossed  by 
other  allfiirs.  The  fall  of  the  Greek  Empire,  the  rapid  progress  of 
literature  in  Italy,  and  the  invention  of  printing  in  Germany.  All 
these  were  so  many  preparatives  for  the  emancipation  of  the  human 
mind,  or  that  war  of  opinion  by  which  the  sixteenth  century  was 
to  be  so  distinguished.* 

But  to  return,  and  commence  with  the  great  schism.  It  con- 
tinued without  interruption  for  fifty-one  years,  from  1378  to  1429, 
though  the  consequences  were  deeply  felt  by  the  Pontiff"  for  twenty 
years  longer.  This  could  not  fail  to  operate  powerfully  on  the 
wdiole  of  Europe.  It  was  the  first  "shaking"  of  the  nations,  before 
the  coming  of  Him,  to  whom  all  natioiis  should  turn.  This  noted 
schism  has  been  called  ffreat,  to  distinguish  it  from  all  those  which 
had  preceded. t  It  at  last  suggested  the  necessity  for  a  General 
Council,  so  tliat,  during  the  first  half  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
Councils  became  the  order  of  the  day.  The  first,  held  at  Pisa  in 
1409,  tried  to  heal  the  breach  by  deposing  both  Pontiffs,  (Gregory 
XII.  and  Benedict  XIII.,)  and  choosing  a  third,  or  Alexander  V., 
in  which  decision  England  acquiesced,  but  Scotland  still  dissent- 
ed. Alexander,  a  feeble  character,  was  succeeded  in  1410,  or  next 
year,  by  Balthasar  Cossa,  or  John  XXIIL,  a  man  as  distinguished 
for  violence  of  temper  as  licentiousness  of  morals.  Three  years 
after,  he  smnmoned  a  Council  to  meet  at  Rome,  but  so  far  from 
this  city  being  attractive  at  that  time,  only  a  few  attended  to  the 

*  The  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus  in  1492,  and  of  the  passafje  to  India  by 
Vasco  de  Gama  in  14!)7,  only  fix  the  eye  with  deeper  interest  on  the  century  to  come. 

f  Far  from  being  the  first,  if  the  reader  chooses  to  consult  the  best  orignal  author- 
ities, he  will  be  able  to  count  between  the  year  452  and  1429,  not  fewer  tiian  twenty- 
eight  instances,  in  which  there  were  two,  and  sometimes  three  or  more  Pontiffs  at  the 
s:ime  time ;  and  as  these  conflicts  were  frequently  decided,  not  by  equity,  but  by  the 
influential  powerof  the  siiccessful candidate,  hence  all  attempts  to  prove  what  is  called 
an  uninterrupted  succession  become  utterly  vain.  That  any  man  should  now  waste 
a  moment  on  such  an  attempt,  is  humbling  to  human  nature. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXVU 

call.  The  consequence  was,  that,  although  his  Council  sat  from 
the  close  of  1412  to  the  lltli  of  June  following,  no  other  business 
was  accomplished  save  some  condemnation  of  the  writings  of 
Wickliffe. 

In  the  year  following  a  far  more  imposing  Council  was  held  at 
Constance,  where  the  man  who  had  sat  in  judgment  upon  Wicklilfe 
must  be  himself  condemned,  though  not  on  that  account.  John 
was  deposed,  however,  and  Gregory  XII.,  who  had  stood  out  for 
five  years,  or  ever  since  his  deposition  at  Pisa,  abdicated ;  but 
Peter  de  Luna,  Benedict  XIII.,  still  held  fast  by  his  claim ;  and, 
whoever  withdrew  from  him,  Scotland  would  not.  Thus  it  curiously 
happened  that,  for  two  years  and  four  months,  from  July  1415, 
the  only  Pontiff  in  existence  was  a  deposed  one,  and  the  only 
kingdom  or  province  that  adhered  to  him  in  the  end,  was  Scotland ! 
It  was  during  this  strange  period  that  the  merits  of  Wickliffe  v.-ere 
,  afresh  discussed  and  condemned,  not  by  an  individual  Pontiff,  but 
a  General  Council ;  and  to  such  an  execrable  length  did  they  pro- 
ceed, that  though  our  translator  had  now  been  in  his  grave  full 
thirty  years,  they  ordered  his  bones  to  be  dug  up,  (if  tiiey  could 
be  distinguished),  and  burut  to  ashes.  Their  spite  was  not,  in- 
deed, immediately  gratified,  for  what  reason  does  not  appear;  but 
so  mean  is  the  malice  of  the  wicked,  that,  thirteen  years  after- 
wards, Martin  V.,  whom  this  Council  was  about  to  elect,  sent 
peremptory  orders  to  have  the  sentence  strictly  fulfilled.  Thus, 
nearly  forty-four  years  after  his  dissolution,  they  attempted  it, 
burning  certain  bones  presumed  to  be  Wickliffe's  and  throwing 
the  ashes  into  the  Swift,  an  adjoining  brook,  which  runs  into  the 
Severn. 

The  bones  of  the  illustrious  dead  having  been  solemnly  de- 
nounced, the  Council  then  proceeded  to  the  living,  or  the  well- 
known  disciple  of  Vv^ickliffe,  John  Huss :  and  on  the  6th  of  July, 
1415,  they  condemned  him  to  be  burnt,  as  they  also  did  his  fellow- 
countryman,  Jerome  of  Prague,  in  May  1416.  These  men  of  vio- 
lence and  blood,  having  thus  covered  themselves  \\'\i\\  never-dying 
infamy,  were  very  eager  to  have  rendered  their  sittings  periodical, 
and  the  Council  a  permanent  branch  of  their  church  constitution: 
but  at  last  having  elected  Otiio  Colonna  as  Pontiff,  on  the  lltli  of 
November  1417,  he  took  the  name  of  Martin  V.,  and  the  Council 
broke  up  in  April  1418. 

This  man,  iiowever,  still  had  a  rival  in  Benedict,  till  November 
1424;  nay,  in  Clement  VIII.,  chosen  as  his  successor,  who  did  not 
resign  till  July  1429.  Martin  dying  in  1431,  before  the  close  of 
the  year  another  General  Council  had  assembled  at  Basil,  which 
did  not  dissolve  for  twelve  years.  To  any  Pontiff,  these  were  sea- 
sous  of  anxiety,  and  by  no  means  in  favor  of  any  claim  to  infalli- 
bility, but  this  Council  assumed  a  tone  hitherto  unknown.  Not 
only  asserting  the  supremacy  of  a  Council,  but  divesting  the  Pontiff 
of  several  highly-valued  and  acknowledged  rights;  they  prohibited 
him  from  creating  new  cardinals,  and  suppressed  a  large  portion 
of  his  revenue,  arising  from  the  first  year's  income  on  all  benefices. 


XXViii  INTRODUCTION. 

Eugenius  IV.,  the  successor  of  Martin,  at  length  feehng  this  assem- 
bly so  irksome  and  untoward,  tried  to  hold  another  Council,  first  at 
Ferrara  in  1438,  and  then  at  Florence  in  the  following  year  ;  so 
that  as  there  had  been  Pontiff  against  Pontiff'for  many  years,  and 
each  of  them  choosing  his  own  cardinals ;  the  world  was  now  kept 
awake  by  Council  against  Council,  denouncing  each  other,  and  each 
of  them  choosing  its  own  Pontiff!  The  Council  of  Basil,  deposing 
Eugenius,  chose  for  their  head  the  retired  Duke  of  Savoy,  who 
assumed  the  title  of  Felix  V. 

A  moment  such  as  had  not  occurred  for  nearly  seventy  years,  or 
since  1378 — a  moment  favorable  to  the  sovereignty  of  the  Pontiff, 
now  at  last  arrived.  It  was  the  accession  of  Nicholas  Y.,  in  March 
1447,  as  the  successor  of  Eugenius.  Even  after  this,  indeed,  a  rival 
still  remained ;  but  the  Emperor  interposed,  and  in  April  1449, 
securing  the  retirement  and  renunciation  of  Felix  to  all  claims,  the 
pontifical  authority  at  one  rose  to  a  height  which  it  had  not  en- . 
joyed  for  many  years.  The  jubilee  of  14.50,  a  scene  of  riot  and 
licentiousness,  to  which  people  from  all  parts  of  Europe  came, 
seemed  not  only  to  prove  that  Rome  was  an  attractive  point  of 
union  still,  but  that  the  Pontiff  might  lift  up  his  head  once  more, 
and  say,  "  I  am  secure,  and  shall  see  no  sorrow."  Assailed,  for 
above  seventy  years,  from  without  and  from  within — from  without 
by  the  influence  of  Wickliffe  and  Huss,  and  from  within  by  men 
of  the  Pontiff's  own  order — still  there  seemed  to  be  little  or  noth- 
ing lost.  General  councils  had  wrangled  for  many  years,  though, 
as  such,  they  had  now  failed  and  there  will  be  no  General  Coun- 
cil now,  till  long  after  a  very  different  scene  has  opened  on  the 
world. 

But  still,  though  they  had  failed,  it  was  only  in  one  sense.  The 
principles  then  and  there  broached  could  not  die.  The  principles 
maintained,  especially  at  Basil,  continued  to  operate  throughout 
the  rest  of  this  century,  and  in  a  way  so  obnoxious  to  Rome,  as  to 
agitate  every  successive  Pontiff.  They  were  these  principles,  and 
more  especially  the  tenet,  that  the  authority  of  a  General  Council 
was  superior  to  that  of  the  Pontiff,  which  suggested  to  the  Sover- 
eign of  France,  Charles  VII.,  what  was  styled  "  the  pragmatic 
sanction"  in  1438,  while  Germany  had  adopted  it  in  1439 ;  both 
Sovereigns  having  made  it  the  law  of  their  respective  kingdoms. 
Germany,  indeed,  had  bowed  allegiance  before  the  jubilee,  but 
France  would  not.  This  "sanction,"  like  the  statutes  of  provisors 
and  praemunire  in  England,  was  meant  to  operate  powerfully 
in  preventing  the  wealth  of  France  from  flowing  into  Italy :  a 
mode  of  resistance  to  pontifical  authority,  to  which  that  power 
was  ever  most  tenderly  alive.  The  King  of  France  might  occa- 
sionally waver,  as  did  Louis  XL,  when  Eneas  Sylvias,  or  Pius  II., 
Avept  for  joy  ;  but  then  the  Parliament  of  Paris  must  now  also  be 
acknowledged,  and  they  firmly  resisted.  One  Pontiff  after  an- 
other might  denounce  the  measure,  as  they  did  also  the  English 
statutes,  but  still  there  was  no  change  throughout  this  century. 
No  change,  till  one  obscure  individual  was  raised  up  in  this  coun- 


INTRODUCTION.  XXIX 

try,  and  another  in  Germany,  who,  under  God,  were  to  accomplish 
a  work,  to  which  neither  Kings  nor  General  Councils  were  equal 
or  disposed. 

Ancient  prejudices,  and  certain  long-fixed  associations  of  the 
mind,  were  shaken  to  the  root,  by  the  events  at  which  we  have 
already  glanced  :  but  for  the  entrance  of  new  ideas,  and  the  nota- 
ble reception  of  Divine  Truth  itself,  Providence  was  preparing  at 
the  same  time,  or  throughout  the  entire  century. 

The  triumph  of  Classical  Lear7iing. 

In  the  first  years  of  the  fifteenth  century,  individual  natives  of 
Greece  were  finding  their  way  iuto  Italy,  nay,  from  about  the 
year  1395,  their  language  was  taught  in  Florence  and  Venice,  in 
Milan  and  Genoa,  by  Emanuel  Chrysoloras.  The  Pontiff  chosen 
in  1409,  Alexander  V.,  was  a  Grecian  by  birth.  The  whole  lives 
of  Italian  Scholars,  we  are  told,  were  now  devoted  to  the  recovery 
of  ancient  works  and  the  revival  of  philology  ;  while  the  discovery 
of  an  unknown  manuscript  was  regarded,  says  Tiraboschi,  "  al- 
most as  the  conquest  of  a  kingdom."  But  "  that  ardor  which  ani- 
mated Italy  in  the  first  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  was  by  no 
means  common  to  the  rest  of  Europe.  Neither  England,  nor 
France,  nor  Germany,  seemed  aware  of  the  approaching  change." 
So  says  Mr.  Hallam,  in  perfect  harmony  with  Sismondi.  Learn- 
ing, indeed,  such  as  it  was,  had  even  begun  to  decline  at  Oxford, 
but  the  eastern  empire  was  now  hastening  to  its  end,  and  in  1453, 
came  the  fall  of  Constantinople.  Long,  therefore,  before  the 
close  of  the  century,  the  roads  to  Italy  will  be  crowded  with  many 
a  traveller,  and  among  the  number  v.^e  shall  find  that  Englishmen, 
though  the  most  distant,  were  not  the  last  to  hasten  after  classical 
attainments.  Native  Italians,  we  are  perfectly  aware,  have  been 
jealous  of  our  ascribing  too  much  to  the  event  just  hinted,  but 
there  can  be  no  question  that,  in  its  consequences,  it  proved  the 
first  powerful  summons  to  Europe  to  awake.  On  the  sacking  of 
Constantinople,  we  know  of  five  vessels  at  least,  that  were  loaded 
with  the  learned  men  of  Greece,  who  escaped  into  Italy.  Of  course 
they  brought  their  most  valued  treasure,  or  their  books,  with  them: 
and  thus  by  one  and  another,  as  well  as  the  eager  Italian  himselfy 
a  stock  of  manuscript  was  accumulated  on  Italian  ground,  whicl 
was  just  about  to  be  honored  with  a  reception,  very  different,  iii 
deed,  from  that  of  being  slowly  increased  by  the  pen  of  the  copy- 
ist !  Italy  thus  became  the  point  of  attraction  to  all  Europe. 
But  how  singular  that  the  scholars  of  the  west,  as  with  common 
consent,  should  hasten  to  this  one  country  for  that  learning,  over 
the  effects  of  which,  the  chief  authority  there,  though  so  pleased 
at  first,  was  afterwards  to  bewail,  nay,  to  mourn  for  ages,  or  to 
the  present  hour  ! 

While,  however,  Italian  scholars  were  thus  busy,  and  leaving 
the  Pontiff  to  fight  his  own  battles,  they  were  but  httle  aware 
of  what  was  preparing  for  them  elsewhere.     They  were  in  fact 


XXX  INTRODUCTION. 

more  ii^norant  of  tliis,  than  the  western  scholar  had  been  of  their 
thirst  for  learning- ;  and  was  there  no  indication  here,  of  but  one 
guiding,  one  all-gracious  power? 

The  Invention  of  Printing. 

An  obscure  German  had  been  revolving  in  his  mind  the  first 
principles  of  an  art,  applicable  to  any  language  on  the  face  of  the 
earth,  which  was  to  prove  the  most  important  discovery  in  the 
annals  of  mankind.  At  the  moment  when  they  were  storming 
Constantinople  in  the  east,  he  was  thus  busy  ;  spending  all  his 
substance,  in  plying  his  new  art  Avith  vigor  upon  a  book,  and 
upon  snch  a  book  !  Neither  Kings,  nor  Pontilfs,  nor  Councils 
had  been,  or  were  to  be,  consnlted  here  ;  nor  was  he  encouraged 
to  proceed  by  one  smile  from  his  own  Emperor,  or  from  any 
princely  patron. 

Mentz,  in  the  Duchy  of  Hesse  (Mayence  or  Mainz),  on  the 
left  bank  of  the  Rhine,  and  four  hundred  miles  from  Vienna,  may 
be  regarded  as  the  mother  city  of  printing ;  and  although  three 
individuals  shared  the  honor  of  perfecting  the  art  on  the  same 
spot,  if  not  under  the  same  roof,  the  invention  itself  is  due  to  only 
one  man.  Henne  Geensfleisch,  commonly. called  .Tohn  Gutenberg, 
{AngUce,  Goodliill,)  the  individual  referred  to,  was  born  in  Mentz, 
not  iStrasburg,  as  sometimes  stated,  about  the  year  1400;  but,  in 
1424,  he  had  taken  up  his  abode  in  the  latter  city  as  a  merchant. 
About  ten  years  after  this,  or  in  1435,  we  have  positive  evidence 
that  his  invention,  then  a  profound  secret,  engrossed  his  thoughts  : 
and  here,  in  conjunction  with  one  Andrew  Dritzehen  and  two 
other  citizens,  all  bound  to  secrecy,  Gutenberg  had  made  some 
experiments  in  printing  with  metal  types  before  the  year  1439. 
By  this  time  Dritzehen  was  dead  ;  and  in  six  or  seven  years  more, 
the  money  embarked  being  exhausted,  not  one  fragment  survives 
in  proof  of  what  they  had  attempted.  Gutenberg,  returning  to  his 
native  city  in  144.5-6,  he  found  it  absolutely  necessary  to  disclose 
his  progress.  More  money  was  demanded,  if  ever  he  was  to  suc- 
ceed ;  and  having  once  opened  his  mind  fully  to^a  citizen,  a  gold- 
smith of  Mentz,  John  Fust,  he  engaged  to  co-operate  by  affording 
the  needful  advances.  At  last,  therefore,  between  the  years  1450 
and  1455,  for  it  has  no  date,  their  first  great  work  was  finished. 
This  was  no  otlier  than  the  Bible  itself  l—^-Ae  Lai  in  Bible.  Alto- 
gether unknown  to  the  rest  of  the  world,  this  was  what  had  been 
doing  at  Mentz,  in  the  West,  when  Constantinople,  in  the  Ecu^t, 
was  storming,  and  the  Italian  "brief  men,"  or  copyists,  were  so 
very  busy  with  their  pens.  This  Latin  Bible,  of  641  leaves, 
formed  ihe  first  important  specimen  of  printing  with  metal  types. 
The  very  first  homage  was  to  be  paid  to  that  Sacred  Volume, 
which  had  been  sacrilegiously  buried,  nay,  interdicted  so  long  ;  as 
if  it  had  been,  with  pointing  finger,  to  mark  at  once  the  greatest 
honor  ever  to  be  bestowed  on  the  art,  and  infinitely  the  "highest 
purpose  to  which  it  was  ever  to  be  appHed.     Nor  "was  this  all. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXI 

Had  it  been  a  single  page,  or  even  an  entire  sheet  which  was  tlien 
produced,  there  might  have  been  less  occasion  to  have  noticed  it ; 
i)ut  there  was  sometliing  in  the  whole  character  of  the  alFair 
which,  if  not  unprecedented,  rendered  it  singular  in  the  usual 
current  of  human  events.  This  Bible  formed  two  volumes  in 
folio,  which  have  been  "justly  praised  for  the  strength  and  beauty 
of  the  paper,  the  exactness  of  the  register,  the  lustre  of  the  ink." 
It  was  a  work  of  1282  pages,  finely  executed— a  most  laborious 
process,  involving  not  only  a  considerable  period  of  time,  but  no 
small  amount  of  mental,  manual,  and  mechanical  labor ;  and 
yet,  now  that  it  had  been  finished,  and  now  oifered  for  sale,  not  a 
single  human  being,  save  the  artists  themselves,  knew  hoiv  it  had 
been  accomplished  !  The  profound  secret  remained  with  them- 
selves, while  the  entire  process  was  probably  still  confined  to  the 
bosom  of  only  two  or  three  ! 

Of  this  splendid  work,  in  two  volumes,  at  least  18  copies  are 
known  to  exist,  four  on  vellum,  and  fourteen  on  paper.  Of  the 
former,  two  are  in  this  country,  one  of  wdiich  is  in  the  Grenviile 
collection ;  the  other  two  are  in  the  Royal  Libraries  of  Paris  and 
Berlin.  Of  the  fourteen  paper  copies  there  are  ten  in  Britain: 
three  in  public  libraries  at  Oxford,  London,  and  Edinburgh,  and 
seven  in  the  private  collections  of  different  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men. The  vellum  copy  has  been  sold  as  low  as  £250,  though  in 
1827,  as  high  as  £504  sterling.  Even  the  paper  Sussex  copy 
lately  brought  £190.  Thus,  as  if  it  had  been  to  mark  the  noblest 
purpose  to  which  the  art  would  ever  be  applied,  the  first  Book 
printed  with  moveable  metal  types,  and  so  beautifully,  was  the 
Bible. 

Like  almost  all  original  inventors,  Gutenberg  made  nothing  by 
the  discovery,  at  which  he  had  labored  for  at  least  twenty  years, 
from  1435  to  1455.  The  expenses  had  been  very  great ;  and,  in 
the  course  of  business,  after  the  Bible  was  finished,  the  inventor 
was  in  debt  to  the  goldsmith,  who,  though  opulent,  now  exhibited 
a  character  certainly  not  to  be  admired.  He  insisted  on  Guten- 
berg paying  up  his  debt ;  and,  having  him  in  his  power,  actually 
instituted  a  suit  against  him,  when,  in  the  course  of  law,  the 
whole  printing  apparatus  fell  into  Fust's  possession,  on  the  6th  of 
November  1455.  According  to  Trithemius,  one  of  the  best  au- 
thorities, poor  Gutenberg  had  spent  his  whole  estate  in  this  diffi- 
cult discovery  ;  but  still,  not  discouraged,  he  contrived. to  print  till 
1465,  though  on  a  humbler  scale.  Having  been  appointed  by 
Adolphus  the  Elector  of  Mentz  one  of  his  gentlemen,  [inter  auli- 
cos,)  with  an  annual  pension,  he  was  less  dependent  on  an  art 
which  to  him  had  been  a  source  of  trouble,  if  not  of  vexation.  He 
died  in  the  city  of  his  birth  in  February  1468. 

Fust  had,  from  1456,  pursued  his  advantage,  and  with  great 
vigor,  having  adopted  as  his  acting  partner  Peter  Schoeffer,  [aii- 
glice,  Shepherd,)  a  young  man  of  genius,  already  trained  to  the 
business,  to  whom  he  afterwards  gave  his  daughter  in  marriage. 
The  types  employed  hitherto  had  been  made  of  brass,  cut  by  the 


XXXU  INTRODUCTION. 

hand.  An  advance  to  the  present  mode  of  producing-  types  by 
letter-founding  was  still  wanted,  and  the  art  of  cutting  steel 
punclies  and  casting  matrices  has  been  ascribed  to  Schoeffer.* 

The  fust  pubUcation  of  Fust  and  Schoeffer  was  a  beautihil 
edition  of  the  Psalms,  still  in  Latin,  finished  on  the  14th  of  Au- 
gust 1457,  and  there  was  a  second  in  1459  ;  but  the  year  1462 
arrived,  and  this  was  a  marked  and  decisive  era  in  the  history  of 
this  extraordinary  invention  ;  not  merely  for  a  second  edition  of 
the  Latin  Bible,  in  two  volumes  folio,  dated  1462,  and  now  exe- 
cuted according  to  the  improved  state  of  the  art;  but  on  account 
of  what  took  place  in  Mentz  at  the  same  moment. 

A  change  has  arrived,  far  from  being  anticipated  by  these  the 
inventors  of  printing,  and  one  which  they,  no  doubt,  regarded  as 
the  greatest  calamity  which  could  have  befallen  them.  Gutenberg 
had  been  the  father  of  printing,  and  Schoeffer  the  main  improver 
of  it,  while  Fust,  not  only  by  his  ingenuity,  but  his  wealth,  had 
assisted  both ;  but  all  these  men  were  bent  upon  keeping  the  art 
secret]  and,  left  to  themselves,  unquestionably  they  would  have 
confined  the  printing  press  to  Mentz  as  long  as  they  lived.  Fust, 
and  Schoeffer,  kowever,  especially  eager  to  acquire  wealth,  had 
resolved  to  proceed  in  a  very  unhallowed  course,  by  palming  off 
their  productions  as  manuscripts^  that  so  they  might  obtain  a 
larger  price  for  each  copy.  The  glory  of  promoting  or  extending 
the  art  must  now.  therefore,  be  immediately  and  suddenly  taken 
from  them.  Invention,  of  whatever  character,  like  Nature  itself, 
is  but  a  name  for  an  effect,  whose  cause  is  God.  The  ingenuity 
He  gives  to  whomsoever  He  Avill,  but  He  still  reigns  over  the  in- 
vention, and  directs  its  future  progress.  At  this  crisis,  therefore, 
just  as  if  to  make  the  reference  to  himself  more  striking,  and  upon 
our  part  more  imperative,  we  have  only  to  observe  what  then  took 
place,  and  the  consequences  which  immediately  foUowed. 

Fust  and  Schoeffer  had  completed  their  first  dated  Bible,  of 
1462,  but  this  very  year  the  city  of  Mentz  must  be  invaded.  Like 
Constantinople,  it  was  taken  by  storn),  and  by  a  member  too  of 
that  body,  who  in  future  times  so  lamented  over  the  effects  of 
printing.  This  was  the  Archbishop,  or  Adolphus,  already  men- 
tioned. The  consequences  were  immediate,  and  afford  an  im- 
pressive illustration  of  that  ease  with  which  Providence  accom- 
plishes its  mightiest  operations.  The  mind  of  Europe  was  to  be 
roused  to  action,  and  materials  sufficient  to  engage  all  its  activity, 
must  not  be  wanting.  But  this  demanded  nothing  more  than  the 
capture  oi  tioo  cities,  and  these  two,  far  distant  from  each  other  ! 
If  when  Constantinople  fell  in  the  east,  the  Greeks  with  their 
manuscripts  and  learning,  rushed  into  Italy,  to  join  the  already 
a\vakened  Italian  scholars :  Mentz  also  is  taken,  and  the  art  of 
printing  spreads  over  Europe,  with  a  rapidity,  which  still  excites 
astonishment. 

*  By  this  mode  leaden  types  were  first  produced,  and  then  of  lead  with  a  mixture 
of  tin  or  hammered  iron.  The  invention  of  type  metal,  or  one  pound  of  regulus  of 
antimony  to  five  of  lead,  is  of  comparatively  recent  origin. 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXllI 

This  city,  once  deprived,  by  the  sword  of  the  conqueror,  of  those 
laws  and  privileges  whicii  belonged  to  it  as  a  member  of  the 
Rhenish  Commercial  Confederation,  all  previous  ties  or  obliga- 
tions between  master  and  servant  were  loosened,  and  oaths  of 
secrecy  imposed  under  a  former  regime,  were  at  an  end.  Amidst 
the  confusion  that  ensued,  the  operative  printers  felt  free  to  accept 
of  invitations  from  any  quarter.  But  whither  will  they  bend  their 
steps,  or  in  what  direction  will  the  art  proceed?  Where  will  it 
meet  with  its  warmest  welcome,  and  in  which  capital  of  Europe 
will  it  be  first  established  ?  The  reader  may  anticipate  that  the 
welcome  came  from  Italy,  but  it  is  still  more  observable,  that  the 
first  capital  was  Rome!  Yes,  after  the  capture  of  Mentz,  Rome 
and  its  vicinity,  the  city  of  the  future  Index  E.vpurgatorius, 
gave  most  cordial  welcome.  The  art,  while  in  its  cradle  in  Italy, 
must  be  nursed  under  the  inquisitive  and  much  amused  eye  of  the 
Pontiff  himself! 

One  might  very  naturally  have  presumed,  that  the  enemies  of 
light  and  learning,  or  of  all  innovation,  would  have  been  up  in 
arms  ;  and  it  is  certainly  not  the  least  extraordinary  fact  connected 
with  the  memorable  invention  of  printing,  that  no  alarm  was  ex- 
pressed,— neither  at  its  discovery,  nor  its  first  application,  even 
though  the  very  first  book  was  the  Bible.  The  brief-men  or  copy- 
ists, it  is  true,  were  angry  in  prospect  of  losing  their  means  of  sub- 
sistence ;  and  in  Paris  they  had  talked  of  necromancy,  or  the  black 
art,  being  the  origin  of  all  this ;  but  there  was  not  a  whisper  of 
the  kind  in  Italy.  Indeed,  as  to  an  existing  establishment  of  any 
kind,  anywhere,  no  dangerous  consequences  were  apprehended,  by 
a  single  human  being  as  far  as  we  know ;  but  most  certainly  none 
by  the  reigning  Pontiff  himself,  or  even  by  the  conclave  with  all 
its  wonted  foresight.  On  the  contrary,  the  invention  was  hailed 
with  joy,  and  its  first  effects  were  received  with  enthusiasm.  Not 
one  man  appears  to  have  perceived  its  bearing,  or  once  dreamt  of 
its  ultimate  results.  No,  the  German  invention  was  to  be  carried 
to  its  perfection  on  Italian  ground.  Residents  and  official  persons 
in  Rome  itself,  are  to  be  its  first  promoters,  and  that  under  the  im- 
mediate eye  of  Paul  II.,  a  man  by  no  means  friendly,  either  to 
learning,  or  to  learned  men. 

This  curious  incident  is  rendered  much  more  so,  by  one  or  two 
others  in  immediate  connection  with  it.  Even  while  the  art  was 
yet  a  secret  in  Germany,  the  very  first  individual  of  whom  we 
read  as  having  longed  for  its  being  brought  to  Rome,  was  a  Cardi- 
nal, Nicholas  de  Cusa ;  the  first  ardent  promoter  of  the  press  in 
that  city  was  a  Bishop,  John  Andreas  the  Bishop  of  Aleria  and 
Secretary  to  the  Vatican  Library.  He  furnished  the  manuscripts 
for  the  press,  prepared  the  editions,  and  added  the  epistles  dedica- 
tory. It  had  been  on  the  summit  of  a  hill,  twenty-eight  miles 
east  of  Rome  near  Subiaco,  and  close  by  the  villa  once  occupied 
by  the  Emperor  Nero,  that  the  first  printing  press  was  set  up.  In 
the  monastery  there,  by  Conrad  Sweynheim  and  Arnold  Pannartz 
from  Germany,  an  edition  of  Lactantius'  Institutions  was  finished 

3 


XXXIV  INTRODUCTION. 

in  the  year  1465;  but  next  year,  they  removed,  by  invitation, 
into  the  mansion-house  of  two  knights  in  Rome  itself.  They  were 
two  brothers,  Peter  and  Francis  de  Maximis.  Here  it  was  that, 
aided  by  the  purse  of  Andreas,  the  first  fount  of  types  in  the  Ro- 
man character,  so  called  ever  since,  was  prepared,  and  all  other 
materials  being  ready,  they  commenced  with  such  spirit  and  vigor, 
that  the  Secretary  of  the  Vatican  "  scarcely  allowed  himself  time 
to  sleep." 

This  Pontiff,  named  Peter  Barbo,  and  a  Venetian  by  birth,  had 
no  sooner  come  into  office,  in  1464,  than  he  immediately  suppressed 
the  College  of  ahhreviators  and  turned  out  all  the  clerks  of  the 
breves,  regardless  of  the  sums  they  had  paid  for  their  places.  And 
although  this  body  was  composed  of  the  most  distinguished  men 
of  learning  and  genius  in  Rome,  he  chose  to  say  they  were  of  no 
use,  or  unlearjied !  Yet  now,  scarcely  two  years  after,  the  same 
man  was  saimtering  into  the  printing  office,  nay,  it  is  affirmed 
that  he  visited  it  "  frequently,  and  examined  with  admiration  every 
branch  of  this  new  art !"  Would  he  have  done  this  had  he  fore- 
seen the  consequences  ?  And  what  must  future  Pontiffs  have 
sometimes  thought  or  said  as  to  his  idle  simplicity,  or  his  lack  of 
foresight? 

Meanwhile,  so  zealous  were  these  men,  that  in  five  years  only, 
or  from  1467  to  1472,  they  had  printed  not  fewer  than  twelve 
thousand  four  hundred  and  seventy-five  volumes,  in  twenty-eigbt 
editions,  some  of  them  of  large  size,  and  all  beautifully  executed. 
Among  these  we  find  the  Latin  Bible  of  1471.  It  was  the  second 
edition  with  a  date^  the  first  printed  in  Rome,  and  however  beau- 
tiful in  execution,  well  known  to  be  by  no  means  distinguished  for 
its  accuracy ;  a  circumstance  which  ought,  in  conmion  modesty, 
to  have  infused  a  forbearing  or  lenient  temper  with  regard  to  all 
future //'5^  attempts.  It  by  no  means  followed,  however,  although 
Rome  had  taken  the  lead,  that  it  was  also  to  furnish  a  ready  market 
for  the  sale  of  books.  On  the  contrary,  the  printers  now  labored 
under  such  a  load  of  printed  folio  volumes,  that  unless  relieved, 
they  must  have  sunk  altogether,  as  no  doubt  they  suffered.  Yet 
still,  by  the  year  1476,  twelve  other  works  had  issued  from  the 
press.  Among  these  were  the  "  Postils,"  or  Notes  of  Nicholas  de 
Lyra,  i\\e  first  printed  Commentarij  on  the  Scriptures.  But  the 
Commentary  brought  them  down  !  They  had  better  have  never 
touched  it,  as  it  was  by  this  huge  work,  in  five  folio  volumes,  they 
were  nearly,  if  not  entirely,  ruined  in  business.  Such,  however, 
was  the  fruit  of  only  one  printing  office,  and  in  less  than  ten 
years.  Uhic  Han,  or  Gallus,  had  commenced  printing  soon  after 
these,  the  first  two,  and  at  least  thirteen  other  printers  followed ; 
so  that,  before  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  different  works 
published  in  the  Imperial  city  alone,  had  amounted  to  nearly  one 
thousand ! 

Independently,  however,  of  all  this,  what  signified  Rome,  when 
compared  with  the  extent  to  which  the  art  had  now  reached.  Had 
a  single  city  or  town  waited  for  the  concurrence  or  sanction  of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  XXXV 

Pontiff?  So  far  from  it,  Bamberg  in  Franconia,  and  Cologne,  had 
preceded  Rome,  and  in  ten  years  only  after  the  capture  of  Mentz, 
the  art  had  reached  to  upwards  of  thirty  cities  and  towns,  including 
Venice,  and  Strasburg,  Paris,  and  Antwerp ;  in  only  ten  yeai-s 
more  ninety  other  places  had  followed  the  example,  including  Basil 
and  Brussels,  Westminster,  Oxford,  and  London,  Geneva,  Leip- 
sic,  and  Vienna.  Witli  regard  to  Germany,  the  mother  country 
of  this  invention,  Koberger  of  Nuremberg  was  supposed  to  be  the 
most  extensive  printer  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Having  twenty- 
four  presses,  and  one  hundred  men,  constantly  at  work,  besides 
employing  the  presses  of  Switzerland  and  France,  he  printed  at 
least  twelve  editions  of  the  Latin  Bible.  And  when  we  turn  to 
the  native  capital  of  the  reigning  Pontiff,  Venice,  where  printing 
had  commenced  only  two  years  after  Rome,  what  had  ensued  in 
the  next  thirty,  or  before  1500?  Panzer  has  reckoned  up  not 
fewer  than  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  printers  in  Venice  alone, 
more  than  sixty  of  whom  had  commenced  business  before  the 
year  1480,  and  altogether,  b}^  the  close  of  the  century,  the}^  had 
put  forth  at  least  two  thousand  nine  hundred  and  eighty  distinct 
publications,  among  which  are  to  be  found  more  than  twenty  edi- 
tions of  the  Latin  Bible.  As  the  roman  letter  was  first  used  in 
Rome,  so  the  italic  was  in  Venice,  where  Aldus  had  offered  a 
piece  of  gold  for  every  typographical  error  which  could  be  detected 
in  any  of  his  printed  pages. 

In  short,  before  the  close  of  this  century,  a  space  of  only  thirty- 
eight  years  from  the  capture  of  Mentz.  the  press  was  busy,  in  at 
least  two  hundred  and  twenty  different  places,  throughout  Europe, 
and  the  number  of  printing  presses  was  far  above  a  thousand  ! 
This  rapidity,  rendered  so  much  tlie  more  astonishing  from  the 
art  having  risen  to  its  perfection  all  at  mice,  producing  works  so 
beautiful  that  they  have  never  been  excelled,  has  been  often  re- 
marked, though  it  has  never  yet  been  fully  described.  To  mark 
its  swift  and  singular  career  throughout  Europe  with  accuracy  and 
effect,  would  require  a  volume,  and,  to  certain  readers,  it  would 
prove  one  of  the  deepest  interest. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE. 


BOOK  L-ENGLAND 

REIGN    OF    HENRY    THE    EIGHTH. 


SECTION     I. 

FROM  THE  BIRTH  OF  TYNDALE,  THE   ORIGINAL   TRANSLATOR,  TO   HIS  EMBARKATION 
FOR  THE  CONTINENT,  IN  PURSUIT  OF  HIS  DESIGN. 

In  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century,  a  period  so  big  with 
interest  to  all  Europe,  Lefevre  in  France,  and  Zuinglius  in  Switzer- 
land, Luther  in  Germany,  and  Tyndale  in  England,  appear  before 
the  world,  and  to  the  eye  oi man  in  this  order;  they  were  contem- 
poraries, living  in  their  respective  countries ;  Lefevre  being  by  far 
the  oldest  of  the  four,  and  Zuinglius  the  youngest.  The  Jirst 
impressions  of  these  four  men  were  altogether  independent  of  each 
other.  They  were  individually  influenced  by  a  power,  though  un- 
unseen,  equally  near  to  them  all.  From  that  moment  they  were 
already  destined  to  the  work  assigned  them,  but  not  one  of  them 
had  exchanged  a  single  thought  with  another.  "  Germany,"  says 
the  same  author,  "did  not  communicate  the  light  of  truth  to 
Switzerland,  nor  Switzerland  to  France,  nor  France  to  England : 
all  these  lands  received  it  from  God,  just  as  no  one  region  trans- 
mits the  hght  to  another,  but  the  same  orb  dispenses  it  direct  to 
the  earth." 

In  France,  but  more  especially  in  Switzerland  and  Germany, 
there  was  the  living  voice,  throughout  life,  of  the  man  raised  up, 
calling  upon  his  countrymen  to  hear  and  obey  the  truth  ;  and  so 
God  had  ordered  it  in  England,  a  century  and  a  half  before,  in  the 
case  of  Wickliffe.  But,  now,  his  procedure  is  altogether  different, 
and  out  of  the  usual  course  pursued  in  other  lands.  Tyndale  had 
lifted  up  his  voice,  it  is  true,  boldly,  and  with  some  effect,  but  he 
is  withdrawn  from  his  native  land,  and  never  to  return.  The 
island  is  left  behind  by  him,  and  left  for  good.  In  other  countries 
the  man  lives  and  dies  at  home,  Lefevre,  when  above  a  hundred 
years  old,  weeps,  because  he  had  not  felt  and  displayed  the  cour- 
age of  a  martyr;  Zuinglius  dies  in  battle  for  his  country;  and 


38  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Luther,  after  all  his  noble  intrepidity,  expires  in  his  sick  chamber: 
but  Tyndale  is  strangled  and  burnt  to  ashes,  and  in  a  foreign  land. 
Englishmen,  and  Scotsmen,  and  Germans,  are  gathered  together 
against  him  ;  yes,  against  the  man  who  enjoyed  the  honor  of 
having  never  had  a  Prince  for  his  patron  or  protector  all  his  days; 
men  of  three  nations  at  least  concur  to  confer  upon  him  the  crown 
of  martyrdom,  so  that,  among  all  his  contemporaries,  in  several 
points  of  view,  but  especially  as  a  translator  of  the  Scriptures,  he 
stands  alone. 

That  tbe  eyes  of  his  countrymen  have  never  been  turned  to- 
wards Tyndale,  as  they  ought  to  have  been  long  ago,  but  more 
especially  to  that  work  which  God  did  by  him  in  the  midst  of  our 
land,  is  one  of  those  mysteries,  which,  at  this  moment,  we  do  not 
even  attempt  to  explain  ;  but  it  will  be  the  object  of  the  following 
pages,  to  trace  the  footsteps  of  our  Translator,  from  his  origin  to 
his  end ;  and  especially  the  history  of  that  Version  which  he  first 
gave  to  his  country. 

One  fourth  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  had  passed  away  before 
any  portion  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  translated  from  the  original 
Greek  into  the  English  language,  Avas  printed  abroad,  and  first 
conveyed  into  England  and  Scotland. 

Neither  the  political  nor  literary  condition  of  England,  under 
the  dominant  sway  of  Cardinal  Wolsey,  affording  the  slightest  in- 
dication of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  being  about  to  be  given  to  the 
people,  but  the  reverse,  in  justice  to  that  event  it  is  necessary  to 
observe  also,  the  nature  of  that  connection  which  had  existed  for 
ages  between  Britain  and  Rome,  more  especially  since  it  was  now 
as  intimate  and  powerful  as  ever.  Indeed,  under  Henry  VIII.,  it 
arrived  at  its  climax.  This  connection  sustained  a  peculiarly  com- 
plicated character.  There  was  the  Annate,  or  first  fruits,  payable 
by  the  Archbishop  down  to  the  lowest  ecclesiastic,  upon  election  to 
office — the  Appeal  to  Rome — the  Dispensation  from  it — the  Indul- 
gence— the  Legantine  levy — the  Mortuary — the  Pardon — the 
Ethelwolf's  pension — the  Peter's  pence  for  every  chimney  that 
smoked  in  England — the  Pilgrimage — the  Tenth — besides  the 
sale  of  trinkets  or  holy  wares  from  Rome  !  Here  were  no  fewer 
than  twelve  distinct  sources  of  revenue  !  These  altogether  were 
operating  on  the  inhabitants  without  any  exception,  and  with  as 
much  regularity  as  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun.  It  was  a 
pecuniary  connection  of  immense  power,  made  to  bear  upon  the 
general  conscience,  which  knew  no  pause  by  day,  no  pause  by 
night;  falling,  as  it  did,  not  merely  on  the  living,  but  on  the  dying 
and  the  dead  ! 

In  no  other  country  throughout  Europe,  without  exception,  was 
it  so  probable  that  this  system,  in  all  its  oppressive  and  fearful 
integrity,  would  be  maintained.  Under  an  imperative  Monarch, 
originally  educated  as  an  ecclesiastic,  and  who  now  gloried  in  his 
acquaintance  with  scholastic  divinity ;  with  a  Prime  Minister  so 
well  known  to  every  foreign  Court,  and  who  himself  breathed  with 
ardor  after  the  Pontificate,  England  had  become  the  right  arm  or 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  39 

main-stay  of  this  system.  Nay,  as  if  to  render  this  still  more 
apparent,  and  so  fix  the  eye  of  posterity,  the  King  npon  the 
throne  had  resolved  to  distinguish  himself  as  the  reputed  author, 
in  support  of  this  singular  power;  and  he  hecame  at  once  the  first 
and  the  only  (Sovereign  in  Europe  who  was  understood  to  have 
lifted  his  pen  in  defence  and  defiance.  For  this  feat  in  reply, 
though  not  an  answer  to  Luther,  it  is  well  known  that  Henry  had 
obtained  from  Leo  X.  his  highly  prized  title  of  "  Defender  of  the 
Faith." 

In  no  part  of  England  ^vas  the  power  of  Rome  more  in- 
tensely felt  than  in  the  diocese  of  AVorcester.  Yet  here  it  pleased 
God  to  raise  up  the  man  whose  labors  were  destined  to  work  the 
overthrow  of  that  power  in  this  island. 

Here  William  Tyndale  was  born  about  the  year  1484,  but  the 
precise  date  of  his  birth  and  the  names  of  his  parents,  have  not 
been  definitely  determined.  He  was  educated  by  his  parents,  and 
it  is  important  to  notice  the  state  of  learning  in  England,  at  the 
time  when  Tyndale  was  trained  for  his  great  work. 

Erasmus  arrived  in  England  from  Holland,  in  1497,  and 
was  dehghted  to  find  a  taste  for  the  study  of  Greek  and  Latin 
among  the  learned,  and  he  pursued  his  studies  with  great  dili- 
gence and  success.  His  zeal  inspired  others  to  such  a  degree,  that 
the  five  years  of  his  residence  in  England  may  be  regarded  as 
opening  a  new  era  in  letters  in  this  country. 

In  1516,  the  New  Testament,  in  Greek  and  Latin,  with  the 
notes  of  Erasmus,  had  come  forth,  printed  by  Froben  at  Basil.  It 
soon  spread  far  and  wide.  He  received  the  congratulations  of  his 
friends,  but  it  raised  up  a  host  of  enemies ;  and  one  of  the  col- 
leges in  Cambridge,  though  only  one,  actually  forbade  it  to  be 
brought  Avithin  its  w^alls  !  In  Oxford  no  such  fear  had  been  dis- 
played, though  even  there  great  caution  was  demanded.  It  was, 
liowever,  only  the  next  year,  when  Fox,  the  Bislicp  of  Winchester, 
had  determined  to  found  his  college  at  Oxford,  that  of  "  Corpus 
Christi,"  so  that  all  things  were,  at  least,  working  together  for  good. 
Two  Professors,  for  Latin  and  Greek,  were  constituted,  with  com- 
petent salaries.  The  books  in  Greek  were  expressly  specified  by 
the  Founder,  and  these,  says  Warton  and  others,  "  were  the  purest, 
and  such  as  are  most  esteemed,  even  in  the  present  improved  state 
of  ancient  learning." 

With  regard  to  Hebrew  learning  at  this  early  period,  to  say 
nothing  of  manuscripts,  in  England,  as  well  as  the  Continent,  the 
art  of  printing  had  been  applied  to  the  language  more  than  twenty 
years  before  this,  in  the  Psalter  of  1477.  Then  came  the  Penta- 
teuch, and  other  books  at  Bologna,  in  1482 ;  the  Prophets,  at  Son- 
cino,  in  1486  ;  the  Hagiographa,  at  Naples,  in  1487  ;  and  in  1488, 
there  was  printed  at  Soncino  the  first,  edition  of  the  Hebrew  Bible 
entire.  In  1499,  there  were  published  not  fewer  than /o?/r  editions 
of  the  Hebrew  Bible,  which  almost  immediately  disappeared,  so 
great  was  the  interest  awakened  for  Hebrew  learning.  By  the 
year  1526,  there  had  been  published /oi^Veew  editions  of  the  He- 


40  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

brew  Bible,  in  folio,  quarto,  and  octavo,  with  and  without  points ; 
and  it  is  especially  to  be  remembered,  that  Divine  Providence  had 
so  overruled  the  whole,  that  not  one  of  the  Sacred  Originals, 
whether  in  Hebrew  or  Greek,  had  ever  been  restrained  by  any 
Government,  however  absolute  ! 

Indeed,  at  this  moment,  so  far  from  such  restraint  being  imposed 
in  England,  it  was  quite  the  reverse :  as  not  one  man  of  high  au- 
thority appears  to  \\diWQ  foreseen,  that  the  cultivation  of  the  original 
lanouao-es  would  inevitably  lead  to  a  translation  of  the  Sacred 
Volume  into  the  Vulgar  tongue.  Wolsey  himself,  only  two  years 
after  Fox,  had  begun  to  encourage  classical  learning,  by  founding 
at  Oxford,  in  1519,  not  only  a  cTiair  for  Rhetoric  and  Latin,  but 
one  for  Greeic,  with  ample  salaries  ;  while  his  royal  Master  was 
also  favorable  to  the  progress  of  letters.  Thus,  in  this  very  year, 
we  know  from  the  epistles  of  Erasmus,  that  Henry  transmitted  to  the 
University  a  royal  mandate,  commanding,  "  that  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures,  in  the  original  languages,  should  not  only  be  permitted, 
but  received  as  a  branch  of  the  academical  institution." 

This  was  the  precise  period  in  which  our  first  and  future  trans- 
lator of  the  Scripture  resided,  both  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  Such 
a  combination  of  advantages  fully  explain  the  source  of  those  at- 
tainments in  learning,  which  he  was  afterwards  to  turn  to  such 
powerful  account. 

Tyndale  was  brought  up,  from  his  earliest  years,  at  Oxford,  and 
as  a  scholar,  where,  after  a  lengthened  residence,  he  proceeded  in 
"  degrees  of  the  schools  ;"  or,  as  Foxe  has  said — "  By  long  con- 
tinuance, he  grew  up  and  increased  as  well  in  the  knowledge  of 
tongues,  and  other  liberal  arts,  as  especially  in  the  knowledge  of 
the  Scriptures ;  insomuch,  that  he  read  privily  to  certain  students 
and  fellows  in  Magdalen  College  some  parcel  of  divinitjr,  instruct- 
ing them  in  the  knowledge  and  truth  of  the  Scriptures."  His 
education  "  in  gr|Lmmar,  logic,  and  philosophy,  he  received,"  says 
Wood,  "  for  the  most  part,  in  St.  Mary  Magdalen's  Hall,"  immedi- 
ately adjoining  the  College  at  that  time.  At  this  Hall,  first  called 
Grammar  Hall,  from  the  attention  paid  to  classical  learning,  and 
where  Grocyn,  as  well  as  W.  Latimer  and  Linacre,  had  lectured, 
the  members  stood,  as  they  do  now,  on  the  same  footing  with  those 
of  the  other  Colleges  ;  their  course  of  study,  tuition,  length  of  resi- 
dence, examination,  and  degrees,  being  precisely  the  same  as  the 
rest  of  the  University.  In  those  early  days,  however,  these  Halls, 
having  no  exhibitions  nor  endowments  for  scholarships,  many  of 
the  students  lived  at  their  own  charge ;  and  since  no  man  has  ever 
once  been  mentioned  as  patronizing  Tyndale,  throughout  his 
whole  life,  the  presumption  is,  that  his  expenses  while  at  College 
must  have  been  defrayed  by  his  parents.  Tyndale's  zeal,  how- 
ever, had  at  last  exceeded  the  endurance  of  his  contemporaries, 
and  exposed  him  to  some  danger.  There  is  no  ground  for  sup- 
posing that  lie  was  expelled;  -'but,"  says  Foxe.  "spying  liis  time, 
he  removed  from  Oxford  to  the  University  of  Cambridge,  where 
he  likewise  made  his  abode  a  certain  space,"  and,  it  has   been 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  41 

vaguely  conjectured,  took  a  degree.     At  all  events,  his  residence 
in  that  city  had  terminated  by  the  year  1519. 

The  incontrovertible  proof  of  Tyndale's  erudition,  whether  as  a 
Greek  or  Hebrew  scholar,  is  to  be  found  in  the  j)resent  version  of 
our  Bible,  as  read  by  millions.  "  The  circumstance  of  its  being  a 
revision  five  times  derived,  is  an  advantage  altogether  peculiar  to 
itself,  and  doubly  valuable  from  that  circumstance."  While,  not- 
withstanding this  five-fold  recension  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew 
original,  large  portions  remain  untouched,  or  verbally  as  the 
Translator  first  gave  them  to  his  country.  It  is,  indeed,  extraor- 
dinary that  so  many  of  Tyndale's  cprrect  and  happy  renderings 
should  have  been  left  to  adorn  our  version,  while  the  terms  substi- 
tuted, in  other  instances,  still  leave  to  him  the  palm  of  scholarship. 
When  the  incorrect,  not  to  say  injurious,  sense,  in  which  certain 
terms  had  been  long  employed,  is  duly  considered,  the  substitu- 
tion of  charity  for  love,  as  Tyndale  translated  it,  of  grace  for  fa- 
vor, and  church  for  congregation,  certainly  cannot  be  adduced  as 
proofs  of  superior  attainment  in  the  original  Greek. 

Returning  to  his  native  county,  Tyndale  was  soon  actively 
engaged,  and  so  continued  to  be,  from  Stinchcombe-hill  down  to 
Bristol,  to  the  close  of  1522.  As  the  place  where  he  lived,  only 
eight  miles  south  from  that  of  his  birth,  is  well  known  ;  nay.  and 
the  house  under  v>^hose  roof  he  spent  his  best  and  zealous  exer- 
tions, in  discussing  and  defending  the  Word  of  God,  is  happily 
still  in  existence, — to  all  such  as  may  take  an  interest  in  the  fol- 
lowing history,  there  is  not  a  more  heart-stirring  spot  in  all  Eng- 
land. The  Halls  of  our  Colleges,  wherever  they  stand,  have 
never  given  birth  to  a  design,  so  vitally  important  in  its  origin,  so 
fraught  with  untold  benefit  to  millions,  and  now  so  extensive  in 
its  range,  as  that  which  ripened  into  a  fixed  and  invincible  pur- 
pose, in  the  Dining  Hall  of  Little  Sodbury  Manor  House. 

It  was  in  this  house  that  Tyndale  resided  for  about  two  years, 
as  a  tutor ;  and  adjoining  to  it  behind,  there  still  stands,  with  its 
two  ancient  yew  trees  before  the  door,  the  little  Church  of  St. 
Adeline,  where  of  course  the  family  and  tenants  attended.  Foxe 
has  said  of  Tyndale,  while  at  Antwerp,  that  when  he  "read  the 
Scriptures,  he  proceeded  so  fruitfully,  sweetly,  and  gently,  much 
like  unto  the  writing  of  John  the  Evangelist,  that  it  was  a  heavenly 
comfort  to  the  audience  to  hear  him  ;"  and  so  it  may  have  been, 
under  some  of  his  earliest  efforts,  within  the  walls  of  this  diminu- 
tive and  unpretending  place  of  worship.  At  all  events,  let  it  be 
observed,  when  his  voice  was  first  heard,  Luther  had  not  yet  been 
denounced  even  by  Leo  X.  at  Rome,  much  less  by  Cardinal  Wol- 
sey  in  England. 

About  the  year  1520,  Tyndale  was  tutor  in  the  family  of  Sir 
John  Walsh,  whose  hospitable  board  was  often  surrounded  by  the 
Abbots,  Deans,  Arch  deacons,  and  divers  other  doctors,  who  were 
fond  of  discussions,  in  which  Tyndale  bore  a  conspicuous  and  de- 
cided part.  He  published  a  translation  from  Erasmus  of  his 
"  Christian  Soldier's  Manual,"  which  he  presented  to  Sir  John,  and 


42  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE, 

as  he  did  not  invite  the  doctors  to  his  table  after  reading  it,  they 
attributed  the  cliange  to  the  influence  of  Tyndale,  and  treasured  a 
grudge  against  him. 

The  priests  of  the  country,  chistering  together,  began  to  storm 
at  ale-houses  and  other  places  ;  and  all  with  one  consent,  against 
one  man.  Whether  the  existing  Chancellor  of  the  diocese  of 
Worcester  had  ever  feasted  at  Little  Sodbury,  does  nor  appear  ; 
but  it  cannot  be  long  before  Tyndale  will  have  to  stand  before 
him.  Fortunately  the  tutor  has  left  on  record  his  own  reflections 
as  to  this  period  of  his  life. 

'•A  thousand  books,"  says  he,  "had  they  lever  (rather)  to  be 
put  forth  against  their  abominable  doings  and  doctrine,  than  that 
the  /Scripture  should  come  to  light.  For  as  long  as  they  may 
keep  that  down,  they  will  so  darken  the  right  way  with  the  mist 
of  their  sophistry,  and  so  tangle  them  that  either  rebuke  or  de- 
spise their  abomiilations,  with  arguments  of  philosophy,  and  with 
worldly  similitudes,  and  apparent  reasons  of  natural  wisdom  ;  and 
with  wresting  the  Scriptures  unto  their  own  purpose,  clean  contrary 
unto  the  process,  order,  and  meaning  of  the  text;  and  so  delude 
them  in  descanting  upon  it  with  alleg^ories  ;  and  amaze  them, 
expounding  it  in  man//  senses  before  the  unlearned  lay  people, 
(when  it  hath  but  one  simple  litercd  sense,  whose  light  the  owls 
cannot  abide),  that  though  thou  feel  in  thine  heart,  and  art  sure, 
how  that  all  is  false  that  they  say,  yet  couldst  thou  not  solve  their 
subtile  riddles. 

"  Which  thin^  onlymoved  me  to  translate  the  New  Testament. 
Because  T  had  proved  by  experience,  how  that  it  was  impossible 
to  establish  the  lay  people  in  any  truth,  except  the  Scripture  were 
plainhj  laid  before  their  eyes  in  their  mother  tongue,  that  they 
might  see  the  process,  order,  and  meaning  of  the  text ;  for  else, 
whatsoever  truth  is  taught  them,  these  enemies  of  all  truth  quench 
it  again — partly  with  the  smoke  of  their  bottomless  pit,  (whereof 
thou  readest  in  Apocalypse,  chap,  ix.)  that  is  with  apparent  reasons 
of  sophistry,  and  traditions  of  their  own  making ;  and  partly 'in 
juggling  with  the  text,  expounding  it  in  such  a  sense  as  is  impos- 
sible to  gather  of  the  text  itself." 

Accordingly,  "  not  long  after  this,"  says  John  Foxe,  "  there  was 
a  sitting  of  the  (Italian)  Bishop's  Chancellor  appointed,  and  warn- 
ing was  given  to  the  Priests  to  appear,  amongst  whom  Master 
Tyndale  was  also  warned  to  be  there.  Whether  he  had  any  mis- 
doubt by  their  tbreatenings,  or  knowledge  given  liim  that  they 
would  lay  some  things  to  his  charge,  is  uncertain ;  but  certain  this 
is,  as  he  himself  declared,  that  he  doubted  their  privy  accusations  ; 
so  that  he,  by  the  way,  in  going  thitherward,  cried  in  his  mind 
heartily  to  God,  to  give  him  strength  to  stand  fast  in  the  truth  of 
his  word." 

Here  then  was  Tyndale,  in  the  year  1522,  brought  to  answer 
for  himself;  and  having  already  had  so  many  discussions  with 
dignitaries  on  Sodbury  Hill,  as  well  as  arguments  with  the  priests 
in  other  places,  one  might  have  supposed  that  something  decisive 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE,  43 

was  on  the  eve  of  accomplishment ;  but  it  turned  out  an  entire 
faihire. 

"When  I  came  before  the  Chancellor,  he  threatened  me  griev- 
ously, and  reviled  me,  and  rated  me  as  though  I  had  bfeeir  a  dog ; 
and  laid  to  my  charge  whereof  there  could  be  none  accuser  brought 
forth,  as  their  manner  is  not  to  bring  .forth  the  accuser;  and  yet, 
all  the  Priests  of  the  country  were  there  the  same  da3^" 

Who  was  this  Chancellor  ?  Who  the  Cardinal  that  had  recently 
appointed  him?  Who  was  the  non-resident  Italian  Bishop?  nay, 
and  who  the  reigning  Pontiff  himself,  the  fountain  of  all  this  op- 
pressive authority?  The  jPo«//^  was  Adrian  VI.,  who,  to  appease 
Wolsey,  had  recently  made  him  "  Legate  a  latere"  for  life  ;  the 
Bishop  was  Julio  di  Medici,  the  future  Clement  VII.,  and  who, 
without  even  visiting  England,  had  been  made  Bishop  of  Worcester 
by  Leo  X.  The  man  who  had  lately  appointed  the  Chancellor  to  the 
diocese  was  Wolsey  himself,  who  farjned  the  whole  district  for  his 
Italian  brother ;  and  the  Chancellor^  who  had  raised  himself  to 
this  unenviable  notoriety  by  so  treating  the  man  destined  b}^  Di- 
vine Providence  to  overcome  all  above  him.  as  far  as  Rome  itself 
was  concerned;  was  a  creature  of  the  English  Cardinal,  a  Dr. 
Thomas  Parker,  who  lived  to  know  more  of  Tyndale's  power  and 
talents,  than  he  then  could  comprehend.  Had  such  men  only 
known  who  was  then  Vv-ithin  the  Chancellor's  grasp,  with  what 
eager  joy  would  they  have  put  an  end  to  all  his  noble  intentions  ? 

Escaping,  however,  out  of  Parker's  hands,  the  Tutor  departed 
homeward,  and  once  more  entered  the  hospitable  abode  of  Little 
Sodbury,  but  more  than  ever  firmly  resolved. 

It  is  some  alleviation  to  find  that  every  man  in  the  country  was 
not  of  the  same  opinion  with  the  reigning,  if  not  furious  Chancellor. 
"  Not  far  off,"  continues  Foxe,  "  there  dwelt  a  certain  doctor,  that 
had  been  an  old  chancellor  before  to  a  bishop,  who  had  been  of  old 
familiar  acquaintance  with  Master  Tyndale,  and  also  favored  him 
well.  To  him  Tyndale  went  and  opened  his  mind  on  divers  ques- 
tions of  the  Scripture,  for  to  him  he  durst  be  bold  to  disclose  his 
heart.  To  whom  the  doctor  said — '  Do  you  not  know  that  the  Pope 
is  very  Antichrist,  whom  the  Scripture  speaketh  of?  But  beware 
what  you  say  ;  for  if  you  shall  be  perceived  to  be  of  that  opinion, 
it  will  cost  you  your  life  ;'  adding,  '  I  have  been  an  officer  *of  his  ; 
but  I  have  given  it  up,  and  defy  him  and  all  his  works.' " 

It  was  not  long  after  this  that  Tyndale,  happening  to  be  in  the 
company  of  a  reputed  learned  divine,  and  in  conversation  having 
brought  him  to  a  point,  from  which  there  was  no  escape,  he  broke 
out  with  this  exclamation,  "  We  were  better  to  be  without  God's 
laws,  than  the  Pope's  !"  This  was  an  ebullition  in  perfect  harmo- 
ny with  the  state  of  the  country  at  the  moment,  but  it  was  more 
than  the  piety  of  Tyndale  could  bear.  "  I  defy  the  Pope,"  said  he, 
in  reply,  "  and  all  his  laws  ;  and  if  God  spare  my  life,  ere  many 
years,  I  will  cause  a  boy  that  driveth  the  plough,  to  know  more 
of  the  /Scripture  than  you  do .'" 

After  this,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  the  murmuring  of 


44  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENCxLISH    BIBLE. 

the  priests  increased  more  and  more.  Such  language  must  have 
flown  over  the  country,  as  on  the  wings  of  the  wind.  Tyndale, 
they  insisted,  was  "  a  heretic  in  sophistry,  a  heretic  in  logic,  and 
now  also  a  heretic  in  divinity."  To  this  they  added  that  "  he  bare 
himself  hold  of  the  gentlemen  there  in  that  country,  but  that, 
notwithstanding,  he  should  be  otherwise  spoken  to." 

It  was  now  evident  that  Tyndale  could  no  longer  remain,  with 
safety,  in  the  county  of  Gloucester,  or  within  the  Italian  diocese 
of  Worcester.  He  has  therefore  been  represented,  by  Foxe,  as 
thus  addressing  his  Master :  "  Sir,  I  perceive  that  I  shall  not  be 
suffered  to  tarry  long  here  in  this  country,  neither  shall  you  be 
able,  though  you  would,  to  keep  me  out  of  the  hands  of  the  spir- 
ituality;  and  also  what  displeasure  might  grow  thereby  to  you  by 
keeping  me,  God  knoweth  ;  for  the  which  I  should  be  right  sorry." 
Searching  about,  therefore,  not  so  much  for  an  avenue  to  escape, 
as  for  some  convenient  place  to  accomplish  the  determined  pur- 
pose of  his  heart,  by  translating  the  Scriptures,  he  now  actually 
first  thought  of  Tunstal,  Bishop  of  London,  one  of  the  future 
burners  of  his  New  Testament !  From  Sir  .John  Walsh's  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  the  Court,  there  was  no  difficulty  in  procuring 
the  best  access  to  him  ;  and  so  Tyndale  must  bid  farewell  forever 
to  his  interesting  abode  on  Sodbury  Hill.  It  was  his  first  and  last, 
or  ordij  attempt  throughout  life  to  procure  a  Patron,  and  he  will, 
hitnself,  now  describe  his  own  movements. 

"  The  Bishop  of  London  came  to  my  remembrance,  whom 
Erasmus  (whose  tongue  maketh  of  little  gnats  great  elephants, 
and  lifteth  up  above  the  stars  whoever  giveth  him  a  little  exhibi- 
tion,) praiscth  exceedingly,  among  other,  in  his  Annotations  on 
the  New  Testament,  for  his  great  learning.  Then,  thought  I,  if 
I  might  come  to  this  man's  service  I  were  happy."  Such  was  his 
impression  in  Gloucestershire,  when  moved  by  the  blind  supersti- 
tion of  his  country  "  to  translate  the  New  Testament ;"  and,  till 
now,  evidently  unacquainted  with  the  state  of  the  metropolis  ;  for 
"  even,"  says  he,  "  even  in  the  Bishop  of  London's  house  I  in- 
tended to  have  done  it !" 

"And  so  I  gat  me  to  London,  and  through  the  acquaintance  of 
my  master  came  to  Sir  Harry  Gilford,  the  King's  Grace's  Comp- 
troller, and  brought  him  an  Oration  of  Isocrates,  which  I  had 
translated  out  of  Greek  into  English,  to  speak  unto  my  Lord  of 
London  for  me.  This  he  also  did,  as  he  showed  me,  and  willed 
me  to  write  an  epistle  to  my  lord,  and  to  go  to  him  myself,  which 
I  also  did,  and  delivered  my  epistle  to  a  servant  of  his  own,  one 
William  Hebilthwaytc,  a  man  of  mine  old  acquaintance.  But 
God,  which  knoweth  what  is  within  hypocrites,  saw^  that  I  was 
beguiled,  and  that  that  counsel  was  not  the  next  way  to  my  pur- 
pose. And  therefore.  He  gat  me  no  favor  in  my  lord's  sight. 
Whereupon  my  lord  answered  me— 'his  house  was  full,  he  had 
more  than  he  could  well  find,  and  advised  me  to  seek  in  London, 
where,  he  said,  I  could  not  lack  a  service.' " 

Such  language  as  this  was  noised  abroad,  and  it  was  soon   im- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  45 

possible  for  Tyndale  to  stay  in  Gloucester.  He  took  leave  of  his 
quiet  residence  at  Sodbury  Manor  House,  and  went  up  to  London 
to  make  application  to  the  Bishop  of  the  diocese  for  aid  in  his 
great  undertaking.  Presenting  him  with  the  translation  from  the 
Greek  of  Isocrates,  as  a  specimen  of  his  ability,  he  received  this 
answer, — that  the  Bishop  had  no  room  in  his  palace  for  him,  and 
he  must  seek  a  service,  or  something  to  do  in  London.  He  re- 
mained almost  a  year  in  London  finding  no  employment,  but  he 
was  kindly  entertained  by  Mr.  Humphrie  Munmouth,  a  man  of 
wealth,  who  afterwards,  as  well  as  then,  contributed  generously  to 
his  support.  In  London  Tyndale  had  opportunity  for  more  closely 
observing  many  things  which  he  had  never  seen  before  ;  and,  in 
reference  to  the  scene  around  him,  he  says,  in  1530 : — 

"  And  so  in  London  I  abode  almost  a  year,  and  marked  the 
course  of  the  world,  and  heard  our  preachers,  how  they  boasted 
themselves  and  their  high  authority ;  and  beheld  the  pomp  of  our 
Prelates,  and  how  busy  they  were,  as  they  yet  are,  to  set  peace 
and  unity  in  the  world ;  tliough  it  be  not  possible  for  them  that 
walk  in  darkness  to  continue  long  in  peace ;  (for  they  cannot  but 
either  stumble,  or  dash  themselves  at  one  thing  or  another,  that 
shall  clean  unquiet  all  together;)  and  saw  things  whereof  I  defer 
to  speak  at  this  time ;  and  understood,  at  the  last,  not  only  that 
there  was  no  room  in  my  Lord  of  London's  palace  to  translate  the 
New  Testament,  but  also,  that  there  was  no  place  to  do  it,  in  all 
England^  as  experience  doth  now  openly  declare." 

But  before  that  Tyndale  embarked  for  the  Continent,  was  there 
no  other  step  already  suggested,  which  might  operate  in  direct 
hostility  to  such  a  design  as  that  which  he  contemplated  1  Yes, 
there  was,  and  in  this  very  year,  one  of  the  most  powerful  and 
magnificent  character.  It  may  be  regarded  as  the  climax  in  the 
triumph  of  literature,  or  as  a  phalanx  in  opposition.  The  attempt 
too  is  the  more  worthy  of  notice,  since  it  has  often  been  loosely  re- 
garded as  the  only  redeeming  trait  in  Cardinal  Wolsey's  charac- 
ter. We  refer  to  the  establishment  of  Cardinal  College,  Oxford. 
"  He  patronized  letters,"  it  has  been  said,  "  and  may  be  classed 
among  the  benefactors  of  the  human  mind."  But  even  in  the 
cultivation  of  letters,  we  must  observe  the  end  in  view,  and  a  let- 
ter from  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln  fully  discloses  that  the  design  of 
this  establishment  was  to  resist  the  progress  of  Lutjier's  senti- 
ments. This  letter  is  addressed  to  the  Cardinal  himself,  and  dated 
so  early  as  January  5,  1522,  i.  e.  1523.  The  explanation  once 
given,  he  proceeds : — 

"  I  assure  your  Grace,  the  King  doth  consider  all  this  in  the 
best  manner,  and  so  doth  report  it  unto  your  Grace's  honor,  bet- 
ter than  I  can  with  pen  express.  Saying  that  more  good  shall 
come  of  this  your  honorable  foundation  than  any  man  can  esteem ; 
with  many  good  words  much  rejoicing  in  the  same,  as  I  doubt  not 
but  he  will  express  at  length  unto  your  Grace  at  your  coming, 
which  I  shewed  him  should  be  on  Monday  next.  I  ascertained 
him  over  this,  your  pleasure  concerning  the  secret  search  ye  would 


46  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

this  term  make  in  divers  places,  naming  the  same  to  him,  and 
that  at  one  time.  And  that  ye  would  be  at  the  Cross,  (Paul's 
Cross,)  having  the  Clergy  with  you,  and  there  to  have  a  notable 
Clerk  to  preach  before  you  a  Sermon  against  Luther,  the  Luthe- 
rans and  their  defaulters,  against  their  works  and  books,  and 
against  introducing  their  works  into  the  kingdom :  And  then  to 
have  a  proclamation  to  give  notice  that  every  person  having  any 
works  of  Luther  or  of  his  fantors  making,  by  a  limited  day  to 
bring  them  in,  under  pain  of  the  greater  excommunication,  and 
that°  day  past,  to  fulminate  the  sentence  against  the  contrary 
doers  ;  and  that,  if,  after  that  day,  any  such  works  be  known,  or 
found  with  any  person,  the  same  to  be  convicted  by  abjuration  ;  and 
if  they  will  contumaciously  persist  in  their  contumacy,  then  to  pur- 
sue them  hy  the  law  (ad  ignem)  to  the  fire,  as  against  an  heretic. 
And  that  ye  purpose  over  this,  to  bind  the  said  Merchants  and 
Stationers  in  recognisance,  never  to  bring  into  this  Realm  any 
sucli  books,  scrolls  or  writings.  Which,  your  godly  purpose  his 
Highness  marvellously  well  alloweth,  and  doth  much  hold  with 
that  recognisance,  for  that  some  and  most  will  more  fear  that, 
than  excommunication." 

All  tlie  dark  purposes,  divulged  in  this  memorable  letter,  were 
literally  fulfilled.  There  was  the  secret  search,  and  at  one  time  ; 
there  was  the  sermon  delivered,  and  by  Fisher,  the  man  pointed 
out,  and  the  books  were  burnt ;  hut  then,  it  is  a  most  remarkable 
fact,  that  all  these  we  shall  see  deferred — nay  deferred  for  exactly 
three  years,  or  till  immediately  after  Tyndale's  New  Testaments 
had  arrived  in  the  country  !  Wolsey,  it  is  true,  will  have  quite 
enough  to  divert  him  all  the  time,  but  it  was  just  as  if  Providence 
had  intended  that  the  writings  of  no  human  being  should  have 
the  precedence,  but  that  His  own  Word,  being  so  treated,  should 
thus  enjoy  the  distinction  of  exciting  the  general  commotion  of 
1526.  The  burning  of  the  NeiD  Testatnent  was  to  be  the  head 
and  front  of  their  offending. 

We  have  now  done  with  Tyndale  upon  English  ground;  and, 
disappointed  of  employment,  he  also  was  done  with  "  marking  the 
pomp  of  our  Prelates,"  or  hearing  the  whole  fraternity  "  boast  of 
their  high  authority."  But  certainly  when  he  was  to  be  seen 
wandering  a  stranger  in  London,  nothing  in  this  world  could  have 
been  more  improbable,  than  that  in  a  short  time  he  was  so  to  agi- 
tate the  whole  hierarchy  of  England,  and  the  city  which  he  was 
now  about  to  leave  forever  ! 


HISTORY  OP  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE.  47 


SECTION    II. 

THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  IN  ENGLISH  PREPARING  BY  TYNDALE,  FOR  CIRCULATION  IN 
HIS  NATIVE  LANB  ;  AND  IN  TWO  EDITIONS  FROM  THE  PRESS  BY  THE  CLOSE  OF 
1525. STATE  OF  ENGLAND  IMMEDIATELY  BEFORE  THEIR  RECEPTION. 

Tyndale  having  now  fully  resolved  on  going  abroad,  sailed 
direct  for  Hamburgh,  and  some  have  said  that  he  went  directly  to 
Luther,  and  completed  his  translation  in  confederacy  with  him  ; 
others  say  that  he  dwelt  at  Wittenberg  while  thus  engaged.  Both 
of  these  assertions  are  very  clearly  disproved,  and  it  seems  quite 
certain  that  he  remained,  the  first  year  of  his  residence  abroad,  at 
Hamburg,  and  had  no  intercourse  whatever  with  Lutlier. 

That  he  saw  and  conversed  w^ith  Luther  at  some  period,  may 
be  supposed,  though  we  have  not  a  shadov/  of  proof;  but  that  he 
had  done  either,  or  even  set  his  foot  in  Saxony,  before  tJie  publi- 
cation, of  his  Neil)  Testament,  is  shown  to  have  been  impossible. 

The  residence  of  Tyndale  at  Wittenberg,  was  nothing  more 
than  an  assumption,  serving  powerfully,  at  the  moment,  the  pur- 
pose of  Sir  Thomas  More,  his  calumniator.  The  evidence,  as  yet, 
is  distinctly  in  favor  of  Hamburgh,  and  as  for  "  confederacy  with 
Luther,"  that  has  been  pointedly  denied.  More  had  affirmed  that 
Tyndale  "w^as  luith  Luther  /«  Wittenberg ;"  and  Tyndale  replies, 
"that  is  not  truth."  Indeed,  these  words  are  his  emphatic  answer 
to  all  that  his  opponent  had,  either  of  malicious  purpose  or  by  mis- 
take, asserted  in  both  of  his  sentences,  already  quoted. 

We  also  know  the  movements  of  Luther  better  than  did  Sir 
Thomas  More  ;  and  these  were  such  during  this  year  that  it  is  ab- 
surd to  suppose  that  Tyndale  was  at  any  time  seeking  his  aid  in 
his  New  Testament. 

Tyndale  had  now  entered,  with  great  vigor,  on  two  of  the  most 
important  years  of  his  existence  ;  and  if,  when  his  productions  are 
once  discovered  in  England,  it  shall  come  out  in  evidence,  that,  in 
that  time,  he  had  translated  and  piinted  first  an  edition  of  the  gos- 
pel of  Matthew,  then  another  of  the  gospel  of  Mark,  with  two 
editions  of  the  New  Testament ;  this  will  demonstrate,  that  neither 
his  residence,  nor  his  labors,  have  ever  yet  been  understood. 

But  if  Tyndale,  in  1524,  abode  in  Hambvugh,  had  he  the  benefit 
of  any  assistance,  or  did  he  meet  witli  an  amanuensis  there  7 
Vfith  regard  to  the  first  inquiry,  he  himself  informs  us,  that  he 
"had  no  man  to  counterfeit,  neither  was  holpen  with  English  of 
any  that  had  interpreted  the  same,  or  such  like  thing  in  the  Scrip- 
ture before  time."  As  for  an  amanuensis,  and  one  who  was  also 
able  to  compare  the  text  with  him  when  translated  ;  he  seems  to 
have  had  first  one,  and  then  another,  who  remained  in  his  service 
for  a  considerable  time.  The  first  of  these  we  cannot  name,  though 
he  was  highly  esteemed  by  our  translator  ;  the  second  was  William 
Roye,  a  friar  observant  of  the  Franciscan  order  at  Greenwich. 


48  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

With  regard  to  the  progress  actually  made  during  this  year,  or. 
how  muchTyndale  may,  if  not  must,  have  accomplished  in  Ham- 
burgh, there  lias  never  been  any  distinct  information.  This,  how- 
ever, may  be  accounted  for  frgm  the  fact  never  having  been  before 
known,  that  previously  to  the  publication  of  his  New  Testament ; 
whether  in  quarto,  with  glosses,  or  in  octavo,  without  them  ;  Tyn- 
dale  had  printed  an  edition  of  Matthew,  as  well  as  of  Mark,  by 
themselves,  although  not  a  single  copy  has  ever  yet  been  identified. 
In  the  eager  search  for  the  Scriptures,  with  a  view  to  their  being 
destroyed,  they  may  have  been  sometimes  given  up,  to  save  a  Tes- 
tament ;  but  there  can  be  no  question  that  we  have  here  before  us 
Tyndale's  earliest  effort  for  the  benefit  of  his  country. 

After  John  Foxe  had  printed  his  loose  statement  in  his  Acts  and 
Monuments,  when  he  came  to  publish  Tyndale's  works,  in  1.573, 
he  glances  at  this  fact,  though  no  attention  has  ever  been  paid  to 
his  words.  In  his  life  of  Fryth,  talking  no  more  of  Saxony,  he 
has  said — '-'William  Tyndale  first  placed  himself  in  Germany, 
and  there  did  first  translate  the  gospel  of  St.  Matthew  into  English, 
and  after,  the  whole  New  Testament,"  &c.  His  mention  of  Mat- 
thew, by  itself,  certainly  appears  to  imply  some  distinction ;  but 
the  real  state  of  the  case  v-as  this — that  Tyndale  not  only  ''  first 
translated  Matthew,"  but  printed  it,  and  the  gospel  of  Mark  also. 
Both  of  these  we  shall  find  to  be  most  bitterly  denounced  in  the 
beginning  of  1527,  after  having  been  read ;  and  as  a  publication, 
not  only  separate  from  the  New  Testament  with  its  prologue,  but 
as  printed  previously. 

It  is  worthy  of  notice,  that  Humphrie  Munmouth,  in  a  memorial 
to  Wolsey  and  the  Council,  Vv^ho  had  been  in  possession  of  the 
earlist  New  Testament,  distinctly  confesses  that  he  had  "  received 
a  little  treatise,"  which  Tyndale  had  sent  to  him,  '■'■wheii  he  sent 
for  his  money,"  in  1524.  This,  at  least,  shows  that  he  had  been 
busily  engaged  in  the  city  where  he  had  first  landed.  But  if  this 
was  not  the  well-known  tract,  which  was  ere  long  to  produce  such 
eflfect,  entitled,  the  "  Supplication  of  Beggars,"  by  Mr.  Fish,  it  may 
have  been  these  gospels  or  one  of  them.  The  fact  of  both  gospels 
having  been  printed,  and  styled  emphatically,  "the  first  print,"  is 
certain  ;  and  we  simply  add,  that  the  place  where  they  were  printed, 
we  have  been  led  to  believe,  must  have  been  Hamburgh. 

Were  it  now  possible  to  relate,  in  full  detail,  the  history  of  the 
printing  of  the  first  two  editions  of  our  New  Testament  in  the 
English  language,  it  would  unquestionably  form  one  of  the  most 
striking  illustrations  of  the  superintending  providence  of  God 
over  his  own  Word ;  and  only  exceeded  by  its  introduction  into 
England  and  Scotland,  immediately  after  being  printed.  The  ac- 
count, however,  even  as  far  as  it  may  be  traced,  cannot  fail  to 
interest  all  those  who  desire  to  mark  the  hand  of  the  Supreme 
Being,  in  by  far  the  greatest  gift  which  He  has  ever  bestowed  on 
Britain. 

It  has  been  usual  to  represent  the  first  edition  of  Tyndale's  NeAv 
Testament  as  printed  at  Antwerp  in  the  year  1526,  and  so  dismiss 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  49 

the  subject.  We  shall  have  occasion  to  show  that,  though  not 
printed  under  his  eye,  this  was  the  third  edition  ;  and  that  the 
history  of  the  first  two  editions,  printed  in  1525,  by  Tyndale  him- 
self, elsewhere,  has  never  yet  been  properly  understood.  Indeed, 
so  defective  have  the  statements  hitherto  been,  that  although  two 
editions  were  distinctly  denounced,  both  by  the  Bishop  of  London 
and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  1526 ;  no  one  had  thought, 
till  very  lately,  of  either  inquiring  after  the  missing  book,  or  even 
allowing  the  quarto  edition  with  glosses,  to  have  then  existed. 
Every  particular  circumstance,  therefore,  which  can  be  properly 
authenticated,  respecting  these  first  two  productions  of  Tyndale's 
own  hand,  the  source  of  so  many  subsequent  editions  both  abroad 
and  at  home,  ought  to  be  recorded ;  and  more  especially,  since  so 
diligent  was  the  "  secret  search"  after  them,  and  so  frequent  the 
flames  which  consumed  them,  that,  of  the  octavo  impression,  only 
one  copy  of  the  sacred  text  remains  complete,  one  other  imperfect, 
and  of  the  quarto,  nothing  more  than  a  venerable  fragment.  This 
last,  however,  happily  includes  his  original  prologue  entire,  or 
the  very  first  sheets  thrown  off  at  the  Cologne  press. 

Having  left  the  place  of  his  abode,  which  we  have  assumed  to 
be  Hamburgh  ;  he  arrived  at  Cologne  on  the  Rhine^  in  the  end  of 
April  or  beginning  of  May  1525,  perhaps  earlier,  accompanied  bj^ 
his  amanuensis  William  Roye.  He  commenced  his  labors  by 
committing  to  the  press  his  New  Testament,  in  the  form  of  a 
quarto  volume.  Not  only  was  the  entire  sacred  text  then  trans- 
lated, but  his  prologue,  extending  to  fourteen  pages,  was  composed 
before  he  began  to  print.  This  appears  to  be  evident,  not  merely 
from  the  language  of  the  prologue  itself,  but  from  its  commencing 
with  sign  A  ij,  and  the  letters  running  on  regularly  through  the 
sacred  text. 

The  printers,  however,  had  only  proceeded  as  far  as  the  tenth 
sheet,  or  letter  K,  when  an  alarm  was  raised,  the  authorities  of  the 
place  informed,  and  the  work  interdicted.  Tyndale  and  Roye 
contrived  to  secure  the  sheets  printed  off,  and  sailing  up  the  Rhine 
to  Worms,  where  much  greater  liberty  could  at  this  time  be 
enjoyed,  they  proceeded  with  their  undertaking.  This  interrup- 
tion, though  felt  to  be  most  grievous  at  the  moment,  as  Tyndale 
afterwards  obscurely  hinted,  far  from  damping,  only  inflamed  his 
zeal,  and  the  remarkable  result  was,  that  two  editions  were  accom- 
plished by  him,  in  the  same  period  in  which  very  probably  he  had 
contemplated  only  one.  This  is  proved  by  the  testhnony  of  an 
opposer. 

Perhaps  the  most  virulent  enemy  to  the  Word  of  God  being- 
translated  into  any  vernacular  tongue,  who  ever  breathed,  was 
John  Cochlffius.  He  at  least  rose  above  all  his  contemporaries  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  with  an  unwearied  perseverance, 
worthy  of  a  better  cause,  he  not  only  strove  to  prevent  the  dif- 
fusion of  the  Scriptures,  and  longed  to  strangle  every  attempt  at 
their  translation  in  the  very  birth,  but  even  gloried  in  his  enmity 
to  all  such  proceedings. 

4 


50  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

According  to  Cochlaeus,  the  "two  English  apostates,"  as  he 
styles  Tyndale  and  Roye,  first  contemplated  an  edition  of  six 
thousand  copies,  but  for  prudential  reasons,  they  began  with  three 
thousand.  He  tells  us,  that  Pomeranus  had  already  sent  forward 
his  letter  to  the  saints  in  England,  and  that  Luther  himself  had 
written  his  conciliatory  letter  to  Henry  VHI.  Now  this  letter,  we 
know,  was  dated  the  1st  of  September  1525.  He  then  adds,  that 
it  had  been  anticipated,  this  English  New  Testament  in  quarto, 
would  soon  follow  ;  but  that  the  Lutherans,  overjoyed,  broke  the 
secret  before  the  time ;  or  in  other  words  he  hin^self  ferreted  out 
the  secret,  as  will  be  seen  by  his  own  confession.  We  have  only, 
therefore,  to  verify  the  residence  and  occupation  of  this  opponent 
during  1525  and  1526,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  precise  period  to 
which  his  account  refers.  During  the  year  1525,  Cochlteus  was 
actually  resident  in  Cologne,  but  not  in  1526.  While  there,  he 
was,  as  usual,  busily  engaged  in  writing  against  Melancthon, 
Velenus,  and  Luther,  as  well  as  in  searching  after  the  writings  of 
Rupert,  an  Abbot,  formerly  in  the  Monastery  of  Deutz,  imme- 
diately opposite  to  Cologne.  This  Abbot,  who  flourished  four 
hundred  years  before,  had  written  certain  commentaries  on  the 
Scriptures,  besides  several  other  pieces  ;  and  as  some  of  his  sen- 
timents were  thought  to  be  favorable  to  the  cause  of  divine  truth, 
its  friends  were  eager  to  procure  any  of  his  works,  and  publish 
such  of  them,  with  notes,  as  might  at  once  serve  their  cause,  and 
prove  that  their  doctrines  were  not  so  neio  as  their  opponents  rep- 
resented. One  of  his  little  pieces,  "  Of  the  Victory  of  the  Word 
of  God,"  had  been  already  printed,  with  annotations  by  Osiander 
of  Nuremberg,  and  the  Lutherans  were  actually  in  treaty  with, 
the  then  Abbot  of  Deutz,  expecting  from  him  other  works  of 
Rupert,  intending  to  convey  them  for  examination  to  Nuremberg, 
Cochlaeus  interposed,  alarmed  the  Abbot,  and,  lest  the  notes  and 
prologues  of  his  opponents  should  make  Rupert  appear  in  favor 
of  their  doctrine,  contrived  himself  to  gain  possession  of  the  whole. 
He  had  then  to  engage  parties  willing  to  publish,  and  though  he 
found  considerable  difficulty,  at  last  he  prevailed  on  Peter  Quentel, 
and  Arnold  Byrckman,  well-known  printers  of  the  place. 

Now  it  was  while  thus  engaged  at  Cologne,  in  1825,  that  Coch- 
laeus discovered  this  first  impression  of  the  English  New  Testa- 
ment, proceeding  briskly,  as  he  says,  or  swiftly  at  the  press  ;  yet, 
with  such  caution  had  both  Tyndale  and  Roye  conducted  them-  ■ 
selves,  that,  although  Cochlsus  succeeded  in  stopping  the  press, 
he  was  never  able  to  meet  either  the  one  or  the  other;  a  strik- 
ing proof,  by  the  way,  of  their  intimate  acquaintance  with  his 
character. 

In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  from  Cologne  to  Henry  VHL,  he 
describes  the  manner  in  which  he  put  a  stop  to  the  printing  of 
the  New  Testament  by  Tyndale  and  Roye.  He  was  engaged  in 
printing  the  works  of  Rupert,  and  becoming  familiar  with  the 
printers  at  Cologne,  "  he  sometimes  heard  them  confidently  boast, 
when  in  their  cups,  that  whether  the  King  and  Cardinal  of  Eng- 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  51 

land  would  or  not,  all  England  would  in  short  time  be  Lutheran. 
He  heard  also  that  there  were  two  Englishmen  lurking  there, 
learned,  skilful  in  languages,  and  fluent,  whom,  however,  he 
never  could  see  or  converse  ivith.  Calling,  therefore,  certain  print- 
ers into  his  lodging,  after  they  were  heated  with  wine,  one  of 
them,  in  more  private  discourse,  discovered  to  him  the  secret  by 
which  England  was  to  be  drawn  over  to  the  side  of  Luther — 
namely,  That  three  thousand  copies  of  the  Lutheran  New  Tes- 
tament, translated  into  the  English  language,  were  in  the  press, 
and  already  were  advanced  as  far  as  the  letter  K,  in  ordine 
qiiaternioneni.  That  the  expenses  were  fully  supplied  by  English 
merchants ;  who  were  secretl}'^  to  convey  the  work  when  printed, 
and  to  disperse  it  widely  through  all  England,  before  the  King  or 
the  Cardinal  could  discover  or  prohibit  it. 

"  Cochlseus,  being  inwardly  affected  by  fear  and  wonder,  dis- 
guised his  grief,  under  the  appearance  of  admiration.  But  another 
day,  considering  with  himself  the  magnitude  of  the  grievous 
danger,  he  cast  in  mind  by  what  method  he  might  expeditiously 
obstruct  these  very  wicked  attempts.  He  went,  therefore,  secretly, 
to  Herman  Rinck,  a  patrician  of  Cologne  and  Military  Knight, 
familiar  both  with  the  Emperor  and  the  King  of  England,  and  a 
Counsellor,  and  disclosed  to  him  the  whole  affair,  as,  by  means 
of  the  wine,  he  had  received  it.  He,  that  he  might  ascertain  all 
things  more  certainly,  sent  another  person  into  the  house  where 
the  work  was  printing,  according  to  the  discovery  of  Cochleeus ; 
and  when  he  had  understood  from  him  that  the  matter  was  even 
so,  and  that  there  was  great  abundance  of  paper  there,  he  went 
to  the  Senate,  and  so  brought  it  about  that  the  printer  was 
interdicted  from  proceeding  farther  in  that  work.  The  two  Eng- 
lish apostates,  snatching  away  ivith  them  the  quarto  sheets  printed^ 
fled  by  ship,  going  up  the  Rhine  to  Worms,  where  the  people 
were  under  the  full  rage  of  Lutheranism,  that  there,  by  another 
printer,  they  might  complete  the  work  begun.  Rinck  and  Coch- 
leeus, however,  immediately  advised  by  their  letters  the  King,  the 
Cardinal,  and  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  that  they  might,  with  the 
greatest  diligence,  taice  care  lest  that  most  pernicious  article  of 
merchandize  should  be  conveyed  into  all  the  ports  of  England." 

Although  tliis  arch-enemy  had  never  written  another  word, 
there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  period  of  this  vexatious 
interruption.  He  has  fixed  it  himself,  by  telling  us,  he  was  then 
an  exile  at  Cologne.  In  1523,  Cochlfeus  was  at  Rome,  in  1524 
he  was  at  Frankfort  and  Mentz,  and,  driven  from  both,  he  fled 
for  refuge  to  Cologne  in  1525.  There  he  remained  stationary 
till  the  beginning  of  1526,  when,  recalled  to  Mentz,  he  went  in 
June  to  the  Diet  of  Spire,  and  remained  till  August.  Returning 
to  Mentz,  he  paid  a  transient  visit  to  Cologne  in  1527,  but  not  as 
an  exile.  "  In  1525,"  says  Dupin,  "  Cochlajus,  who  had  been 
obliged  to  quit  first  Frankfort  and  then  Mentz,  because  of  the  pop- 
ular seditions  of  the  cities,  was  at  Cologne,  where  Eckius  going 
into  England,  had  an  interview  with  him. 


52  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  this  business  it  Avas  not  Wind  zeal 
only  by  which  he  was  actuated.  He  had  not  only  notoriety,  but 
gain  in  view,  and  was  mortified  in  obtaining  neither. 

The  only  fragment  of  the  quarto  edition  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testament,  of  1525,  that  escaped  the  flames  of  popery  and  the 
tooth  of  time,  now  adorns  the  library  of  the  Right  Honorable 
Thomas  Grenville. 

Tyndale  having  now  taken  up  his  residence  in  Worms,  remained 
there  till  the  year  1527, — a  far  more  favorable  place  for  the  prose- 
cution of  his  design.  The  commotions  of  the  people,  which  at 
Frankfort  and  Mentz  had  ended  in  triumph  over  the  old  opinions ; 
at  Cologne,  on  the  contrary,  had  been  subdued,  and  hence  it  was 
that  Cochlfeus  had  made  that  city  his  refuge  ;  for  at  Worms  he 
could  not  then  have  effected  what  he  had  done  at  Cologne.  Worms, 
on  the  contrary,  Cocblseus  has  told  us,  was  "under  the  full  rage 
of  Lulheranism,"  or,  in  the  more  sober  style  of  Seckendorf,  "was 
already  wholly  Lutheran."  So  much  the  better  for  our  Trans- 
lator, though  not  a  Lutheran  ;  for  his  enemy  will  turn  out  to  have 
been  only  promoting,  unintentionally,  the  very  undertaking  which 
he  meant  to  crush. 

Upon  his  airival  at  Worms,  we  are  not  left  to  inquire  whether 
he  lost  a  day,  as,  by  the  event,  we  know  full  v/ell  that  every  hour 
had  been  improved.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  perceive  his  sagacity  in 
his  mode  of  procedure.  His  quarto  Testament  had  been  not 
merely  interrupted,  but  exposed  by  a  malignant  enemy,  whose 
very  eye  he  had  evaded ;  the  book  had  been  described,  and  even 
to  the  highest  authorities  in  England,  as  well  as  marked  out  for 
seizure,  if  possible.  Changing,  therefore,  the  size,  leaving  out  the 
prologue  and  the  g-losses,  which,  by  the  way,  was  a  great  improve- 
ment, an  octavo  edition  must  have  been  immediately  commenced 
at  press,  though  certainly  the  quarto  was  not  consigned  to  oblivion. 
Copies  of  these  precious  books,  it  will  appear,  were  read  in  Eng- 
land early  in  1526  ;  and  thcquartoh.3.d  been  purchased,  and  "read 
thoroughly,"  in  the  spring  of  that  year  ;  eight  months  before  the 
formal  denunciation  of  Tunstal,  or  nine  months  before  that  of 
Warham  \  when  both  were  denounced,  and  said  to  abound,  not 
only  in  the  diocese  of  London,  but  throughout  the  province  of  Can- 
terbury. Copies  of  one  edition,  if  not  both,  had  also  reached 
Scotland  in  the  same  year  ! 

Tyndale,  with  his  amanuensis,  had  now  found  refuge  within 
the  noted  city  of  Worms.  It  was  but  httle  more  than  four  years 
since  Martin  Luther,  attired  in  his  friar's  frock  and  cowl,  and 
seated  in  his  vehicle,  preceded  by  the  emperor's  herald  on  horse- 
back, had  entered  the  same  place;  where  the  Saxon  nobles  meet- 
ing him  and  forming  in  procession,  two  thousand  persons  accom- 
panied him  through  the  streets  to  his  inn.  It  was  a  larger  assem- 
blage than  that  which  had  graced  the  Emperor's  own  approach  to 
the  Diet.  Then,  too,  and  there,  Cochlcens,  who  had  occasioned 
our  English  Translator's  flight  from  Cologne,  could  hold  up  his 
head,  and  even  force  himself  into  LiUther's  presence ;    now,  he 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  53 

dared  not  enter  the  place.  With  this  memorable  scene  and  its 
consequences,  Tyndale  must  have  been  intimately  acquainted  : 
but  when  discussing-  the  subject  on  Sodbury  hill,  how  strange 
must  it  have  seemed  to  him,  had  any  one  added  : — "And  you  too 
must,  before  long-,  enter  Worms  ;  not  to  leave  it  in  haste  as  Luther 
had  to  do,  but  to  fulfil  the  desire  of  your  heart,  which  you  will 
never  be  able  to  accomplish  in  all  England  !"  Yet  what  a  contrast 
have  Ave  between  Luther's  entrance,  surrounded  by  his  Electors 
and  Princes,  and  the  humble  approach  of  Tyndale,  with  his  bale 
of  printed  sheets  !  This  becomes  still  more  striking,  if  we  recol- 
lect, that  four  years  ago,  it  was  from  this  very  city  that  Luther, 
hardly  escaping,  was  carried  off  to  his  Patmos,  or  his  castle  on  the 
heights  of  the  Wartburg,  there,  in  quiet  repose  and  solitude,  to 
translate  his  New  Testament.  Tyndale  now  entered  to  print  his  ; 
to  finish  also  in  AVorms,  what  he  had  commenced  in  Cologne  ;  and 
to  pursue  his  design,  even  after  the  Testaments  were  off  to  their 
destination. 

Of  the  small  octavo  New  Testament  here  printed,  the  fruitful 
parent  of  so  many  editions,  only  one  perfect  copy  of  the  text  re- 
mains, and  no  place  of  safe  deposit  in  all  England  could  be  more 
appropriate  than  Bristol,  the  city  where  Tyndale  himself  used  to 
preach.  The  unique  fragment  of  the  quarto  was  discovered  only, 
as  it  were,  the  other  day ;  but  the  history  of  this  precious  small 
octavo  volume  we  can  trace  for  more  than  a  hundred  years — and 
it  will  be  found  somev.'hat  curious.  Above  a  century  ago  it 
formed  one  of  the  volumes  in  the  Harleian  Library  of  Lord  Ox- 
ford, thougli  liow  long  it  had  been  there  is  not  known.  Mr  John 
Murray,  one  of  his  lordship's  collectors,  had  picked  it  up  some- 
where. The  Earl  gave  ten  guineas  for  the  book,  says  Mr.  Ames ; 
twenty,  says  Dr.  Gifford ;  but  both  agree  that  he  also  settled  £20 
a-year  for  life  on  Murray,  who  had  procured  it.  The  Earl  of 
Oxford  died  in  1741,  without  male  issue,  and  his  Library  of  printed 
books  was  sold  to  Mr.  Thomas  Osborne  for  c€13,000. 

Mr.  Osborne  had  not  been  aware  of  the  rarity  and  value  of  his 
book,  for  after  describing  it,  he  adds :— "  In  this  book  no  date  is 
left,  but  it  appears  to  be  Tyndale's  version,  and  is  probably  one  of 
the  editions  printed  in  Holland,  before  his  revisal"  in  1534.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  marked  the  price  at  no  more  than  fifteen  shillings  ! 
At  this  price  Mr.  Ames  bought  it,  when  he  not  only  congratulated 
himself  on  purchasing  what  he  styled  the  Phoenix  of  the  entire 
Library ;  but  writes,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1743,  in  a  letter  to  a 
friend,  that  the  annuity  of  twenty  pounds  was  yet  paid  to  Mr. 
Murray,  he  being  still  alive.  One  hundred  pounds  more,  however, 
was  still  forthcoming,  for  the  annuity  was  honorably  paid,  until 
Murray's  decease  in  1748  !  On  the  13th  of  May  1760,  Mr.  Ames' 
books  came  to  be  sold  by  Mr.  Langford,  and  the  Testament  was 
bought  for  fourteen  guineas  and  a  half,  by  Mr.  John  Whyte,  the 
bookseller.  He  possessed  it  sixteen  years  to  a  day,  having  sold  it 
on  the  13th  of  May  1776.  On  the  book  itself,  therefore,  there  is 
the  following  note  "in  manuscript.     ^'N.B. — This  choice  book  was 


54  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

purchased  at  Mr.  Langford's  sale,  13th  May  1760,  by  me.  John 
Whyte  ;  and  on  the  13th  day  of  May  1776, 1  sold  it  to  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Gifford  for  20  guineas,  the  price  first  paid  for  it  by  the  late  Lord 
Oxford." 

Here,  then,  are  two  separate  editions  of  the  New  Testament, 
both  finished  at  Worms  by  the  close  of  the  year  1525  ;  and  printed, 
we  believe,  by  Peter  Schoeffer,  son  of  the  associate  of  Guttemberg 
and  Faust. 

The  parties  in  opposition,  let  it  be  first  observed,  generally  mark 
out  the  quarto  with  glosses  ;  while  the  only  distinct  reference  of 
Tyndale  himself,  is  to  the  octavo,  without  them,  in  his  preface  to 
the  Pentateuch.  The  explanation  is  of  no  little  importance.  The 
prologue  and  glosses,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  excited  great  fear 
in  the  breast  of  the  enemy.  Thus  when  Sir  Thomas  More  refers 
to  the  period  of  Tyndale's  first  efforts  in  translating,  he  will  have 
it,  that  "at  that  time  he  set  certain  glosses  in  the  Tnargin  f  an 
undoubted  fact,  though  not  done,  as  he  affirms,  "  at  Wittenberg." 
In  these  glosses,  as  well  as  the  text  itself,  there  was  ample  room 
for  denunciation,  if  typographical  errors  were  to  be  set  down  as 
so  many  heresies.  "  There  is  not  so  much,"  said  Tyndale,  "  as 
one  i  therein,  if  it  lack  a  tittle  over  his  head,  but  they  have  noted 
it,  and  number  it  unto  the  ignorant  people  for  an  heresy."  Tun- 
stal  after  his  return  from  Spain,  or  late  in  1526,  had  busied  him- 
self in  marking  these,  till  he  had  got  up  to  the  number  of  2000  ; 
although  more  than  ten  times  that  number  have  been  found  in 
one  of  our  Testaments,  printed  above  a  hundred  years  later.  Now, 
in  this  view,  the  precious  relic  lately  discovered,  when  compared 
with  the  octavo  in  Bristol,  affords  striking  proof  that  the  quarto 
sheets  must  have  been  first  printed.  The  spelling,  indeed,  even 
of  the  octavo,  is  irregular,  as  might  be  expected  at  that  early  pe- 
riod, but  still  the  two  editions  admit  of  pointed  comparison.  Wit- 
ness the  following  words : 


1.  Quarto. 

2.  Octavo. 

1.  Quarto. 

2.  Octavo. 

prophettes 

prophets. 

moore 

more. 

moththes 

mothes. 

pierles 

pearles. 

synners 

sinners. 

yooke 

yoke. 

mooste 

most. 

burthen 

burden. 

streached 

stretched. 

sekynge 

seking. 

In  every  other  case,  this  would  be  at  once  admitted  as  decisive 
evidence,  that  the  octavo  followed,  and  did  not  precede  the  quarto. 
That  Tyndale  should  improve,  as  in  the  octavo,  was  natural ; 
but,  although  it  has  actually  been  done,  to  suppose  he  would  spell 
as  in  the  quarto,  afterwards,  is  absurd.  That  it  was  this  quarto 
on  which  Tunstal  so  foolishly  expatiated,  next  year  at  St.  Paul's, 
after  having  issued  his  inhibition,  there  can  be  little  or  no  doubt. 
For  although  Le  Long  merely  mistakes  one  year,  he  expressly 
states,  that  "  his  lordship  made  this  reflection  of  no  fewer  than 
2000  texts,  on  an  English  translation  of  the  New  Testament, 
printed  at  Cologne  and  Worms,  1526,  4to."     Lewis,  after  quoting 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  55 

this,  adds,  as  the  only  reason  for  his  scepticism,  "but  no  such  edition 
appears.''^  Now,  however,  a  sufficient  portion  of  it  has  appeared, 
nearly  a  century  after  Lewis,  or  above  three  hundred  years  after  it 
was  printed.  This  too,  as  already  noticed,  is  the  identical  book  to 
which  Roye  alludes,  when  treating  the  hypercriticism  of  Tunstal 
with  ridicule ;  it  is  from  this  prologue  that  he  quotes,  ahd  it  is  the 
burning  of  this  book  entire,  which  Roye  so  graphically  describes 
in  his  Satyre.  •'  It  is  reported,"  said  Cochlieus  at  the  close  of  his 
statement,  "that  Lord  Cuthbert  Tunstal,  a  most  eloquent  man, 
then  Bishop  of  London,  now  of  Durham,  when  he  had  obtained 
one  of  these  copies^  publicly  affirmed,  in  a  most  ample  oration  to 
the  people  of  London,  that  he  had  detected  above  2000  deprava- 
tions and  perversions  in  this  one  work."  Tunstal,  after  all,  was 
not  the  first  who  took  alaruL  Far  from  it — he  was  not  in 
England ;  and  though  we  must  not  anticipate,  there  is  coming  a 
liiglier  denunciator  of  this  very  book,  eight  months  before  the 
Bishop,  when  he  was  as  far  distant  as  Madrid. 

Tyndale,  on  the  contrary,  alludes  to  the  octavo  edition  without 
tiotes,  and  it  v.^as  by  this  that  he  abode.  This  allusion,  however, 
let  it  be  observed,  was  made  in  the  year  1530.  Now,  the  truth 
is,  and  it  should  never  have  passed  without  special  observation  by 
posterity,  that  it  was  upon  this  ground,  that  Tyndale  and  his  de- 
voted friend  Fryth,  had  then  long  entrenched  themselves, — the 
Scripture  without  note  and  comment.  "  I  assure  you,"  said  Tyn- 
dale, the  very  next  year  to  his  Majesty's  ambassador,  then  hunt- 
ing for  him  on  the  Continent, — "  1  assure  you,  if  it  would  stand 
with  the  King's  most  gracious  pleasure,  to  grant  only  a  hare  text 
of  the  Scriptures  to  he  put  forth  among  his  people,  I  shall  im- 
mediately make  faithful  promise  7iever  to  write  niore.^''  And  so 
afterwards,  in  1533,  said  Fryth,  upon  English  ground,  to  the  Lord 
Chancellor  More. 

"  But  this  hath  heen  offered  you,  is  offered,  and  shall  be  offered. 
Grant  that  the  Word  of  God,  I  mean  the  text  of  Scripture,  may 
go  abroad  in  our  English  tongue ;  and  my  hrother,  William  Tyn- 
dale, and  I  have  done,  and  will  promise  you  to  ivrite  no  more.  If 
j^ou  will  not  grant  this  condition,  then  will  we  be  doing  while  we 
have  breath,  and  shew  in  few  words,  that  the  Scripture  doth  in 
many,  and  so  at  the  least  save  some." 

The  burning  zeal  of  no  two  men  born  in  Britnin  ever  had  less 
of  self,  and  private  interest  in  it,  than  theirs  had.  It  was  not  for 
glosses,  or  comments,  that  they  stood  and  fought  so  nobly,  all 
alone.  To  form  any  mere  sect  they  never  longed,  and  they  died 
without  any  such  consequence  following;  an  event  deeply  instruct- 
ive, and  one  which  might  be  of  infinite  importance  at  the  pres- 
ent hour,  were  it  properly  understood.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  that 
throughout  these  manuscripts,  the  term  Tyndalian  occurs  only 
once,  in  the  letter  of  an  enemy,  but  it  never  took  ;  and  Tyndale 
left  the  world  without  leaving  any  circle  of  mere  partisans  to  hand 
down  his  name  to  posterity. 

Here,  then,  let  it  be  observed,  were  our  two  first  witnesses  ;  the 


56  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

two  men,  not  only  first  engaged  in  translating,  but  who  led  the 
van  in  pleading  for  the  Scriptures  "  going  abroad"  without  note  or 
comment.  And  is  there  now  no  tribute  imperatively  due  to  their 
memory  and  character,  for  having  so  done  ?  Let  the  mere  secta- 
rian, of  whatever  name,  make  of  this  fact  what  he  may;  Ave  must 
not,  even  thus  early,  withhold  another,  which  is  never  to  be  sep- 
arated from  it.  To  their  bold  and  first  appeal,  therefore,  we  simply 
add,  as  an  historical  axiom,  of  the  deepest  import,  and  one  which 
for  three  hundred  years,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  observe — that 
the  Sacred  text,  tvithoiit  note  and  comment,  has  proved  not  only 
the  best  mode  of  procedure  for  meeting  the  enemy  ;  but  that  which 
time  and  Providence  have  distinctly  sanctioned,  down  to  o'ar  own 
day;  when  it  has  prospered  to  an  extent,  far,  very  far  beyond  the 
anticipations  of  the  most  sanguine.  Events  themselves,  during 
that  long  period,  will  often  speak,  and  say,  or  seem  to  say — "  He 
that  hath  my  word,  let  him  speak,"  and  dispense  "  my  word  faith- 
fully." 

There  is  now  only  one  concluding  remark  forcibly  suggested 
by  comparison  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Reader  in  the  octavo,  Vvith 
the  Prologue  prefixed  to  the  c(uarto.  The  former,  brief  in  itself, 
and  abrupt  in  its  commencement,  has  all  the  appearance  of  eager 
despatch  ;  on  the  contrary,  the  opening  of  the  quarto  prologue, 
wears  all  the  Iformality  and  precision  usually  adopted,  when  in- 
troducing to  the  reader  a /?/"5^  attempt.  Witness  the  commence- 
ment of  the  Epistle, — 

"  Give  diligence.  Reader,  (I  exhort  thee,)  that  thou  come  with  a 
pure  mind,  and,  as  the  Scripture  saith,  with  a  single  eye,  unto  the 
words  of  health,  and  of  eternal  life  :  by  the  which  if  we  repent 
and  believe  them,  we  are  born  anew,  created  afresh,  and  enjoy  the 
fruits  of  the  blood  of  Christ." 

Contrast  this  with  the  deliberate  and  formal  language  of  the 
Prologue,  so  worthy  of  special  notice  now.  It  has  never  before 
been  presented  entire,  and  as  it  stands,  since  the  day  on  which 
the  sheet  was  thrown  off  at  Cologne.  They  are  not  a  few  who 
will  admire  the  modesty,  the  diffidence,  not  to  say  the  simple 
beauty  of  the  following  sentences : — 

tyndale's  first  language  in  print    to  the  people  of 

GOD    in    ENGLAND. 

I  have  here  translated,  brethren  and  sisters,  most  dear  and  ten- 
derly beloved  in  Christ,  the  New  Testament,  for  your  spiritual 
edifying,  consolation  and  solace :  Exhorting  instantly,  and  be- 
seeching those  that  are  better  seen  in  the  tongues  than' I,  and  that 
have  higher  gifts  of  grace  to  interpret  the  sense  of  the  Scripture, 
and  meaning  of  the  'Spirit,  than  I,  to  consider  and  ponder  my 
labor,  and  that  loith  the  spirit  of  meekness.  And  tf  they  per- 
ceive in  any  places  that  I  have  not  attained  the  very  sense  of  the 
tongue,  or  meaning  of  the  Scripture,  or  have  not  given  the  rigid 
English  word,  that  they  put  to  their  hands  to  amend  it,  rem'em- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  57 

hering  that  so  is  their  duty  to  do.  For  roe  have  not  received,  the 
gifts  of  God  for  ourselves  only.,  or  for  to  hide  them :  but  for  to 
bestow  them  unto  the  honoring  of  God  and  Christ,  and  edifying 
of  the  congregation,  which  is  the  body  of  Christ. 

"  The  causes  that  moved  me  to  translate,  I  thought  better  that 
others  should  imagine,  than  that  I  should  rehearse  them.  More- 
over, I  supposed  it  su])erfiuous  ;  for  who  is  so  blind  to  ask,  why 
light  should  be  shoioed  to  them  that  ivalk  in  darkness,  where 
they  cannot  but  stumble,  and  where  to  stumble,  is  the  danger  of 
eternal  datnnation  ;  eitlier  so  despiteful  that  he  ivould  envy  any 
man  (/  speak  not  his  brother)  so  necessary  a  thing ;  or  so 
bedlam  mad  as  to  affirm  that  good  is  the  natural  cause  of  evil, 
and  darkness  to  proceed  out  of  light,  and  that  lying  should  be 
grounded,  in  truth  and  verity  ;  and  not  rather  clean  contrary, 
that  light  destroyeth  darkness,  and  verity  reproveth  all  manner 
(of)  lying. 

"  After  it  had  pleased  God  to  put  in  my  mind,  and  also  to 
give  me  grace  to  translate  this  forerehearsed  (before  mentioned) 
NeiD  Testament  into  our  English  tongue,  hoivsoever  we  have 
done  it,  I  supposed  it  very  necessary  to  put  you  in  remembrance 
of  certain  points.^'' 

The  reader,  we  presume,  cannot  but  be  gratified  by  a  fac-simile 
of  these  words,  in  their  original  orthography.  He  will  observe  the 
letter  Y,  then  generally  used  for  I ;  whicli  first  led  to  the  discov- 
ery of  what  the  fragment  is;  and  here  he  may  contemplate  not 
merely  the  first  page  of  text,  in  the  first  sheet  of  a  work  thrown  off 
at  press,  in  the  year  1525,  at  Cologne  ;  but  the  veritable  origin  of 
all  those  millions  of  English  Scriptures  now  reading  in  so  many  dif- 
ferent and  distant  parts  of  the  globe — parts  utterly  unknown  to  our 
immortal  Translator,  when  he  sent  the  sheet  to  the  press — parts 
then  untrodden  by  any  Englishman — parts  then  undiscovered  ! 

It  shows  that  Tyndale,  with  all  gravity,  recognized  no  instiga- 
tor under  God,  and  ascribed  to  his  grace  alone,  the  entire  glory  of 
his  work.  Such  had  been  his  language  in  print,  before  ever  Coch- 
Iseus  had  set  his  foot  in  Cologne.  But  now,  that  he  had  been 
so  defamed  by  this  enemy ;  hear  his  emphatic  disclaimer  from 
Worms.  "  Beseeching  the  learned  to  consider  that  he  had  no 
m,an  to  follow  as  an  example,  neither  was  holpen  with  English  of 
any  that  had  interpreted  the  same,  or  siich  like  thing  in  the 
Scripture  before  time."  Sir  Thomas  More  had  read  this,  though 
he  did  not  choose,  as  it  was  not  convenient,  to  believe  it.  But 
surely,  if  any  individual  of  that  age  may  be  regarded  as  an  agent 
walking  independently  of  his  fellows,  it  will  turn  out  to  have  been 
our  English  exile — 

A  man  of  manners,  morals,  prudence,  parts, 
Unpatroniz'd,  and  therefore  little  known, — 

a  man,  whose  character  and  powerful  talents  have  been  so  griev- 
ously  misrepresented,  and    so  misunderstood,  up  to  the  present 


58  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

hour.  We  only  hope  that  the  following  pages  may  have  some  ef- 
fect in  redeeming  liis  mempry  from  that  state  of  mere  pupilage, 
or  reliance  on  the  German  Reformer,  which  if  not  true  m  point  of 
fact,  ought  to  have  been  corrected,  at  least  in  England,  long  ago ; 
as  well  as  from  that  "confederacy  with  Luther,"  first  forged  by 
the  enemy  for  the  vilest  of  purposes,  and  then  so  simply  received 
and  retailed  by  his  countrymen,  from  John  Foxe  downwards. 

We  are  now  just  upon  the  eve  of  returning  into  England,  after 
spending  two  years  abroad,  in  company  with  our  Translator ;  but 
before  we  do  return — before  the  uproar  and  the  consternation  be- 
gin  before  the  wrath  of  1-526  burst  out — while  these  precious  vol- 
umes are  only  coming  over  that  sea,  which  Tyndale  had  passed 
over  to  send  ;  and  before  either  the  quarto  or  octavo  had  arrived  in 
our  native  land ;  there  is  one  additional  event  which  must  not  be 
omitted  even  here,  though  it  has  to  be  explained  more  distinctly 
three  months  hence,  at  the  moment  of  its  occurrence. 

If  there  was  any  advantage  anticipated  by  Tyndale,  from  send- 
ino-  over  the  octavo  without  notes  "  now  at  the  first  time" — if  it 
was  indeed  so  sent — there  must  have  ensued  a  second  momentary 
disappointment.  If  there  was  any  device  or  contrivance  adopted^ 
then  it  certainly  failed,  completely  failed  !  This  quarto,  with 
glosses,  had  been  the  first  born  of  his  imagination,  and  we  have 
seen  that  his  whole  heart  was  set  upon  giving  the  sacred  text^ 
what  was  strangely  styled  "  Us  full  shape.^'  But  the  Divine 
Author  will  as  distinctly  say  nai/  in  London,  as  he  had  already 
done  at  Cologne  !  For,  after  all,  we  shall  find  next  year,  that  this 
quarto  book  was  first  held  up  in  warning  to  the  people.  The 
book  "  with  glosses  and  prefaces"  was  first  condemned, — con- 
demned, too,  by  no  less  authority  than  that  of  Henry  VIII.  liim- 
self,  with  Wolsey's  full  concurrence,  if  not  his  advice, — and  con- 
demned eight  months  before  either  Tunstal  or  Warham  held  up 
also  the  octavo,  without  notes,  for  destruction. 

Tyndale  certainly  intended  that  the  book  with  glosses  should 
follow  "  in  time  to  come,"  however  short.  Providence  caused  it  to 
precede,  and,  at  the  same  time,  over  ruled  it  as  a  decoy  for  several 
months  !  All  that  time,  therefore,  the  precious  little  volume 
must  have  been  fulfiling  its  commission,  and  passing  into  its 
hiding  place  in  unknown  directions  ! 

Nor  is  the  curious  fact  of  the  New  Testament  "  wtV/t  glosses  and 
prefaces"  being  first  condemned,  and  then  passing  into  oblivion 
through  all  history,  for  above  three  hundred  years,  an  event  carry- 
ing no  instruction  or  monition.  Quite  the  reverse.  .All  who  ven- 
erate Divine  Revelation  in  its  purity,  will  remember  that  this  was 
the  commencement  of  a  new  era  for  Britain,  more  important  than 
she  had  ever  witnessed,  or  in  truth  has  witnessed  since.  Com- 
ments, therefore,  or  glosses,  additions  of  man's  devising,  professed- 
ly to  make  the  sacred  language  more  intelligible  than  that  of  its 
Divine  Author,  or  turn  it  to  a  certain  meaning,  were  not  to  be 
treated  as  of  small  account.  As  matter  of  history  they  were  not 
and  have  not  been  so  treated.     These  glosses  sunk  the  book  into 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    JBIBLE.  59 

the  shades  ;  just  as  those  notes,  sometimes  styled  contemptuously 
the  Geneva  spectacles,  afterwards  operated  on  that  otherwise  val- 
uable translation. 

Never,  then,  let  it  pass  unobserved,  how  soon,  and  how  clearly, 
Tyndale  and  Fryth  saw  through  this  ;  how  soon  our  Translator 
put  the  King-  of  England  upon  the  alternative  of  receiving,  or  not 
receiving,  the  sacred  text  alone  ;  or  how  decidedly,  and  upon  Eng- 
lish ground,  Fryth  repeated  the  bold  appeal,  to  the  Lord  Chancel- 
lor, Sir  Thomas  More.  The  warfare  was  at  once  reduced  to  a 
single  point.  Receive^  or  not  receive,  the  Sacred  Volume, 
without  note  or  comment  •  so  that  we  have  now  to  witness  the 
man  who,  by  way  of  eminence,  fought  on  one  side,  and  the  men 
who,  by  way  of  eminence,  or  we  might  say  the  nation,  who  fought 
against  him.  This  important  fact  not  only  affords  us  a  notable 
commencement  to  our  history,  but  it  will  connect  itself,  very  pow- 
erfully, with  the  close  of  this  work,  or  the  larger  movements  of 
the  present  day. 


SECTION    III 


MEMORABLE    INTRODUCTION   OF    THE    NEW  TESTAMENT   INTO   ENGLAND — THE    TWO 

FIRST  EDITIONS THE  FIRST  ALARM  IN  LONDON,  OXFORD,  CAMBRIDGE THE  FIRST 

BURNING  OF  BOOKS NEW  TESTAMENT  DENOUNCED  BY  THE  KING  AND  WOLSEY 

THEN  BY  TUNSTAL    AND  WARHAM THE    THIRD   EDITION VIOLENT    CONTENTION 

RESPECTING  IT BURNING  IT  ABROAD  AND  AT  HOME BUT  IN  VAIN. 

That  interesting  period  when  the  Word  of  God,  printed  in 
our  native  tongue,  was  first  found  in  England,  had  now  arrived. 
It  was  in  January  1.526.  On  the  banks  of  the  Rhine,  Tyndale 
had  finished  his  New  Testaments  at  the  press,  but  how  was  it 
possible  for  them  ever  to  be  conveyed  into  our  contry  ?  Had  not 
Rincke  and  Cochlaeus  warned  the  Cardinal  himself,  the  King, 
and  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  that  they  might  "with  the  greatest 
diligence  take  care"  lest  one  of  them  should  come  into  any  port  in 
all  England  ?  They  certainly  had,  and  in  good  time,  so  that  it 
is  no  fault  of  theirs,  if  all  opposing  parties  were  not  now  on  the 
alert.  Yet  here  are  the  dreaded  books,  and  upon  English  ground, 
and  not  only  in  the  metropolis,  but  in  both  universities,  to  say 
nething,  at  this  moment,  of  the  country  at  large  ! 

It  is  natural,  however,  first  to  inquire  whether  there  were  any 
circumstances,  at  the  moment,  favorable  to  their  introduction.  Of 
all  other  men,  the  two  most  able  and  most  likely  to  have  pre- 
vented their  arrival,  or  immediately  suppressed  them,  were  Wolsey 
and  Tunstal,  the  Bishop  of  London.  But  the  former  was  now 
completely  engrossed  by  affairs  of  state  policy,  both  abroad  and  at 
home — abroad  he  was  urging,  nay,  rousing  the  French  Cabinet 
to  renewed  war  with  the  Emperor ;  at  home,  he  was  concluding 


60  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

peace  with  Scotland,  and  also  busily  engaged  in  reforming  his 
master's  household,  or  framing  what  were  called  "  the  Statutes  of 
Eltham."  The  Bishop  of  London  was  not  in  the' country,  having 
been  happily  removed  out  of  the  way  eight  months  before  ;  he  was 
still  ambassador  in  Spain,  and  not  to  return  till  August  or  Sep- 
tember ;  so  that  his  name  never  should  have  been  associated,  as 
it  has  generally  been,  with  the  first  reception  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testament.  More  than  tliis,  the  winter  was  peculiarly  unhealthy, 
and  such  was  the  alarm  created  by  great  mortality,  that  the 
courts  had  been  adjourned — the  authorities  were  out  of  the  way — 
the  King  was  keeping  his  Christmas  at  Eltham,  in  private,  with 
a  few  friends,  "  for  in  the  King's  house,"  says  Halle,  "  this  was 
called  the  still  Christmas" — and  Wolsey,  after  carousing  at  Rich- 
mond for  a  few  days,  had  to  attend  His  Majesty  on  business  at 
Eltham,  from  the  8th  to  the  22d  of  January. 

Such  a  conjunction  of  circumstances  but  seldom  occurred,  and, 
without  straining  a  point,  they  may  surely  be  regarded  as  provi- 
dential ;  for  they  afforded  certain  opportunities,  which,  we  shall 
tiad,  had  been  most  busily  improved. 

From  wliat  particular  port  on  the  Continent  the  first  copies  were 
sent,  and  to  what  port  in  England  they  came,  may  remain  for- 
ever a  secret.  The  probability  is,  that  some  came  from  Antwerp, 
while  others  were  sent  from  Worms  down  the  Rhine  through 
Holland,  and  so  from  dilferent  places.  Be  this  as  it  may,  we 
know  for  certain  of  two  gentlemen,  who  engaged  in  very  early,  if 
not  the  first,  active  measures  as  to  the  importation  itself;  namely, 
Simon  Fysh,  of  Gray's  Inn,  London,  and  George  Herman,  a  citizen 
of  Antwerp,  and  merchant  in  the  English  house  there;  while  dar- 
ing this  month  of  January  1526,  we  shall  find  that  not  a  few  of 
tlie  most  learned  young  men  in  England  were  eagerly  perusing 
Tyndale's  first  productions. 

It  was  on  the  2d  of  February,  that  an  insignificant  incident 
gave  birth  to  the  first  great  alarm.  It  well  deserves,  therefore,  to 
be  noticed.  Simon  Fysh,  already  mentioned,  a  native  of  Kent, 
after  receiving  his  education  at  Oxford,  had  taken  up  his  residence 
as  a  lawyer  in  Gray's  Inn,  London.  A  play,  or  tragedy,  as  Foxe 
calls  it,  composed  by  a  Mr.  Roo  or  Row,  of  the  same  Inn,  in  one 
part  of  which  Wolsey  tliought  himself  deeply  impugned,  was  about 
to  be  acted  in  private  ;  and  this  part,  after  others  through  fear 
had  declined,  Fysh  undertook  to  perform.  He  did  so  once,  but 
never  could  a  second  time,  for  "  the  same  night  that  this  tragedy 
was  played,"  Fysh  was  compelled  to  leave  his  own  house,  and 
finally  escape  to  the  Continent.  How  often  did  the  Cardinal, 
with  all  his  sagacity,  put  forth  his  hand  to  his  own  downfall  ? 
Though,  confessedly,  a  deep  politician,  he  was  far  from  under- 
standing the  policy  of  non-interference.  This  attempt  at  appre- 
hension must  have  occurred  before  the  end  of  1523,  if  it  be  correct, 
as  Foxe  affirms,  that  "  the  next  year  following"  lie  composed  the 
tract  entitled  "  the  Supplication  of  Beggars."  Mr.  Fysh  is  stated 
to  have  been  with  Tyndale  abroad,  and  if  so,  "  the  little  treatise" 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  61 

which  Munmouth  depones  that  Tyndale  "  sent  to  him  from  Ham- 
burgh in  1524,  when  he  sent  for  his  money,"  may  have  been  this 
pubUcation,  if  it  was  not  the  Gospel  of  Matthew.  But,  whether 
the  one  or  the  other,  the  "Supphcation"  must  have  been  in  exist- 
ence in  1525,  from  what  we  know  of  its  history. 

In  the  shape  of  a  "Supphcation,"  addressed  "to  the  King  our 
Sovereign  Lord,"  it  convejed  the  most  wholesome  and  astounding 
advice  to  Henry  VHI.,  and  the  parties  interested  were  so  very 
fortunate  as  to  reach  his  ear  through  one  of  his  confidential  ser- 
vants or  footmen,  whom  Foxe  calls  Edmund  Moddis.  This  man 
had  read  the  book  himself,  and  told  his  Majesty,  that  "if  lie  would 
pardon  him,  and  such  men  as  he  would  bring  to  his  grace,  he 
should  see  such  a  book  as  was  marvel  to  hear  of"  The  King 
fixed  a  time,  and  thus  two  merchants,  George  Eliot,  and  George 
Robinson,  v/ere  favored  with  a  private  audience.  His  Majesty, 
whose  curiosity  had  been  excited  by  the  representation  of  his  con- 
fidential servant,  patiently  listened  to  every  line,  as  it  was  read  to 
him  by  Eliot. 

This  powerful  tract^  for  it  was  nothing  more,  written  in  a  popu- 
lar style,  contained  an  unmeasured  attack  on  the  whole  fraternity 
of  Monks  and  Friars,  Pardoners  and  Sumners,"  into  whose  hands 
an  immense  proportion  of  the  nation's  wealth  had  already  passed. 
Their  growing  power,  already  impairing  and  threatening  to  de- 
stroy that  of  the  Crown  itself,  was  denounced  in  the  strongest 
terms.  "  This  is  the  great  scab,"  said  Fysh,  "  why  they  will  not 
let  the  New  Testament  go  abroad  in  your  mother  tongue^  lest  men 
should  espy  that  they,  by  their  cloaked  hypocrisy,  do  translate, 
thus  fast,  your  kingdom  into  their  hands." 

At  the  close  of  its  being  read,  and  after  a  long  pause,  the  King 
is  reported  to  have  said,  "  if  a  man  should  pull  down  an  old  stone 
wall,  and  begin  at  the  lower  part,  the  upper  part  thereof  might 
chance  to  fall  on  his  head ;"  then  taking  the  book,  he  put  it  in  his 
desk,  commanding  the  men  on  their  allegiance,  that  they  should 
not  disclose  to  any  one  that  he  had  seen  it. 

Copies  of  this  tract' must  have  been  possessed  by  not  a  few, 
when  the  King's  own  servant  knew  its  contents  so  thoroughly. 
This,  however,  woidd  not  suffice,  and  so  it  had  been  determined 
that  the  people  at  large  should  read  it  for  themselves ;  and,  also, 
that  no  doubt  should  remain,  whether  the  King  had  seen  it. 
John  Foxe.  therefore,  thus  describes  it — "  A  Libel  or  Book  entitled 
the  Supplication  of  Beggars,  thrown  and  scattered  at  the  proces- 
sion in  Westminster,  on  Candlemas  day,  before  King  Henry  the 
Eighth,  for  him  to  read  and  peruse."  This  was  on  Friday  the  2d 
of  February  1526.  Many  copies  might  be  thus  disposed  of,  but, 
by  another  account,  they  had  been  scattered  about  the  streets  by 
night. 

The  moment  of  alarm  had  now  come.  This  very  trivial  inci- 
dent had  excited  the  greatest  fear  and  dread !  Wolsey  imme- 
diately went  to  his  Majesty,  complaining  of  "  divers  seditious 
persons  having  scattered  abroad  books  containing  manifest  eriorsj 


62  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

desiring  his  grace  to  beware  of  them  ;"  but  what  must  have  been 
his  mortification,  when  the  King,  putting  his  hand  into  his  bosom, 
and  taking  out  one  of  these  very  books,  deUvered  it  into  his 
hands  !  At  this  period  Henry  was  not  a  httle  gratified  by  any 
information  which  he  could  procure,  independently  of  his  dom- 
ineering Prime  Minister. 

Wolse}^,  once  roused,  became  fully  awake  to  the  importance  of 
his  intentions  in  the  year  1523.  Engrossed  as  he  had  been  with 
political  affairs,  some  of  these  intentions  had  remained  unfulfilled. 
But  now  there  was  to  be  "  the  secret  search, ^^  and  in  divers  places 
at  one  time,  and  a  sermon  to  be  preached,  by  Fisher,  the  very 
man  whom  Henry  had  then  named.  It  was  resolved  to  strike 
terror  into  the  heart  of  the  enemy,  and  give  one  vital  stab  to  all 
that  was  now  run  down  under  the  nick-name  of  Lutheranism  ; 
for  divine  truth  had  been  slowly  gaining  its  way,  and  was  now  to 
spread,  as  it  had  done  independently  of  Luther.  The  fact  is,  that 
the  crusade,  under  which  our  country  long  groaned  and  bled,  was 
about  to  begin  ;  and  as  the  authorities  of  the  day  were  now  going 
to  treat  the  people  of  God  after  the  primitive  fashion,  when  they 
first  put  them  in  bear-skins,  and  then  baited  them,  a  word  of 
terror  was  wanting.  Lollard,  had  been  the  term  for  above  a 
hundred  years,  as  it  especially  was  under  Longland,  in  1521  ;  but 
Lutheranism  was  now  a  far  more  eflfectual,  because  opprobi'ious, 
epithet ;  involving  all  those  who  either  read  the  Scriptures,  or  ap- 
pealed to  them  as  authority. 

Before,  however,  we  can  rightly  understand  the  course  of 
events,  the  evidence  afforded  by  original  manuscripts,  by  Foxe 
and  Strype,  Bishop  Tanner  and  Anthony  Wood,  as  well  as  two 
or  three  other  authorities,  must  be  carefully  compared.  After 
this,  when  we  look  at  London,  Oxford,  and  Cambridge,  as  well 
as  the  country  at  large,  a  scene,  full  of  the  deepest  interest,  opens 
to  view. 

Not  a  day  was  now  to  be  lost.  London,  though  far  from  its 
present  size,  was  large  enough  even  then  to  be  favorable  to 
secrecy ;  but  London,  Cambridge,  and  Oxford,  must  all  be 
searched  at  one  time,  and  Cardinal  College,  too,  must  not  be  over- 
looked. Wolsey  could  not  have  been  with  the  King  sooner  than 
next  day,  Saturday  the  3d.  The  simultaneous  orders  for  both 
Universities  must  have  been  the  same  day,  as  the  Sergeants-at- 
Arms  had  arrived  at  both  by  Monday  or  Tuesday. 

In  London  they  commenced  immediately.  Among  the  very 
Jirst  places  where  the  "  secret  search"  began,  was  a  narrow  lane 
in  Cheapside,  nearly  opposite  to  Bow  Church.  In  a  church  there, 
"  All  Hallows  in  Honey  Lane,"  Robert  Forman,  S.  T.  P.,  was 
Rector,  and  Mr.  Thomas  Garret,  Curate.  Strong  suspicions  rested 
on  the  latter,  as  being  at  once  a  receiver  and  distributor  of  books. 

Foxe  relates  that  Garret  brought  to  Oxford  sundry  books  in  Latin, 
and  Tyndale's  first  translation  of  the  New  Testament  in  English 
which  he  sold  to  divers  scholars  in  Oxford.  "  After  he  had  been 
there  a  while,  and  despatdied  those  books,  news  came  that  he 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  63 

was  searched  for  through  all  London,  to  be  apprehended  and 
taken  as  a  heretic,  and  to  be  imprisoned  for  selling  those  heretical 
books,  as  they  termed  them."  Not  finding  him  in  London,  "  they 
had  determined  forthwith  to  apprehend  and  imprison  him,  and 
to  burn  all  and  every  his  foresaid  books,  and  him  too,  if  they 
could,  so  burning  hot  was  their  zeal."  By  the  time,  however, 
that  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  had  arrived,  Cole  of  Magdalen  College, 
who  was  afterwards  cross-bearer  to  the  Cardinal,  but  an  acquaint- 
ance of  Garret's,  gave  him  warning.  So  in  the  morning  of 
"  Wednesday  before  Shrovetide,"  on  the  7th  of  February,  he  left 
Oxford,  but  returning  again,  he  changed  his  dress  as  far  as  he 
could,  and  disappeared  on  Friday  night.  But,  seized  with  fear, 
he  returned  to  Oxford  on  Friday  evening.  That  night  he  was  appre- 
hended, but  escaped  again,  and  was  finally  taken  at  Hinksey, 
about  two  miles  distant ;  when  he,  and  all  besides,  who  were  sus- 
pected as  receivers  of  books,  w^ere  very  soon  in  safe  keeping  ! 
Many  others,  whose  names  are  recorded,  were  compelled  to  liy  for 
safetjr. 

Garret,  and  Dalaber,  w^ho  was  a  Student,  and  devoted  to  Garret, 
as  convicted  heretics,  were  made  to  carry  a  faggot,  in  open  pro- 
cession, from  St  Mary's  to  Cardinal  College ;  the  former,  as 
Master  of  Arts,  having  his  red  hood  on  his  shoulders.  These 
young  men,  besides  others  not  named,  followed  in  procession,  all 
of  whom  were  obliged,  in  passing,  to  cast  a  hook  into  the  large 
fire  which  had  been  kindled  to  receive  them.  Garret  and  Dalaber 
were  then  incarcerated  at  Osney  Isle,  till  further  orders  from 
London,  when  the  former  was  called  up  to  appear  before  Tunstal, 
as  we  shall  see  towards  the  close  of  the  year. 

As  for  the  other  young  men,  along  with  Clarke,  they  ^vere  all 
immured  in  a  deep  cell,  under  Cardinal  College,  the  common 
repository  of  their  salt  fish,  a  noisome  dungeon,  where  the  air 
and  food  together  proved  but  too  fatal.  Betts.  no  suspected  books 
being,  at  least,  detected  in  his  chamber,  through  entreaty  and 
surety,  got  out  of  prison,  and,  as  soon  as  he  could,  went  to  Cam- 
bridge. Taverner,  though  deeply  implicated,  as  having  concealed 
Clarke's  books  under  the  floor,  being  skilful  in  music,  was  excused 
by  Wolsey  ;  but  the  rest  remained  in  this  most  miserable  abode  ; 
where,  eating  nothing  but  salt  fish  from  the  beginning  of  March 
to  the  middle  of  August,  four  of  them  died !  After  this,  but  in 
consequence  only  of  a  letter  from  Wolsey,  the  rest  were  all 
released,  on  condition  of  not  moving  above  ten  miles  from  Oxford. 
How  many  thus  continued  as  prisoners  at  large  does  not  appear ; 
but  John  Fryth  being  so  far  at  liberty,  and  now  aware  of  the 
treatment  of  Garret  and  Dalaber,  "  escaped  by  flight  over  the  sea 
to  Tyndale."  He  left  Oxford  for  the  Continent,  therefore,  in 
August  or  September  1526. 

Garret  first  departed  from  Oxford  on  Wednesday,  the  7th  of 
February.  This  date  must  be  observed  in  connection  with  what 
took  place  at  Cambridge. 

The  books  distributed  were  a  mighty  grievance  to  Wolsey,  and 


64  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

they  were  now  gone  into  coiners,  they  knew  not  where ;  but  of  all 
that  had  been  circulated  or  sold,  there  were  none  to  be  compared 
with  Tyndale's  New  Testament.  This  was  the  Word  of  Life,  and 
felt  to  be  so.  We  have  already  seen  it,  in  the  grasp  of  Dalaber, 
to  have  been  their  sheet  anchor  in  the  raging  storm.  It  is  there 
fore  well  worthy  of  remembrance,  tbat  one  of  Tyndale's  earliest 
blows,  dashed  to  the  ground  the  insidious  design  of  the  lofty  Car- 
dinal. It  vras  an  attack  upon  the  lion  in  his  own  den  ;  while  as 
to  the  young  men,  npw  branded  as  heretics,  whether  caught  or 
escaped,  Tyndalc  had  given  them,  not  a  book  of  new  learning 
merely,  but  the  volume  of  Divine  Mercy — it  was  not  the  owl  of 
Athens,  but  Mount,  Zion's  dove. 

If  Oxford  had  been  thrown  into  a  ferment  during  these  eaii}'^ 
days  in  February,  the  connnotion  at  Cambridge,  was,  if  possible, 
still  greater. 

The  publication  of  the  Greek  Testament  by  Erasmus,  in  1516, 
was  one  of  the  most  important  events  in  the  progress  of  letters ; 
but  Caml^ridge  seems  to  have  been  inferior  to  Oxford  in  their  cul- 
tivation. Even  the  Priests,  in  their  confessions  of  young  scholars, 
had  cautioned  them  against  the  acquisition  of  Greek  and  Hebrew, 
on  account  of  the  consequences  they  dreaded.  Standish,  after- 
wards Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  was  one  great  promoter  of  this  hostility ; 
and,  upon  one  occasion,  on  his  knees  before  the  King  and  Q,ueen, 
is  said  to  have  conjured  them,  by  everything  sacred,  to  go  on  as 
their  ancestors  had  done,  and  put  down  Erasmus.  When,  there- 
fore, his  Testament  appeared,  at  Cambridge  it  was  absolutely 
proscribed  by  some  of  the  doctors  of  the  day,  and  one  College, 
as  already  hinted,  forbade  it  to  be  brought  within  the  walls  ! 
Yet  the  book  they  had  thus  contemned,  was  the  very  same  by 
which  God  intended  to  promote  his  own  designs,  and  in  Cambridge 
itself 

Not  long,  therefore,  after  the  publication  of  this  Testament, 
which  contained  the  Latin  and  Greek  in  parallel  columns,  the 
heart  of  one  student  was  smitten  with  it ;  and  this,  in  the  hand 
of  God,  was  sufficient  to  produce  a  great  moral  change.  An 
L.L.D.,  and  Fellow  of  Trinity  Hall,  he  had  already  excelled  in 
the  study  of  the  Civil  and  Canon  Law,  to  which  he  had  intended 
to  devote  his  future  life  ;  but  falling  into  great  distress  of  mind,  he 
applied  to  the  Priests.  They  appointed  him  fastings  and  watch- 
ing, with  the  purchase  of  pardons  and  masses. 

"  But  at  the  last,"  says  he,  "  I  heard  speak  of  Jesus,  even  then 
when  the  New  Testament  was  first  set  forth  by  Erasmus.  Which, 
when  I  understood  to  be  eloquently  done  by  him,  being  allured 
rather  for  the  Latin  than  for  the  Word  of  God — for,  at  that  time, 
I  knew  not  what  it  meant — I  bought  it  even  by  the  Providence  of 
God,  as  I  do  now  well  understand  and  perceive.  And  at  the  first 
reading,  as  I  well  remember,  I  chanced  upon  this  sentence  of  St. 
Paul,  (O  most  sweet  and  comfortable  sentence  to  my  soul !)  in  liis 
first  Epistle  to  Timothy,  and  first  chapter — '  It  is  a  true  saying, 
and  worthy  of  all  men  to  be  embraced,  that  Christ  Jesus  came 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  65 

into  the  world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  the  chief  and  princi- 
pal.' This  one  sentence,  through  God's  instruction  and  inward 
teaching,  which  I  did  not  then  perceive,  did  so  exhilarate  my 
heart,  being  before  w^ounded  with  the  guilt  of  my  sins,  and  being 
almost  in  despair,  that  immediately  I  felt  a  marvellous  comfort 
and  quietness,  insomuch  that  my  bruised  bones  leapt  for  joy. — 

"  After  this  the  Scripture  began  to  be  more  pleasant  to  me  than 
the  lioney,  or  the  honey-comb.  Wherein  I  learned  that  all  my 
travels,  all  my  fasting  and  watching,  all  the  redemption  of  masses 
and  pardons,  being  done  without  truth  in  Christ,  who  alone  saveth 
his  people  from  their  sins ;  these,  I  say,  I  learned  to  be  nothing 
else,  but  even,  as  Augustine  saith,  a  hasty  and  swift  running  out 
of  the  right  way  ;  or  else  much  like  to  the  vesture  made  of  fig- 
leaves,  wherewith  Adam  and  Eve  went  about  in  vain  to  cover 
themselves  ;  and  could  never  before  obtain  quietness  and  rest,  till 
they  l^elieved  on  the  promise  of  God,  that  '  Christ  the  seed  of  the 
woman  should  tread  upon  the  Serpenfs  head.'  Neither  could  I 
be  relieved  cr  eased  of  the  sharp  stings  and  biting  of  my  sins,  be- 
fore I  was  taught  of  God  that  lesson  which  Christ  speaketh  of  in 
the  third  chapter  of  John — '  Even  as  Moses  exalted  the  serpent  in 
the  desert,  so  shall  the  Son  of  Man  be  exalted,  that  all  which  be- 
lieve on  him,  should  not  perish,  but  have  life  everlasting.' 

"  As  soon  as  I  began  to  taste  and  savor  of  this  heavenly  lesson, 
which  no  man  can  teach,  but  onlv  God,  which  revealed  the  same 
unto  Peter,  I  desired  the  Lord  to  increase  my  faith ;  and,  at  last, 
I  desired  nothing  more,  than  that  I,  being  so  comforted  by  him, 
might  be  strengthened  by  his  Holy  Spirit  and  grace  from  above, 
that  I  might  teach  the  wicked  his  ways,  which  are  mercy  and 
truth,  and  that  the  wicked  might  be  converted  unto  him  by  me, 
who  sometime  was  also  wicked." 

This  was  no  other  than  Thomas  Bilney,  the  future  Martyr  of 
1531.  His  preaching  was  followed  by  great  and  powerful  effects, 
for  among  others,  Hugh  Latimer  and  Robert  Barnes  owed  their 
conversion  to  him.  So  early,  therefore,  as  1523,  before  Tyndale 
went  abroad,  Cambridge  lay  under  strong  suspicion  of  heresy  ;  and 
yet  it  is  curious  enough,  that  in  that  year,  when  certain  Bishops 
moved,  that  there  might  be  a  visitation  appointed  to  go  down,  for 
trying  who  were  "  the  fautors  of  heresy"  there,  the  Cardinal  for- 
bade it !  "Upon  what  grounds,"  says  Burnet,  '•  I  cannot  imagine." 
It  seems  to  have  been,  either  because  he  then  meditated  a  reform 
of  the  Church,  after  his  own  fancy,  as  already  disclosed  in  the 
letter  of  Longland,  and  of  wliich  his  own  sovereign  authority  as 
Legate,  should  ap}x>ar  to  be  the  only  fountain ;  or  if  not,  to  show 
at  the  moment  his  authority  over  the  clergy.  His  mind,  we  know, 
was  then  engrossed  with  affairs  of  State,  abroad,  as  well  as  at 
home.  At  all  events,  the  overruling  hand  of  God  is  manifest,  in 
preventing  all  interference  for  at  least  three  years,  or  from  January 
1.523,  to  February  1526. 

The  order  for  Oxford  we  have  stated  to  be  the  third  of  this 

5 


68  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

month ',  that  for  Cambridge  must  have  been  at  the  same  moment  * 
but  in  this  case,  previous  information  through  Dr.  Tyrell,  had 
suggested  the  necessity  for  two  individuals  being  sent.  One  Gib- 
son, the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  a  creature  of  Wolsey's  hated  by  the 
Aldermen  and  Common  Council  of  London,  was  therefore  accom- 
panied by  Dr.  Capon,  one  of  the  Cardinal's  chaplains.  They  had 
arrived  on  Monday,  as  upon  Tuesday,  the  sergeant  "suddenly 
arrested  Dr.  Barnes  openly  in  the  Convocation-house,  to  make  all 
others  afraid ;"  and  by  Wednesday  evening,  (on  the  morning  of 
which  Garret  first  escaped  from  Oxford),  Dr.  Barnes  stood  before 
Wolsey. 

Robert  Barnes,  born  near  Linn    in    Norfolk,   after  proceeding 
through  the  schools  at  Cambridge,  had  entered  the  Monastery  of 
Augustine  Friars  there,  in  the  year  1514.     Having  then  gone  to 
Louvaine,  where  he  studied,  and  passed  as  Doctor  of  Theology  ; 
after  his  return  he  was  made  Prior  and  Master  of  his  Monastery, 
in   1523.     In  conjunction  with   another   Louvaine  scholar,   Mr. 
Thomas  Parnel,  whom  he  had  brought  over  with  him,  he  became, 
says  Strype  and  others,  "  the  great  restorer  of  good  learning  at 
Cambridge."     He  had  introduced  the  study  of  the   classics,  and 
was  reading  Terence,  Plautus,  and  Cicero  ;  but  being  brought  to 
the  knowledge  of  the  truth  througii  Bilney,  he  proceeded  to  read 
openly  with  his  scholars,  the  Epistles  of  Paul.     Sometime  before 
this,  Latimer  had  been  also  enlightened  through  Binley's  preach- 
ing, and  was  proclaiming  the  truth  with  great  decision  and  effect 
AVhether  Latimer  was  actually  in  expectation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment of  Tyndale,  does   not  appear,  but  the  fact  is,  that  he  was 
now  powerfully  preparing  the  way  for  it ;  as  he  frequently  and 
particularly  dwelt  on  the  great  abuse  of  iockins'  up  the  Scriptures 
in  an  unknown  tongue.     Prior  Buckingham,  his  opponent,  in- 
veighed against  him,  and  insisted,  that   if  that  heresy  prevailed, 
we  should  soon  see  an  end  of  everything  useful!     This   man, 
Latimer  put  to  silence  by  that  singular  vein  of  humor  for  which 
he  was  distinguished ;  while  Venetus,  a  foreigner,  with  whom  he 
reasoned  in  a  strain  full  of  gravity,  was  obliged  to  leave  the  Uni- 
versity.    Latimer's  opponents  finding  argument  fail,  resorted  to 
authority  ;  and  West,  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  after  hearing  him,  and 
even    professing  to  be  charmed,  ultimately  prohibited  him  from 
preaching  in  any  of  the  churches  belonging  to  the  University,  or 
within  his  diocese  !     The  Monastery  of  Dr.  Barnes,  however,  was 
happily  exempt  from  episcopal  jurisdiction,  an  exemption  indeed, 
peculiar  to  almost  all  the  Monasteries,  so  that  the  Prior  boldly  li- 
censed him  to  preach  there.     The  place  was  unable  to  contain"  the 
crowds  that  assembled,  and  Dr.  Barnes  having  been  requested  by 
the  parish  to  preach  at  St.  Edward's  Church  hard  by,  resolved  to 
comply.     This  was  a  memorable  evening  on  account  of  the  ef- 
fects.    It  was  in  fact  a  crisis,  though  never  sufficiently  marked  as 
such.     It  was  "  Christmas  eve,  and  on  a  Sunday,"  says  Foxe,  or 
as  Barnes  himself  explains, — "  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1525,  the 
24th  of  Decembei-."    Latimer  was  also  officiating  at  the  Monastery 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  67 

that  evening  ;  while  the  present,  says  Foxe,  was  "  the^r*^  sermon 
that  ever  Barnes  preached  ol'  this  truth."  Understanding  now  the 
way  of  truth  more  perfectly,  and  alive  to  the  state  of  things  around 
him,  lie  had  resolved  to  be  openly  explicit.  By  two  chaplains,  Urs. 
Robert  Ridley  and  Walter  Preston,  fellows  of  King's  College,  and 
kinsmen  of  Tunstal,  Bishop  of  London,  he  was  immediately  ac- 
cused of  heresy.  This  they  did  in  the  Regent-House,  before  the 
Vice-Chancellor  Edmimd  Nateres,  and  these  two  men,  assisted  by 
three  others,  viz.  Tyrell,  Watson,  and  Fooke,  having  gathered  up 
certain  articles  against  him,  desired  him  to  recant.  The  Univer- 
sity, as  a  body,  immediately  took  up  the  matter,  and  disputed  their 
authority.  His  adversaries,  however,  within  two  or  three  days, 
having  secured  another  meeting  before  tlie  Vice-Chancellor ;  by 
fraud  and  intimidation,  they  -'  so  entreated  and  cozened  him,"  that 
Barnes  agreed  to  yield  to  their  authority  and  their  promised  clem- 
ency. They  then  enjoined  him  to  read  his  revocation  in  St.  Ed- 
ward's Church  next  Sunday.  Barnes  consulted  with  eight  or  ten 
of  his  learned  friends,  among  whom  were  Stafford  and  Bilney,  and 
then  declined ;  but  he  had  already  ensnared  himself  in  these  pri- 
vate interviews,  and  his  accusers,  aware  of  this,  desisted,  only  to 
wait  their  favorable  moment.  The  learned  of  at  least  seven  dif- 
ferent colleges  now  flocked  together  in  open  day  to  sermons,  whether 
at  the  Augustine  Monastery  or  St.  Mary's. 

Disputations  were  held  during  the  whole  of  January,  at  a  house 
called  Germany^  by  way  of  derision,  to  the  day  that  Dr.  Barnes 
stood  before  Wolsey. 

It  was  not,  however,  to  apprehend  Barnes  alone,  that  the  Ser- 
geant-at-Arms  had  arrived  at  Cambridge.     He  had  been  charged 
to  make  secret  search  for  books^  and  instantly  seize  the  whole,  as 
well  as  apprehend  all  who  possessed  them.     Not  fewer  than  thirty 
were  suspected,  and  spies  had  given  them  precise  information  as 
to  every  one  of  their  rooms  !     But  Dr.  Forman  of  Queen's  College 
had  happily,  at  the  first  moment,  informed  all  the  parties  of  the 
-privy  search,  and  "  God  be  praised,"  says  Foxe,  the  books  "  were 
conveyed  away  by  the  time  that  the  Sergeant-at-Arms,  the  Vice- 
Chancellor,  and  the  Proctors  were  at  every  man's  chamber."    The 
business  of  Gibson  was    therefore    soon  accomplished,   and  Dr. 
Barnes  being  his  only  prey,  he  was  immediately  carried  to  London, 
We  return,  therefore,   to  Wolsey's  gallery  at  Westminster,  on 
Wednesday  evening,  Gardiner,  his  Secretary,  and  Fox,  being  the 
only  parties  present  with  Barnes.     The  Cardinal  soon  discovered, 
that  he  was  not  unacquainted  with  what  Dr.  Barnes  had  been 
delivering  at  Cambridge,  telling  that  his  noted  sermon  in  Decem- 
ber, was  ■'•'  fitter  to  be  preached  on  a  stage  than  in  a  pulpit."     Cer- 
tainly it  was  very  different  doctrine  from  that  with  which  almost 
every   pulpit  was  filled ;  and  as  for  the  rest,  the  fact  is,  that, 
whether  well  advised  or  not,  Barnes,  unable  to  repress  his  indig- 
nation at  the  gross  abuses  of  the  times,  had  opened  up  before  the 
people  Wolsey^s  extravagance.     To  him  belongs  the  distinction 
of  having  led  the  way  in  boldly  and  pubhcly  exposing  the  gor- 


68  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

geoiis  and  tyrannical  bearing  of  the  lofty  Cardinal.  This  accounts 
for  the  severity  with  which  he  was  now  treated,  for  both  Bilney 
and  Latimer  were  permitted  to  go  on  for  some  time  longer. 

Wolsey,  however,  read  the  articles  with  patience,  till  he  came 
to  one  personal  to  himself;  for  the  men  at  Cambridge,  in  drawing 
them  up,  knew  how  to  touch  him  at  the  quick.  '•  What,  Master 
Doctor,"  exclaimed  the  Cardinal,  "  had  you  not  a  sufficient  scope 
in  the  Scriptures  to  teach  the  people,  that  my  golden  shoes,  my 
pole  axes,  iny  pillars,  my  golden  cushions,  my  crosses,  did  so  offend 
you,  that  you  must  make  us  ridiculum  caput  before  the  people? 
We  were  jollily  that  day  laughed  to  scorn.  Verily,  it  was  a  ser- 
mon fitter  to  be  preached  on  a  stage  than  in  a  pulpit,  for  at  the 
last  you  said — I  wear  a  pair  of  red  gloves,  I  should  say  bloody 
gloves,  quoth  you,  that  I  should  not  be  cold  in  the  midst  of  my 
ceremonies."  Whether  this  charge  was  correct  does  not  appear, 
but  Barnes,  as  yet  unmoved,  replied,  "  I  spake  nothing  but  the 
truth  out  of  the  old  Doctors."  In  the  end,  he  delivered  to  the 
Cardinal  six  sheets  in  manuscript,  to  confirm  and  corroborate  all 
that  he  had  spoken.  Wolsey  smiling,  said,  "  We  perceive  that 
you  mean  to  stand  to  your  articles,  and  to  show  your  learning." 
"  Yea,"  said  Barnes,  "  Uiat  I  do  intend,  by  God's  grace,  with  your 
lordship's  favor."  Wolsey  inquired  if  he  did  not  know  that  he 
was  there  for  heresy,  and  whether  he  could  bring  six  or  ten  doctors 
of  divinity  to  swear  for  him  7  Barnes  offered  twenty  honest  men, 
as  learned  as  himself,  if  not  superior — but  these  would  not  suffice. 
''They  must  be  of  your  years  according  to  law,"  said  Wolsey. 
"  That,"  replied  Barnes,  "  is  impossible."  "  Then,"  said  the  Car- 
dinal, "7/0?/.  must  he  hurnt .'"  At  the  close,  Wolsey  was  about  to 
commit  him  to  the  Tower,  but  Fox  and  Gardiner  interceded,  and 
became  sureties  for  his  appearance.  During  the  whole  night  he 
was  engaged  in  preparing  for  his  defence  before  the  Bishops,  to 
whom  Wolsey  had  committed  him.  Three  of  his  students,  Cov- 
erdale,  Goodwin,  and  Field,  having  followed  him  up  to  Tiondon, 
were  also  occupied  in  writing  to  his  dictation.  On  Thursday 
morning,  after  calling  at  York  Place,  (Whitehall,)  for  Fox  and 
Gardiner,  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  conveyed  him  down  to  the  Chap- 
ter-House at  Westminster.  He  was  now  in  the  presence  of  Jolm 
Clark,  Bishop  of  Bath,  as  principal  Judge,  who  treated  him  with 
marked  severity :  Henry  Standish,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  who  was 
sure  to  be  an  enemy  and  not  a  judge ;  Ishp,  the  Abbot  of  West- 
minster ;  the  Abbot  of  Bury ;  Dr.  Jeffrey  Wharton ;  Dr.  Allen  ; 
and  Dr.  Gardiner.  After  this  examination  he  subscribed  his  arti- 
cles, and  was  then  committed  to  Fleet  Prison,  but  no  one  to  speak 
with  him.  On  Saturday  at  three  o'clock,  when  called  to  appear 
again,  a  long  roll  was  shown  to  him,  which  he  must  promise  to 
read  in  public,  with  the  assurance  now,  that  he  would  not  add  one 
word,  more  or  less  !  They  exacted  this  promise  before  he  had 
read  a  line  of  it,  and  put  it  to  him  solemnly  three  times  !  Barnes 
continuing  firm,  was  desired  to  retire.  On  being  called  in,  they 
had  agreed  that  a  Notary  should  read  it  to  him,  and  as  Barnes 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  69 

listened,  he  felt  as  though  he  would  rather  die  than  agree.  After 
long  disputation,  threatening,  and  scorn,  it  was  now  five  o'cloclc ; 
when  they  called  upon  him  to  know  whether  he  would  abjure  or 
burn.  Barnes  was  in  great  agony,  inclining  rather  to  the  latter, 
when  they  sent  him  again  to  take  counsel  from  Fox  and  Gardiner 
alone  ;  and  they,  "  by  persuasions  that  were  mighty  in  the  sight 
of  reason  and  foolish  flesh,"  brought  him  at  last  to  yield  and  ab- 
jure !  It  is  easy  for  us  now  to  say,  tliat  he  ought  to  have  stood 
firm,  and  if  he  had,  Barnes  would  have  led  the  van  at  least,  of 
this  division  of  martyrs,  for  the  Word  of  God ;  but  neither  Garret 
nor  he  were  yet  able  to  brave  the  horrors  of  the  stake. 

With  regard  to  Barnes,  in  particular,  the  sight  on  the  following 
day  was  indeed  most  humiliating,  and  to  his  adversaries  must 
have  seemed  a  great  triumph.  On  Sabbath  the  4th,  in  his' pulpit 
at  Cambridge,  and  on  the  next,  or  11th,  bearing  a  faggot  at  St. 
Paul's  !  The  church  was  crowded  to  excess,  and  there  sat  Wolsey 
in  all  his  glory,  smiling,  no  doubt,  over  the  pointed  replies  of 
Thursday  evening,  while  he  saw  Barnes  and  five  others,  Stillyard 
men,  humbled  before  him.  So  mighty  and  so  important  was  the 
occasion,  that,  according  to  Foxe — - 

"  The  Cardinal  had  a  scaffold  made  on  the  top  of  the  stairs  for 
himself,  with  six-and-thirty  Abbots,  mitred  Priors,  and  Bishops, 
and  he,  in  his  whole  pomp,  mitred,  which  Barnes  had  denounced, 
sat  there  enthroned !  His  Chaplains  and  Spiritual  Doctors,  in 
gowns  of  damask  and  satin,  and  he  himself  in  purple  !  And 
there  was  a  new  pulpit  erected  on  the  top  of  the  stairs,  for  Fisher^ 
the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  to  preach  against  Luther  and  Dr.  Barnes  ; 
and  great  baskets  full  of  books,  standing  before  them  within  the 
rails,  which  were  commanded,  after  the  great  fire  was  made  before 
the  Rood  of  Northern,  (or  large  crucifix  at  the  north  gate  of  St. 
Paul's,)  there  to  be  burned ;  and  these  heretics,  after  the  sermon, 
to  go  three  times  round  the  fire,  and  cast  in  their  faggots." 

All  this  was  done,  of  course,  and  much  more  that  was  humili- 
ating, Wolsey  retiring,  under  a  canopy,  in  all  his  pomp  ;  and 
Fisher  declaring  to  the  people,  how  many  days  of  pardon  and  for- 
giveness of  sins  they  had,  for  being  present  at  that  Sermon  !  To 
him,  as  well  as  Wolsey  and  Longland,  it  was  a  high  day,  and  one 
to  which  they  had  looked  forward  for  three  years. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  first  of  a  series,  for  it  preceded  Oxford 
by  a  few  days,  in  which  books  were  committed  to  the  flames  ;  and 
among  many  others,  upon  this  day,  the  11th  of  February,  1526,  copies 
of  Tyndale's  New  Testament  were  no  doubt  for  the  Jirst  time  cast 
into  the  fire,  as  they  were  at  Oxford  in  the  same  week.  By  tliis 
period  we  shall  yet  have  curious  and  abundant  evidence  that  they 
were  in  the  country  ;  Garret  was  convicted,  as  we  have  seen,  for 
conveying  books  to  Cambridge  as  well  as  Oxford,  and  among  the 
stores  of  the  Stillyard  inen,  now  accumulated  in  the  "  great  bas- 
kets," the  London  stock  was  so  far  involved.  Lutheranism,  it  is 
true,  was  the  great  bugbear  held  up  this  day  before  the  people, 


70  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE 

but  when  chastising  Fisher  afterwards,  for  the  sermon  he  had 
preached  and  printed,  Tyndale  himself  has  said : — 

"And  mark,  I  pray  you,  what  an  orator  he  is,  and  how  vehe- 
mently lie  persuadeth  it !  '  Martin  Luther  hath  burned  the  Pope's 
decretals  ;  a  manifest  proof,'  saith  he,  '  that  he  would  have  burned 
the  Pope's  Holiness  also,  if  he  had  had  him.'  A  like  argument, 
which  I  suppose  to  be  rather  true,  I  make.  Rochester  and  his 
holy  brethren  have  burnt  Christ's  Testament ;  an  evident  sign, 
verily,  that  they  would  have  burnt  Christ  himself  also,  if  they  had 
had  him." 

These  words,  by  the  way,  may  now  be  received  as  the  best  of 
all  evidence,  that  the  New  Testament  was  there,  and  there  con- 
sumed. All  this,  however,  was  evidently  done  by  the  Cardinal's 
supreme  and  express  authority. 

At  the  close  of  all,  poor  Barnes,  though  received  formally  into 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  again,  was  remitted  to  the  Fleet,  till 
the  Lord  Cardinal's  pleasure  should  be  known  ;  but  his  friends 
were  permitted  to  visit  him,  and  he  there  relented. 

As  the  season  of  conviction  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge  had  been 
the  same,  so  also  was  that  of  relief  to  both  parties.  Perhaps  the 
sad  deaths  at  Oxford,  in  consequence  of  severe  treatment,  led  to 
this  ;  since  it  was  about  the  very  same  time  that  the  young  men  at 
Oxford  were  released,  on  condition  of  not  moving  above  ten  miles 
distant,  that  Barnes  was  delivered  from  the  Fleet ;  that  is,  at  the 
end  of  six  months.  He,  however,  was  not  permitted  to  go  at 
large,  even  to  the  same  extent,  but  was  committed  to  be  a  free 
prisoner  at  Austin  Friars  in  London  ;  and  from  evidence  which 
will  come  out  in  1.528,  it  will  appear  that  he  was  here  as  busy  as 
his  circumstances  would  permit,  in  actually  disposing  of  copies  of 
Tyndale's  Testament !  His  enemies,  therefore,  were  not  incorrect 
in  their  suspicions,  for,  says  Foxe,  "  they  complained  again  to  the 
Lord  Cardinal,  whereupon  he  was  removed  to  the  Austin  Friars 
of  Northampton,  there  to  be  burned.''^  By  a  most  unworthy 
stratagem,  however,  feigning  himself  to  have  been  drowned,  he 
escaped  to  the  Continent.  His  enemies  searched  for  him  seven 
days,  but  they  dragged  the  pond  in  vain. 

The  month  of  February  had  not  expired,  when  the  University 
formally  applied  to  Warham  of  Canterbury,  then  their  Chancellor, 
as  he  had  been  since  1506,  to  make  an  examination  of  persons 
suspected  of  heresy,  and  also  to  prepare  a  list  of  Lutheran  books, 
which  no  one  should  have  or  read. 

The  advice  given,  however,  was  not  taken.  Garret  and  the 
young  scholars  were  indeed  already  in  durance  vile,  but  the  re- 
quests here  made  were  never  granted.  But  in  less  than  a  fort- 
night after  this  letter,  and  little  more  than  a  month  after  the 
day  of  terror  at  St.  Paul's,  an  opportunity  was  presented,  which 
Wolsey,  with  the  Bishops,  did  not  fail  to  improve  for  the  most  im- 
pious of  all  purposes— the  burning  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and 
to  be  burned  by  authority  of  the  Kino-. 

Henry  the  VHL  having  written  against  Martin  Luther's  book 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  71 

on  the  Babylonish  Captivity,  and  thus  procured  from  Rome  the 
title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  Luther  in  1521  had  published 
his  bold  and  very  rough  reply.  In  September  1525,  however,  as 
already  hinted,  no  matter  by  whose  advice  or  under  what  impres- 
sion, he  made  an  attempt  at  reconciliation,  by  addressing  a  letter 
to  his  Majesty.  In  this  letter  he  actually  confessed  that  at  the 
instance  of  other  persons  he  had  grievously  oifended,  by  a  foolish 
and  precipitate  publication,  )'^et,  from  the  reported  clemency  of  the 
King,  he  hoped  for  his  forgiveness.  He  had  been  told  that  his 
Majesty  was  not  the  real  author  of  the  book  edited  under  his 
name  ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  though  denouncing  Wolsey  as  "  a 
monster,  the  general  odium  of  God  and  man,  and  the  plague  of 
his  kingdom,"  he  yet  prayed  for  a  gracious  reply  !  Luther  plead 
afterwards  that  he  had  been  urgently  pressed  by  Christiern,  King 
of  Denmark,  to  write  even  this  letter,  but  the  step  taken  no  one 
can  defend.  It  was  not  only  unworthy  of  his  character  and 
place,  but  at  variance  with  the  upright  integrity  of  any  follower  of 
Christ.  "  Who  knows,"  said  Luther,  "  but  in  a  happy  hour  I  may 
gain  the  King  of  England  T  A  little  of  human  vanity,  therefore, 
seems  to  have  been  lurking  in  his  mind ;  but  at  all  events,  he 
must  have  been  quite  in  the  dark  as  to  the  existing  state  of  affairs 
in  England,  w^ien  he  could  pen  and  print  such  a  letter. 

Henry,  in  reply,  having  reproached  Luther  with  levity  and  in- 
constancy, as  well  as  his  marriage,  and  the  vilest  heresy,  repre- 
sented Wolsey  as  peculiarly  dear  to  him,  and  of  great  value  in 
preventing  the  contagion  of  the  Lutheran  heresy  ;  of  which,  it 
might  have  been  added,  he  had  lately  given  a  flaming  specimen. 

Luther's  letter  arriving  five  weeks  after  the  famous  burning  at 
St.  Paul's,  a  fine  opportunity  was  now  presented  for  exciting  the 
royal  indignation  against  the  EngUsli  New  Testament,  and  cov- 
ering it  with  all  the  odium  of  Lutheranisni,  the  assumed  cant  of 
the  day.  The  name  of  the  translator  /wt  being"  yet  known,  no 
doubt  it  was  deemed  a  happy  thought  boldly  to  assert  that  the 
production  was  the  device  of  Luther  himself! 

Thev  had  burned  New  Testaments,  with  other  books,  on  the 
lltli  of  February.  But  this  advice  given  by  Wolsey,  and  cor- 
dially sanctioned  by  the  King,  as  to  the  burning  of  the  quarto  book, 
the  only  edition  yet  marked  out,  must  have  occurred  immediately 
on  the  reception  of  Luther's  letter ;  and  it  fully  prepares  us  for  the 
more  formal  injunctions  of  Tunstal  and  Warhara,  which  however, 
did  not  come  out  till  towards  the  end  of  the  year. 

From  March  to  October,  whether  the  friends  of  truth  had  en- 
joyed a  breathing  time  or  not,  as  it  regards  the  prudential  impor- 
tation and  circulation  of  Tyndale's  precious  volumes,  certain 
events  show,  that,  though  living  in  perilous  times,  they  had  zeal- 
ously improved  them.  Thus,  when  the  "  Supplication  of  Beggars'^ 
was  scattering  about  in  London,  at  and  before  Candlemas,  the 
author,  Mr.  Fyshe,  it  is  presumed,  was  not  in  England,  otherwise 
he  must  have  run  the  hazard  of  being  amongst  the  first  victims. 
Return,  however,  he  did,  and  to  London,  where  he  not  only  so- 


72  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

journed  for  a  season  during  this  summer,  but  was  useful  and  act- 
ive in  the  circulation  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament.  It  seems  as 
if  he  had  come  for  the  purpose.  He  may  have  brought  over  copies 
with  him ;  but,  at  all  events,  when  we  come  to  the  disclosures 
upon  oath  in  the  spring  of  1528,  we  shall  find,  that,  at  this  very 
period,  he  was  a  confidential  agent,  importing  the  Testament  from 
Mr.  Harman  of  Antwerp,  and  dealing  it  out  for  sale  to  such  as 
travelled  through  the  country  and  sold  them.  After  Tunstal's 
return,  lie  again  fled-  abroad,  not  returning  for  about  two  years 
and  a  half 

Mr.  Rodolph  Bradford,  a  Fellow  of  King's  College,  Cambridge, 
coming  to  London,  by  the  help  of  Mr.  Jeffrey  Lome,  the  Usher  of 
St.  Anthony's  school,  and  confidential  agent  of  Mr.  Foreman  of 
Honey  Lane,  the  colleague  of  Garret,  "  he  met  with  certain  New 
Testaments,  translated  into  English  b}^  Tyndale,  and  went  to 
Reading  with  them,  out  of  a  godly  zeal  to  disperse  them."  There 
he  delivered  them  to  a  certain  monk,  who  being  apprehended, 
made  known  the  names  of  him  and  others  from  whom  he  had 
them.  Whereupon  letters  were  sent  over  to  Cambridge  to  appre- 
hend this  Bradford,  now  returned,  together  with  Dr.  Smith  of 
Trinity  Hall,  Simon  Smith  of  Gonville  Hall,  Hugh  Latymer,  and 
Segar  Nicolson,  a  stationer  there.  Bradford  escaped  to  Ireland, 
but  was  taken  and  imprisoned  two  years.  He  afterwards  returned 
to  Cambridge,  passed  as  D.  D.  in  1.534,  and  lived  and  died  Chap- 
lain to  Latimer  when  Bishop  of  Worcester. 

As  the  year  advanced,  however,  the  alarm  continued  to  increase. 
The  Pontiff  himself  seemed  to  be  in  jeopardy — Luther's  rash  let- 
ter Avas  not  forgotten— Henry  was  printing  his  Latin  reply,  and 
translating  it  also  into  English  for  the  press,  with  a  preface  to  his 
people — the  Bishops  were  consulting — Tanstal  had  now  come 
hom,e,  and  something  must  be  done.  In  what  particular  month 
of  this  year  Tunstal  had  arrived  from  Spain,  does  not  appear. 
Wolsey  heard  in  March,  says  Lord  Herbert,  that  he  was  on  his 
way  homevv^ards,  so  that  it  must  have  been  some  time  after  thi^  ; 
and  then,  however  annoying  it  certainly  proved  to  such  a  man,  he 
could  not  remain  long  in  Loudon,  before,  he  found  it  necessary  to 
look  into  the  state  of  his  diocese  ;  for  so  widely  were  both  editions 
of  the  Testament  now  circulated,  that  even  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  must  examaine  his  province.  The  Bishops  were  a's- 
sembled,  and,  according  to  Strype,  at  the  instigation  of  Wolsey, 
a  prohibitory  instrument  was  adopted  and  published. 

The  first  generally  known  to  have  been  pubhshed,  was  the 
prohibition  sent  out  by  Cuthbert  Tunstal ;  in  which  both  editions 
of  Tyndale's  Testament,  already  dispersed  i7i  great  number,  were 
denounced,  and  Luther's  sect  falsely  employed,  as  the  convenient 
word  of  terror. 

Tunstal's  orders  being  thus  issued  on  Wednesday  the  24th  of 
October,  a  copy  was  sent  to  the  Archdeacons  of  Middlesex,  Essex 
and  Colchester ;  and  eleven  days  afterwards,  or  the  3rd  of 
November,  a  "  Mandate,"  in  nearly  the  same  terms,  was  given 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  73 

out  by  Warham,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  search  his  entire 
province.  Both  instruments  refer  simply  to  the  New  Testament 
of  Tyndale,  of  both  editions,  and  in  wide  circulation  ;  no  otlter 
book  being  referred  to,  oij  prohibited  at  the  same  moment. 

Barnes,  it  must  be  remembered  kad  not  yet  left  the  country  ;  but 
he  had  been  so  far  released  as  to  be  now  a  free  prisoner  at  St.  Au- 
gustine's ;  and  Garret,  though  he  had  endured  penance  sufficient 
at  Oxford,  had  not  been  so  publicly  cross-examined.  This  might 
elicit  some  farther  information.  Articles  having  been,  therefore, 
vamped  up  against  him,  he  had  been  brought  up  from  Osney 
prison,  and  about  this  time  stood  before  Tunstal  and  his  fellows. 
Following  the  sad  example  set  him  by  Barnes,  he  at  last  abjured. 

Wolsey  sent  for  Latimer,  to  appear  before  him  at  York  House, 
where  he  himself  examined  him.  Upon  his  first  entrance,  the 
Cardinal  seemed  surprised,  on  observing  him  to  be  so  far  advanced 
in  years.  Finding  him  also  to  be  at  once  acute,  learned,  and 
ready  in  his  replies ;  surpassing  in  accuracy  of  learning,  either 
of  the  Doctors,  Capon  and  Marshall,  now  in  Wolsey's  presence ; 
he  requested  him  to  give  some  account  of  that  sermon  which  he 
had  preached  before  Dr.  West,  the  Bishop.  Latimer  did  so. 
"  Then,"  said  the  Cardinal,  "  if  the  Bishop  of  Ely  cannot  abide 
such  doctrine  as  you  have  here  repeated,  you  shall  have  my 
license,  and  shall  preach  it  unto  his  beard,  let  him  say  what  he 
will."  Accordingly,  after  a  gentle  admonition  onl}^,  the  Cardinal 
discharged  Latimer,  actually  giving  him  his  license  to  preach 
tbrougliout  England !  A  most  singular  interposition  in  favor  of 
the  truth,  at  once  raising  the  man  above  the  malice  of  his  enemies, 
and  the  interdict  of  any  Bishop  in  the  land  ! 

The  mildness  hitherto  shown  to  men.,  must  have  been  most 
annoying  to  some  of  these  persecutors;  and  it  was  afterwards 
to  be  visited  on  the  head  of  Wolsey,  when  impeached,  that  he 
had  been  the  disturber  of  "  the  due  and  direct  correction  of 
heresies ;"  but  as  for  zeal  in  the  burning  of  hooks-,  the  Cardinal 
was  certainly  not  one  whit  behind  any  of  them.  By  the  end  of 
this  year,  therefore,  many  copies  of  the  New  Testament  must  have 
been  consumed  in  the  flames,  for  it  has  been  altogether  a  mistake 
to  confine  this  to  one  or  two  great  occasions.  On  the  contrary, 
in  the  very  first  month  of  next  year  we  shall  presently  hear  the 
ambassador  of  Henry,  in  the  Low  Countries,  bringing  it  forward 
as  an  argument  for  burning  others  there,  that//^^5  had  been  doing 
in  England  daily ! 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  determined,  though  vain  fury,  against 
the  reception  of  the  word  of  God  into  England,  it  is  most  gratify- 
ing to  find  that  the  friends  of  truth  abroad  had  been  so  active. 
The  editions  of  Tyndale's  Testament  have  been  hitherto  divided 
mto  two  classes,  styled  the  genuine  and  spurious ;  meaning  by 
the  former  such  as  he  himself  edited,  and  by  the  latter,  such  as 
were  printed  from  his,  by  others.  The  latter  were  not  so  correct, 
but  still  they  nobly  and  effectually  served  their  purpose,  enlighten- 
ing and  consoling  many  an  immortal  spirit. 


74  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

We  have  already  given  the  history  of  the  first  and  second 
editions  printed  in  1525,  and  issued  from  Wonns.  We  now  come 
to  the  first  printed  at  Antwci-p  by  Christopher  of  Endhoven,  or 
the  third  edition.  , 

The  two  nxonths  formally  ^^cified  in  Tunstal's  injunction  for 
calling  in  books  at  home,  were  not  permitted  to  expire  before  it 
becomes  evident  that  the  King  and  Wolsey,  as  well  as  the  Bishops, 
had  entered  fully  into  the  subject.  Finding  that,  somehow  or 
other,  copies  were  importing,  they  resolved,  if  possible,  to  cut  off 
the  supplies  from  abroad.  Well  aware  that  it  was  from  the  Low 
Countries,  Brabant,  that  all  these  hated  Testaments  had  come,  no 
stone  must  be  left  unturned  to  find  them  out.  All  the  energy  of 
the  English  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Lady  Margaret  must  be 
put  to  the  stretch,  and  we  shall  now  have  one  striking  illustration 
of  how  mucb.  in  earnest  were  all  parties — King,  C'aixlinal,  and 
Bishops — to  arrest  the  progress,  and  prevent  the  triumphs  of  divine 
truth.  O  how  joyfully  would  they  have  consigned  the  last  leaf 
to  the  flames!  And  this  assuredly  they  would  have  done,  but  for 
this  most  annoying  and  hated  "new  invention  of  printing." 
While,  however,  they  were  burning  at  home,  others  were  busy  at 
the  printing  press  abroad,  and,  therefore,  the  frenzy  of  the  enemy 
must  extend  from  England  to  Brabant. 

How  providential  was  it,  that,  by  this  time,  the  power  and  the 
terror  of  Wolsey 's  name  were  upon  the  wane  !  Only  a  few  years 
before,  tlie  Lady  Regent  of  these  countries.  Princess  Margaret^ 
had  whispered  in  his  ear  the  sweet  sound  of  the  Popedom,  and 
her  own  wish  to  see  him  in  the  Papal  Chair  ;  nay,  and  proposed 
to  write  to  the  Emperor,  her  nephew,  in  his  favor.  Now,  how- 
ever, she  had  found  good  reason  to  suspect  the  man.  High  words- 
had  passed  between  the  parties,  and  also  w^th  Count  Hoogstrate,. 
one  of  the  Lady  Margaret's  Council,  to  whom  application  was  about 
to  be  made.  Wolsey,  moreovei',  had  insulted,  by  the  insolence  of 
his  language,  Monsieur  Bever,  the  Lord  of  Carnpvere  and  Admi- 
ral of  Flanders,  the  Emperor's  ambassador  to  England,  now  re- 
turned to  the  Low  Countries.  Added  to  all  this,  it  had  been  a 
favorite  project  of  the  Cardinal  to  withdraw  the  English  merchants 
and  "  the  mart  for  goods,"  from  Antwerp  to  Calais.  All  these 
things  were  against  him  ;  and  the  "Lords  of  Antwerp,"  Avho,  at 
one  period,  not  long  past,  woidd  have  at  once  crouched  before  him, 
by  the  good  providence  of  God,  will  now  prove  neither  so  pliant 
nor  obsequious. 

Wolsey,  however,  fully  aware  of  all  these  circumstances,  had 
resolved  that  the  search  for  hooks  upon  the  Continent  should  com- 
mence with  the  highest  authority  ;  and  he  must,  therefore,  have 
the  King  on  the  throne,  called  the  "  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  to 
command  the  destruction  of  the  Sacred  Volume  I  The  ink  of 
Tunstal's  injunction  was  scarcely  dry,  before  Henry  had  signed 
his  letters ;  one  addressed  to  Princess  Margaret,  and  the  other  to 
the  Governor  of  the  Eng-llsh  House  at  Antwerp.  Wolsey's  let- 
ters, also  dated  the  31st  of  October  and  3d  November,  w^ere  di- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  75 

rected  to  John  Hacketty  the  Agent  for  the  Crown  and  Enghsh 
Envoy  at  that  court,  and  all  were  conveyed  by  the  same  messen- 
ger. At  a  formal  audience,  on  Saturday  the  17th  of  November, 
Hackett  delivered  the  King's  letters  to  the  Lady  Margaret,  in 
presence  of  the  Lords  of  her  Council;  and,  on  the  19th,  the  Prin- 
cess herself  replied  to  Henry — "  She  cannot  sufficiently  praise  his 
Majesty's  virtuous  intentions  !  She  had  consulted  with  Hackett, 
and  since  the  reception  of  the  King's  letter,  she  had  pointedly  com- 
manded her  officers  to  search  the  country  for  these  books,  intend- 
ing to  proceed  in  all  rigor  against  those  whom  they  found  culpa- 
ble." Two  days  after  this,  Hackett  informs  Wolsey  of  his  cordial 
reception  at  court,  and  that  he  had  "delivered  the  King's  letter  to 
the  Governor  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers,  who  promised  that  on 
the  first  da)^  at  Barrow,  he  would  show  the  King's  highness  and 
the  Cardinal's  mind  and  pleasure  as  touching  these  new  imprinted 
books,  and  shall  do  his  best,  (and  so  will  I,)  utterly  to  destroy,  and 
bring  them  to  nought."  Hackett  is  very  warm  in  the  cause,  for  if 
it  did  not  succeed,  he  thought  that  "  every  fool  would  think  to  be  a 
doctor  !" 

But  in  negociating  this  business,  our  ambassador  had  no  easy 
task  assigned  to  him.  Books  were  to  be  sought  for  in  the  large 
and  busy  city  of  Antwerp.  As  Envoy,  he  lived  fifteen  miles  dis- 
tant, at  Mechlin,  where  the  reigning  Princess  held  her  court.  In 
Antwerp  itself,  the  Margrave,  as  representative  of  the  Emperor, 
resided ;  but  as  that  city  enjoyed  its  own  laws  and  privileges,  of 
which  the  "Lords  of  Antwerp"  were  the  guardians,  their  author- 
ity was  paramount  to  all  others.  Hackett  eagerly  desired  to  grat- 
ify the  Cardinal  and  liis  English  Bishops,  but  then  he  Avas  about 
to  meddle  with  the  citizens  of  "  no  mean  city." 

On  the  11th  of  December,  Henry's  Secretary,  Mr.  Brian  Tuke, 
sent  off  copies  of  Tyndale's  Testament,  as  an  index  to  the  others, 
now  sought  to  be  destroyed  ;  and  the  first  letter,  reporting  progress, 
is  directed  to  him  for  the  King,  dated  the  17th,  before  Hackett 
had  received  the  books.  Tlie  second,  expressing  great  anxiety  to 
receive  them,  is  five  days  later,  and  addressed  to  Wolsey. 

Along  with  this  letter,  a  second  to  Brian  Tuke,  was  also  sent 
by  Hackett.  His  zeal  was  probably  in  part  professional,  but  the 
authorities  at  home  were  in  full  earnest  as  to  their  anxiety  for  the 
destruction  of  the  books.  Copies  of  the  Testaments  had  there- 
fore been  sent,  before  he  wrote  for  them,  and  they  had  arrived  a 
few  days  after  his  letters  of  the  22d. 

In  the  abundance  of  his  zeal,  Hackett  not  only  visited  Antwerp, 
Barrow,  Zealand,  and  other  places,  but  made  "  privy  inquisitions" 
at  Ghent  and  Brng-es,  at  Brussels,  Louvaine,  and  elseichere,  after 
books,  which  was  all  in  obedience  to  Wolsey's  instructions  ;  so 
that  he  ihmk?.  forty  marks,  which  he  had  just  received,  should  be 
allowed  him  for  ^'■expenses  extraordinary."  The  books,  so  far  as 
detected  there  and  at  Barrow,  were  burned,  though  happily  they 
had  found  out  only  a  -part.  Of  all  this  Hackett  did  not  fail  im- 
mediately to  inform  the  King's  Secretaiy  ;  and  in  his  second  de- 


76  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

spatch  to  Wolsey,  dated  from  Mechlin  the  20th  of  February,  he 
alludes  to  the  subject  again — 

"Please  your  Grace  to  understand,  that  since  my  last  writing  to 
your  Grace,  I  have  received  none  of  yours.  I  trust  by  this  time 
your  Grace  has  ample  information  of  such  execution  and  justice 
as  has  been  done  in  the  towns  of  Antwerp  and  Barrow,  upon  all 
such  English  books  as  we  could  find  in  these  countries,  similar  to 
three  such  other  books  as  your  Grace  sent  unto  me  with  my  Lord 
the  Bishop  of  London's  signature." 

That  no  doubt  whatever  might  remain  as  to  the  species  of  jus- 
tice to  which  Hackett  refers,  he  speaks  afterwards,  in  the  same 
letter  of  having  caused  a  goodjire  to  be  made  of  the  Testaments. 
Even  this  much,  however,  had  been  accomplished,  it  is  evident, 
with  no  small  difficulty,  and  it  was,  in  the  end,  only  by  a  stretch 
of  power.  Our  envoy,  tlierefore,  felt  himself  under  the  necessity 
of  adding — 

"  The  Margrave  of  Antwerp,  and  the  Drossard  of  Barghys,  re- 
quired, and  pray  you,  if  it  were  possible,  to  cause  them  to  get  out  of 
England  a  translation  of  some  particular  articles  of  heresies  con- 
tained in  the  said  book,  by  the  which  notification,  they  may  law- 
fully not  only  burn  such  books,  but  also  to  correct  and  punish  the 
imprimurs.  buyers,  and  sellers  of  them,  both  in  body  and  in  goods, 
for  eise^  according  to  the  laws  of  this  (place,)  they  may  not  pun- 
ish, nor  make  correction  upon  the  foresaid  men,  neither  upon  their 
goods,  as  they  say." 

A  fire  was  kindled  by  the  Almighty  in  this  year  1.526,  through 
the  instrumentaUty  of  his  servant,  which,  in  the  highest  exercise 
of  his  loving-kindness,  He  has  never  suffered  to  be  extinguished  ; 
light  was  then  introduced,  which  He  has  never  withdrawn  ;  and 
a  voice  was  then  heard  by  the  people,  which  has  sounded  in  the 
ears  of  their  posterity  to  the  present  hour.  For  whatever  may  be 
said  of  men,  as  men,  it  is  to  the  word  of  truth  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  that  we  owe  everything  in  this  highly-favored  country. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE.  77 


SECTION    IV. 

THE  translator's    PROGRESS HIS    EARLIEST    COMFOSITIOKS AGITATION    OF    EU- 
ROPE  SACK  OF  ROME CONSEQUENCES PERSECUTION    IN  ENGLAND OPPOSITION 

TO  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT WARHAM    AND    THE    BISHOPS    BUYING  IT  UP FRESH 

IMPORTATIONS THE    FOURTH    EDITION SCRIPTURES    SINGULARLY    INTRODUCED 

ONCE  MORE. 

In  returning  to  Tyndale,  whom  we  left  alone  at  Worms,  after 
having  completed  his  New  Testaments,  we  do  so  with  abundant 
evidence,  that  he  had  not  labored  in  vain.  Much  has  vaguely 
been  ascribed  to  Latin  works  then  imported  from  the  Continent, 
and  in  consequence  of  even  their  effects,  the  "  spirituality"  of  the 
day  no  doubt  dreaded  almost  every  leaf;  but  the  history  already 
given  clearly  shows,  that  the  New  Testament  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  was  the  great  object  of  apprehension.  While  yet  in  his 
native  land,  Tyndale  ''  had  perceived  by  experience  how  that  it 
was  impossible  to  stablish  the  lay  people  in  any  truth,  except  the 
Scriptures  Avere  plainly  laid  before  their  eyes  in  their  mother 
tongue,  that  they  might  see  the  process,  order,  and  meaning  of 
the  text :"  and  so  now,  as  the  Word  of  the  Lord  was  enlightening 
tlie  minds,  "  converting  the  soul,  and  making  wise  the  simple,"  it 
had  proved  also  "like  a  fire  or  a  hammer,"  and  was  breaking  the 
rocks  in  pieces. 

Very  soon,  through  whatever  medium,  Tyndale  was  made  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  storm  that  raged  in  England,  and 
amidst  all  its  tumultuous  howling,  he  liad  ample  encouragement 
to  proceed  with  his  Old  Testament  from  the  Hebrew  ;  but  in  the 
year  1526,  he  must  have  been  also  very  busy  in^preparing  for  the 
press,  as  we  find  that  the  year  1527  was  distinguished  by  the  first 
appearance  of  two  publications,  namely,  his  exposition  of  "  the 
Parable  of  the  Wicked  Mammon,"  and  his  "  Obedience  of  a  Chris- 
tian man." 

Sometime,  hoAvever,  before  the  appearance  of  anything  else  in 
print,  we  may  now  safely  assert,  that  Tyndale  had  been  favored 
by  the  company,  consolation,  and  assistance  of  his  devoted  Chris- 
tian friend,  John  Fryth,  who  had  tied  from  Oxford  to  the  Conti- 
nent about  September  1526,  and  no  doubt  fully  reported  progress. 

With  a  modesty  and  prudence  highly  characteristic,  our  Trans- 
lator had  put  forth  the  New  Testament  ivifhout  his  name,  and  he 
earnestly  wished  to  have  gone  on,  through  life,  with  anonymous 
publication :  but  the  sight  of  a  satirical  Dialogue  and  Prologue, 
by  Roye,  falsely  attributed  to  Tyndale,  had  fully  convinced  Tyn- 
dale that  there  was  an  imperative  necessity,  not  only  for  affixing 
his  name  to  what  he  now  published,  but  ibr  his  disclaiming  all 
connection  or  even  intercourse  with  Roye,  after  a  certain  period. 

He  says :  "  The  cause  why  I  have  set  my  name  before  this 
little  treatise,  and  have  not  rather  done  it  in  the  New  Testament, 


78  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

i-3,  that  then  I  followed  the  counsel  of  Christ,  which  exhorteth  men 
to  do  their  good  deeds  secretly,  and  to  be  content  with  the  con- 
science of  well-doing,  and  that  God  seeth  us  ;  and  patiently  to 
abide  the  reward  of  the  last  day,  which  Christ  hath  purchased  for 
us  :  and  now  would  Ifain  have  done  likewise,  but  I  am  compelled 
otherwise  so  to  do. 

"  While  I  abode  (at  Hamburgh  ?)  a  faithful  companion,  which 
now  hath  taken  another  voyage  upon  him,  to  preach  Christ,  where, 
I  suppose,  he  was  never  yet  preached — God,  which  put  in  his 
heart  thither  to  go,  send  his  Spirit  with  Ixira,  comfort  him,  and 
bring  his  purpose  to  good  effect ! — one  William  Roye,  a  man  some- 
what crafty,  when  he  cometh  unto  new  acquaintance,  and  before 
he  be  thorough  known,  namely,  when  all  is  spent,  came  unto  me 
and  offered  his  heljx  As  long  as  he  had  no  money,  somewhat  I 
could  rule  him  ;  but  as  soon  as  he  had  gotten  him  money,  he  be- 
came like  himself  again.  Nevertheless,  I  suffered  all  things,  till 
that  was  ended  which  I  could  not  do  alone  without  one,  both  to 
Avrite  and  to  help  me  to  compare  the  text  together.  When  that 
was  ended,  I  took  my  leave,  and  bade  him  farewell  for  our  two 
lives,  and,  as  men  say,  a  day  longer.  After  we  were  departed 
(separated,)  he  went  and  gat  him  new  friends,  which  thing  to  do, 
he  passeth  all  that  I  ever  yet  knew.  And  then,  when  he  had 
stored  him  of  money,  he  gat  him  to  Argentine, (Strasburg)  where  he 
profcsseLli  wonderful  faculties,  an<l  maketh  boast  of  no  small  things. 

"  A  year  after  that,  and  now  twelve  months  before  the  printing 
of  this  work,  came  one  Jerome,  a  brother  of  Greenwich  also, 
through  Worms  to  Argentine,  (Strasburg,)  saying  that  he  intended 
to  be  Christ's  disciple  another  while,  and  to  keep  as  nigh,  as  God 
would  give  him  grace,  the  profession  of  his  baptism,  and  to  get 
his  living  with  his  hands,  and  to  live  no  longer  idly,  and  of  the 
sweat  and  labor  of  those  captives,  which  they  had  taught  not  to 
believe  in  Christ,  but  in  cut  shoes  and  russet  coats.  Which  Je- 
rome, with  all  diligence,  I  warned  of  Roye's  boldness,  and  exhorted 
him  to  beware  of  him,  and  to  walk  quietly,  and  with  all  patience 
and  long-suffering,  according  as  we  hav«  Christ  and  his  Apostles 
for  an  ensample  ;  which  thing  he  also  promised  me. 

"  Nevertheless,  when  he  was  come  to  Argentine,  William  Roye, 
(whose  tongue  is  able  not  only  to  make  fools  stark  mad,  but  also 
to  deceive  the  wisest.,  that  is,  at  the  first  sight  and  acquaintance,) 
gat  biin  to  him,  and  set  him  a  work  to  make  rhf/mes  ;  while  he 
himself  translated  a  Dialogue  out  of  Latin  into  English,  in  whose 
prologue  he  promiseth  more  a  great  deal  than,  I  fear  me,  he  will 
ever  pay.  Paul  saith,  'the  servant  of  the  Lord  must  not  strive, 
but  be  peaceable  unto  all  men,  and  ready  to  teach,  and  one  that 
can  suffer  the  evil  with  meekness,  and  that  can  inform  them  that 
resist ;  if  God  at  any  time  will  give  them  repentance  for  to  know 
the  truth.'  It  hecometh  not  then  the  Lord's  servant  to  use  railing 
rhymes,  but  God's  word,  which  is  the  right  weapon  to  slay  sin, 
vice,  and  all  iniquity." 

Here,  in  Ty ndale's  own  words,  we  have  the  commencement  and 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  79 

termination  of  Roye's  intercourse  with  him  very  distinctly  noted. 
He  had  craved  employment  in  1524,  and  being  retained,  only  till 
Tyndale  could  proceed  without  his  aid  as  an  amanuensis,  he  left 
his  service  at  Worms,  in  the  summer  of  1525. 

Tyndale  had  already  given  a  specimen  of  his  schalarship.  It 
remained  now  to  be  discovered,  whether  lie  was  to  be  at  all  dis- 
tinguished as  a  judicious  man ;  a  character  from  which  a  mere 
scholar  often  stands  at  a  great  distance.  One  is  curious  to  hear 
what  he  had  got  to  say  first,  and  especially,  if  to  England,  from 
the  city  of  Worms.  In  his  deliberate  judgment,  it  becomes  evi- 
dent, that  most  of  the  evils  with  which  his  native  country  was 
now  infested,  were  to  be  traced  to  the  love  of  money.  Hence, 
€ven  the  title  of  this,  his  very  first  treatise — "  The  Wicked  Mam- 
mon." The  "  Spirituality"  of  the  day,  so  called,  appeared  to  him 
as  the  "  Successors  of  Simon  Magus"  "  who  would  have  bought 
the  gift  of  God  to  have  sold  it  much  dearer."  Bred  up  as  Tyn- 
dale had  been  in  Gloucestershire,  it  was  quite  natural  that  he 
should  feel  deeply  for  the  people,  as  ground  down  or  pillaged  by 
exactions,  and  "spiritual  alms,"  falsely  so  denom.inated.  It  was 
not,  however,  that  he  had  now  commenced,  by  a  lectur-e  on  covet- 
onsness.  Far  from  it.  But  the  title  having  once  attracted  the 
reader's  eye,  as  it  was  very  likely  to  do,  he  found  hiiP-self  at  once 
addressed  on  the  only  genuine  origin  of  all  vital  religion.  Com- 
mencing with  the  great  and  fundamental  subject  of  a  sinner's  ac- 
•ceptance  before  God  ;  believing  the  gospel  to  be  the  ministration 
of  righteousness  and  of  the  Spirit,  and  Christ  alone  "  the  great 
Store-house  of  mercy ;"  he  magnifies  divine  revelation  as  the 
ground  of  all  certainty  in  matters  so  important. 

The  year  1527  was  made  memorable  for  the  capture  of  Rome 
by  the  Duke  of  Bourbon,  and  the  flight  of  the  Pope  in  disguise. 

Throughout  the  year,  it  might  seem  next  to  impossible  that  any 
moment  was  left  to  attend  to  the  suppression  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testament,  or  the  persecution  of  those  who  possessed  it.  But  if 
there  was,  we  can  now  more  fully  estimate  the  extent  of  that  ap- 
prehension and  anxiety  which  agitated,  even  at  such  a  time  as 
this,  not  only  the  Bishops  of  the  day,  but  all  the  votaries  of  "  the 
■eld  learning." 

It  was  but  one  short  year  since  the  Sacred  Volume  had  arrived 
^in  the  country ;  and  yet  see  how  deeply  its  enemies  were  moved. 
The  first  inveterate  opponent  who  excites  notice,  was  "  an  ancient 
doctor,  called,  as  I  remember,"  says  Cavendish,  "  Doctor  (Robert) 
Ridley,  a  very  small  person  in  stature,  but  surely  a  great  and  ex- 
cellent clerk  in  divinity  !"  He  was  celebrated  as  a  canonist,  and 
had  been  consulted  by  Wolsey,  years  before  this,  respecting  the 
prevention  of  Lutheranism.  Related  to  Cuthbert  Tunstal,  he,  in 
the  year  1523,  had  made  him  Rector  of  St.  Botolph's,  Bishopgate, 
in  1524,  Prebend  (Mora)  of  St.  Paul's,  and  more  recently  Rector 
of  St.  Edmond's,  Lombard  Street.  Was  it  wonderful  that  this 
little  man  should  wax  warm  in  the  service  of  the  hierarchy  ?  The 
iljitterness  af  his  zeal  would  exceed  belief,  could  we  not  present  a 


80  IlISTORV    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

specimen  from  his  own  pen.  Yet  was  he  no  other  than  the  uncle 
of  the  learned  and  amiable  Nicholas  Ridley,  the  future  martyr ; 
and  gave  him,  at  his  sole  expense,  his  fine  education  at  home  and 
abroad !  The  uncle  and  nephew  have  occasionally  been  cout 
founded,  tliough  no  two  men  could  form  a  stronger  contrast. 

The  following  singular  letter  of  Robert  Ridley's,  which  has 
never  been  printed  before,  we  give  entire,  with  the  exception  of  a 
very  few  words,  which  cannot  be  deciphered  in  the  original  man- 
uscript. It  is  extremely  valuable,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
information  it  conveys  respecting  Tyndale's  first  publications  ;  but 
as  a  specimen  of  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  of  that  precious  criti- 
cism, which  no  doubt  was  then  hailed  as  at  once  masterly  and 
acute.  The  letter  is  dated  24th  February,  and,  as  will  appear 
presently,  in  the  year  1527.  It  is  addressed  to  Henry  Golde  at 
Knolle,  and  as  chaplain  to  Warham,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

"  Master  Golde,  1  heartily  commend  me  unto  you,  as  concern- 
ing this  common  and  vulgar  translation  of  the  New  Testament 
into  English,  done  by  Mr.  William  Hichyus,  otherwise  called  Mr. 
W.  Tyndale,  and  Friar  William  Roye,  manifest  Lutherans,  here- 
tics, and  apostates,  as  doth  openly  appear,  not  only  by  their  daily 
and  continual  company  and  familiarity  with  Luther  and  his  dis- 
ciples ;  but  much  more  by  their  commentaries  and  annotations  in 
Matthew  and  Mark  in  the  first  print — also  by  their  ineface 
(prologue)  in  the  second  print — and  by  their  introduction  into 
the  Epistle  of  Paul  to  the  Romans — altogether  most  poisoned  and 
abhorrable  heresies  that  can  be  thought.  He  is  not  a  son  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  that  would  receive  a  gospel  of  such  damned 
(condemned)  and  precised  heretics,  though  it  were  true  :  like  as 
Paul,  and  our  Saviour  Christ,  would  not  take  the  true  testimonial 
of  evil  spirits  that  praised  Christ,  saying  that  he  was  the  son  of 
God,  and  that  Paul  himself  was  a  servant  of  the  true  God. 

"  As  for  errors,  if  ye  have  the  first  print  with  annotations,  Mat- 
thew and  Mark  ;  and  the  preface,  all  is  mere  phrenzy.  He  saith 
that  the  Gospel  is  nothing  else  than  the  sweet  promise  of  grace — 
so  that,  by  that  means,  '  Do  penance'  is  no  part  of  the  Gospel — 
the  Pater  Noster  is  no  part  of  the  Gospel — '  Depart,  ye  cursed,  into 
everlasting  fire,'  is  no  part  of  the  Gospel — but  only  such  as  '  The 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand' — '  Ye  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls.' 
Also,  he  saith  in  that  preface  (the  prologue)  and  annotations,  that 
there  is  no  difference  between  virginity  and  a  whore  of  the  stews. 
if  she  come  to  repentance.  Also,  that  like  as  no  man  doth  evil 
to  the  intent  that  he  should  be  punished  or  hanged  therefor  ;  so 
no  man  should  do  good  to  have  any  reward  therefor.  To  that  in 
the  Hebrews  concerning  Moses,  '  for  he  had  respect  to  the  recom- 
pense of  reward  ;'  and  that,  '  Make  to  yourselves  friends  of  the 
mammon,  that  when  ye  fail,  they  may  receive  you  into  everlast- 
ing tabernacles.'  Also,  he  saith,  that  by  good  works  v^e  do  noth- 
ing merit,  in  opposition  to  that  in  the  Corinthians, — ■'•  that  every 
one  may  receive  the  things  done  in  the  body,  according  as  he  hath 
done,  whether   good  or  evil,' — and   that  to  Abraham,   'because 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  81 

thou  hast  done  this  thing,'  &c.  Also  that  in  Matthew,  '  Because 
I  was  athirsty,  and  ye  gav^e  me  drink,' — also  that '  Come  ye  blessed 
of  my  Father,'  &c.  Also,  he  saith,  'that  he  that  doth  anything  to 
have  a  higher  place  in  heaven,  he  is  proud  as  Satan  and  Lucifer.' 

"  I  have  none  of  these  books,  but  only  I  remeynher  such  things 
I  read  in  the  preface  and  annotations.  As  for  the  text  of  the 
Gospel,  first,  the  title  is  heretical,  saying  that  '  it  is  printed  as  it 
was  written  by  the  Evangelists,'  while  it  neither  agrees  with  the 
ancient  translation,  nor  with  Erasmus." 

After  quoting,  but  inaccurately,  Tyndale's  version  of  Matthew  i. 
1,  19,  and  Romans  v.  12,  he  repeats  that  he  had  rendered  "  peni- 
tentiam  agite,"  most  foolishly — Repent. 

"  By  this  translation  shall  we  lose  all  these  Christian  words — 
penance,  charity,  confession,  grace,  priest,  church,  which  he  al- 
ways calleth  a  congregation ;  as  if  so  many  Turks,  or  irrational 
animals,  were  not  a  congregation,  except  he  wishes  tliem  also  to 
be  a  church.     Idolatria,  calleth  he  '  worshiping  of  images.' 

"  I  would  that  ye  should  have  seen  my  Lord's  (Tunstal's)  books. 
As  for  the  translation  in  French,  without  any  postile,  it  is,  for  cer- 
tain, condemned  in  Paris,  by  public  decree,  though  it  be  there  done : 
condemned,  I  say,  that  it  shall  not  be  lawful  to  publish  it  to  every 
layman,  but  by  the  priests,  whose  lips  keep  knowledge — and  so  it 
was  in  the  old  law,  and  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles.  Vide  '  Siito- 
re7n  de  translatione  Biblice.^ 

"  I  certify  you,  that  if  ye  look  well,  ye  shall  not  look  three  lines 
without  fault  in  all  the  book,  but  I  have  not  the  book  to  mark 
them  out, — ye  should  have  had  leisure  yourself  to  have  done  it. 
Howbeit,  it  becometh  the  people  of  Christ  to  obey  their  rulers, 
which  hath  given  study,  and  is  learned  in  such  matters,  as  their 
people  should  hear  and  believe.  They  should  not  judge  the  doc- 
trine of  Paul,  nor  of  Paul's  vicars  and  successors,  but  be  judged  by 
their  learning,  as  long  as  they  know  nothing  contrary  God's  laws, 
— as  St.  Bernard  saith,  most  goodly  and  clerkly,  in  his  book,  '  De 
dispensatione  et  precepto.'     Vale,  in  all  haste,  your  own, 

"Robert  Ridley,  Priest^ 

"  Item,  that  of  Paul, — '  stultas  questiones  devita,'  &.c. — •'  beware 
of  foohsh  problems  or  questions  in  the  schools.'  This,  without  doubt, 
is  said  in  hatred  of  the  scholastic  divinity,  and  of  the  Universi- 
ties !"  Such  a  thing  is  in  the  translation,  though  it  be  not  in  the 
same  words. 

"  Shew  ye  to  the  people,  that  if  any  be  of  so  proud  and  stub- 
born stomach,  that  he  will  believe  there  is  no  fault  nor  error,  ex- 
cept it  be  declared  to  him  that  he  may  see  it,  let  him  come  hither 
to  my  Lord,  which  hath  profoundly  examined  all,  and  he  shall  hear 
and  see  errors,  except  that  he  be  blind,  and  have  no  eye." 

"24^/i  February. 
"Ye  shall  not  need  to  accuse  this  translation.     It  is  accused 
and  damned   (condemned)  by  the  consent  of  the  Prelates  and 
learned  men ;  and  commanded  to  be  burnt,  both  here  and  beyond 

6 


82  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  sea,  where  is  many  hundred  of  them  burnt ;  so  that  it  is  too 
late  now  to  ask  reason  ivhij  that  be  condemned,  and  which  be  the 
faults  and  enors.  Luther  and  his  school  teacheth,  '  that  we  do 
not  co-operate  with  the  grace  of  God,  but  are  only  passive  as 
stones  or  blocks.'  Because  of  that,  this  text,  '  non  ego,  sed  gratia 
dei  mecum,'  thus  is  translated — '  not  /,  hut  the  grace  of  God  in 
me'' — -which  how  heretically,  wickedly,  seditiously,  and  falsely  it 
is  translated,  he  who  does  not  perceive  is  stupid ! 

"  My  Lord,  your  master,  (Warham,)  hath  of  these  books  given 
and  sent  to  him,  by  my  Lord,  (Tunstal,)  my  master.  Shew  the 
people  that  ye  be  come  to  declare  unto  them  that  certain  books  be 
condemned  by  the  council,  and  profound  examination  of  the  Pre- 
lates, and  fathers  of  the  Church. 

"  To  Master  Henry  Golde, 

Chaplain  to  my  Lord  of  Canterbury,  at  KnolleJ^ 

This  man  quotes  from  memory  and  at  random.  It  is  altogether 
unnecessary  to  trace  his  mistakes,  whether  wilful  or  not ;  and  yet 
this  strange  farrago,  however  inaccurate  and  calumnious  in  its 
blind  criticisms,  is  still  of  great  value,  as  a  link  in  our  narrative,  and 
as  lending  to  it  a  degree  of  precision,  hitherto  unobserved,  if  not  ua- 
known.  Even  from  this  document  alone,  there  can  be  no  ques- 
tion now,  that  in  the  year  1526,  Tyndale's  quarto  Testament, 
with  the  prologue  prefixed,  was  circulating  in  England.  We  now 
learn,  however,  that  there  was  an  edition  of  Matthew  and  Mark 
separately,  which  he  designates  i\\e  first  print. 

Notwithstanding  the  solemn  and  pointed  injunctions  of  the 
Bishop  of  London  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  issued  in 
the  close  of  1526,  calling  in  both  editions,  both  Bishops  had  found 
that  the  possessors  of  the  Sacred  Volume  were  by  no  means  dis- 
posed to  surrender  it,  merely  for  being  threatened  ;  and  as  for  the 
copies  still  abroad,  if  the  influence  of  Wolsey  over  Brabant  was 
last  year  less  than  it  had  been,  in  this,  of  course,  it  was  lower  still. 
His  political  leanings  were  now  better  known,  not  only  to  the 
Emperor  and  tbe  Lady  Margaret,  but  to  the  Lords  of  Antwerp, 
and  all  the  merchants.  Hackett  the  ambassador,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, had  implored  a  list  of  heresies,  taken  out  of  the  Testa- 
ment, to  be  translated  into  German,  that  he  might  proceed  at 
Antwerp  or  other  places  with  more  rigor  and  despatch  ;  but  Pro- 
vidence intervening,  Wolsey  was  engrossed  in  far  diiferent  em- 
ployment ;  and  so  now,  it  seems,  if  any  more  Testaments  are  to 
be  obtained,  they  must  be  bought,  not  seized.  The  embassador 
either  dared  not,  or  could  not,  play  the  same  game  a  second  time. 

At  his  wits'  end,  as  we  have  already  seen,  Hackett  was  the  first 
who  suggested  the  idea  of  purchasing  and  burning,  in  order  to 
prevent  the  circulation ;  and  all  preceding  accounts  hitherto  printed, 
without  exception,  hold  up  Tunstal  as  the  only  man  who  adopted 
it.  But  this,  like  too  many  others,  is  a  general  mistake,  as  for 
two  years  to  come  he  did  nothing  of  the  kind.  The  purchasing 
began  with  a  higher  ecclesiastical  authority  than  that  of  Tunstal ; 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  83 

nor  should  the  step  be  represented  as  merely  fooHsh,  even  aUhoug-h 
it  actually  furthered  the  work  it  was  meant  to  crush.  The  fact 
was,  that  these  Bishops  were  in  a  frenzy,  yet  none  of  them  were 
so  far  gone,  as  to  purchase  without  a  reason.  Any  one  of  them, 
as  we  shall  see  presently,  was  not  disposed  to  be  at  more  expense 
than  what  was  absolutely  necessary  :  but  they  were  certainly  in 
great  haste,  because  the  haste  of  fear,  and  so  the  purchase  became  a 
matter  of  necessity,  not  of  choice ;  since  the  rights  of  the  subject  were, 
at  this  moment,  far  better  understood  at  Antwerp  than  in  England. 

It  was  Warham,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who,  in  the 
spring  of  1527,  had  busied  himself  in  procuring  what  copies  could 
be  found  out  abroad  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament ;  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  purchasing  a  part  of  Tyndale's  original  editions  in 
quarto  and  octavo,  though  there  might  be  some  of  the  third  Ant- 
werp impression  among  them.  Wolsey  and  Warham  were  not 
far  from  being  as  much  at  variance,  as  were  Herod  and  Pontius 
Pilate,  in  the  days  of  old ;  but,  as  opposition  to  the  Saviour  made 
them  friends  for  the  moment,  so  in  opposition  to  His  Word,  these 
modern  authorities  were  cordially  united.  One  curious  letter, 
never  printed,  still  remains,  affording  a  most  miserable  picture  of 
the  whole  fraternity  at  this  period.  It  is  from  the  Bishop  of  Nor- 
wich to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  dated  the  14th  of  June  1527. 

"  In  right  humble  manner  I  commend  me  unto  your  good  Lord- 
ship, doing  the  same  to  understand  that  I  lately  received  your  letters 
dated  at  your  Manor  of  Lambeth,  the  26th  day  of  the  month  of  May, 
by  the  which  I  do  perceive  that  your  Grace  hath  lately  gotten  into 
your  hands  all  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  translated  into 
English,  and  printed  beyond  the  sea  ;  as  well  those  loith  the  glosses 
joined  unto  them,  as  the  other  without  the  glosses ;  by  means  of 
exchange  by  you  made  therefore,  to  tlie  sum  of  lxvi.  li,  ix.  s.,  iiii.  d. 

''Surely,  in  mine  opinion,  you  have  done  tiiem  a  gracious  and 
blessed  deed,  and  God,  I  doubt  not,  shall  highly  reward  you  there- 
fore !  And  when  in  your  said  letters  ye  write  that  in  so  much 
as  this  matter  and  the  danger  thereof,  if  remedy  had  not  been  pro- 
vided, should  not  only  have  touched  you,  but  all  the  Bishops 
within  your  province:  and  that  it  is  no  reason  that  the  whole 
charge  and  cost  thereof  should  rest  only  on  you ;  but  that  they 
and  every  of  them,  for  their  part,  should  advance  and  contribute 
certain  sums  of  money  toward  the  same,  and  for  that  intent,  de- 
sire me  to  certify  you  what  convenient  sum  I,  for  my  part,  will  be 
contented  to  advance  in  this  behalf,  and  to  make  payment  there- 
of to  Master  William  Potkyn,  your  servant ;  Pleaseth  it  you  to 
understand,  that  I  am  right  well  contented  to  give  and  advance  in 
this  behalf  ten  marks,  and  shall  cause  the  same  to  be  delivered 
unto  the  said  Master  Potkyn,  shortly ;  the  which  sum  I  think  suf- 
ficient for  my  part,  if  every  Bishop  within  your  said  province  make 
like  contribution  and  advancement,  after  the  rate  and  substance 
of  their  benefices.  Nevertheless,  if  your  Grace  think  this  sum  of 
ten  marks  not  sufficient  for  my  part  in  this  matter,  your  further 
pleasure  known  I  shall  be  as  glad  to  conform  myself  thereunto  in 


84  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

this,  or  any  other  matter  concerning  the  Church,  as  any  other 
subject  within  your  province — as  knows  Ahuighty  God,  who  long 
preserve  you,  to  liis  most  pleasure,  and  your  heart's  desire.  At 
Hoxne,  in  Suffolk,  the  14th  day  of  June  1.527. — Your  humble 
obediencer  and  bondman." 

Such  was  the  letter  of  Richard  Nikke  or  Nix,  dictated  in  all 
probability,  for  he  was  literally  blind  for  a  considerable  time,  and 
now  about  seventy-seven  years  of  age  !  His  signature  has  all  the 
appearance  of  a  blind  man's  mark.  Few  individuals  in  England 
were  more  annoyed  by  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures  than  he 
was.  We  shall  find  him  persecuting  and  consigning  Bilney  to 
the  flames  ;  for  he  lived  nine  years  longer,  and  died,  as  he  had 
lived,  blind  in  every  sense,  in  January,  1.536,  at  the  advanced  age 
of  at  least  86  !  But  we  shall  meet  with  him  more  than  once, 
before  his  death. 

If  Warham  was  busy  abroad,  Tunstal  was  not  less  so  at  home  ; 
if  the  one  was  eager  to  prevent  importation,  the  latter  had  not 
relaxed  in  anxiety  to  obtain  all  those  books  that  were  in  use.  He 
seems,  however,  to  have  been  annoyed  by  a  double  suspicion  ;  that 
his  Archdeacons  were  either  remiss  in  obeying  his  injunctions,  or 
the  people  were  too  knowing  for  all  their  research.  Both  suspi- 
cions were,  in  fact,  not  without  foundation.  Tunstal,  therefore, 
instead  of  waiting  longer  for  the  owners  of  the  Testaments  deliv- 
ering them  up,  resolved  upon  a  strict  visitation  of  iiis  whole  dio- 
cese this  summer.  But  see  again  the  kind  interposition  of  a  gra- 
cious providence  !  This  man,  as  well  as  Wolsey  and  Sir  Thomas 
More,  must  all  prepare  in  June  to  embark  for  France,  where  they 
are  to  remain  till  the  month  of  October.  The  consequence  was, 
that  although  the  visitation  was  remitted  to  Geffrey  Wharton,  as 
his  Vicar,  little,  or  rather  nothing,  was  done  in  the  way  of  perse- 
cution till  Tunstal's  return. 

After  his  return,  however,  he  had  received  some  written  infor- 
mation against  certain  individuals  ;  and  in  November,  as  already 
explained,  the  bishops  were  summoned  by  Wolsey,  as  Vicar-Gen- 
eral of  all  England,  to  meet  him  at  Westminster.  He  opened  his 
court  in  this  character,  and  commenced  the  proceedings,  "  but  be- 
cause," says  Foxe,  "  he  was  otherwise  occupied  with  affairs  of  tlie 
realm,  he  committed  the  hearing  of  the  matter  to  the  Bishop  of 
London,  and  to  other  Bishops  there  present,  or  to  three  of  them, 
to  proceed  against  all  men,  as  well  spiritual  as  temporal,  as  also 
against  writings  and  books — giving  them  full  power  to  determine 
upon  them." 

"  Bilney  and  Arthur,  being  leading  characters,  the  court  was 
opened  with  their  examination,  and  this  was  their  second  appear- 
ance. Arthur  abjured,  nor  do  we  ever  hear  of  him  again.  Bilney 
abjured,  bore  a  faggot  on  his  shoulder  at  St.  Paul's,  and  was  re- 
manded to  "  a  prison  appointed  by  the  Cardinal,  till  he  should  be 
by  him  released." 

Nothing,  it  is  true,  could  be  more  unlikely,  than  that  any  more 
copies  of  the  Sacred  Volume  should  arrive  in  this  country  at  such 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  85 

a  crisis  ;  it  might  seem  altogether  impossible.  Throughout 
the  whole  year,  England,  under  Wolsey's  influence,  was  foment- 
ing war  with  the  Emperor,  and  consequently  with  the  Low 
Countries,  or  Flanders,  but  courting  alliance  with  France.  In 
the  latter,  there  were,  of  course,  no  English  Scriptures  ;  in  the 
former,  copies  were  lying  ready  for  being  introduced  here  confiden- 
tially, with  secrecy  and  silence.  But  if  there  should  be  a  bar  to 
merchandise  in  general,  and  the  merchants  of  Flanders  and  Eng- 
land cannot  exchange  goods,  how  was  there  any  chance  of  con- 
veying the  "Book  of  God"  with  them,  or  under  their  cover?  It 
had  come  through  this  medium  before,  but  how  could  it  by  any 
possibility  do  so  now  ? 

The  reader  may  recollect,  that  the  year  1527  was  introduced 
by  severe  disease.  Immediately  after  this,  in  consequence  of  "  the 
great  rains  whicli  fell  in  the  sowing  time,"  by  the  fall  of  the  year, 
bread  advanced  to  such  a  price,  that  the  people  were  in  danger  of 
starvation.  Wheat,  at  last,  not  only  had  risen  from  sixteen  shil- 
lings to  one  jJowid  six  shillings  and  eightpence  the  quarter,  but 
ere  long  it  was  not  to  be  obtained  for  money.  Commissioners 
were  sent  into  every  county  to  inquire  what  wheat  remained  in 
the  realm ;  but  at  the  same  time  to  enjoin  that  none  should  be 
conveyed  from  one  county  to  another.  The  consequence  was, 
London  at  last  so  felt  the  pressure,  that  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen 
came  to  Wolsey  on  his  return  from  France,  and  told  him,  "  either 
the  people  must  die  from  famine,  or  else  they,  with  strong  hand, 
will  fetch  corn  from  them  that  have  it."  He  cared  little  for  any 
man's  life,  when  his  path  was  crossed,  and  put  them  off  with,  no 
doubt,  a  daring  falsehood ! — that  the  King  of  France  had  said  to 
him,  that  "  if  he  had  but  three  bushels  of  wheat,  England  should 
have  two,  so  iiuich  he  loveth  and  regardeth  this  realm  !"  This 
was  at  least  acknowledging,  that  while  he  was  abroad,  the  scarcity 
was  well  known  to  him,  amidst  all  his  gorgeous  parade.  The 
people  then,  from  day  to  day,  looked  for  French  wheat,  but  none 
came ;  and  what  is  more  observable,  even  such  as  the  English 
merchants  had  bought  and  shipped  in  Normandy  and  other  places, 
was  there  restrained,  so  that  all  relief  from  these  parts  entirely 
failed !  And  what  then  ?  Let  the  old  contemporary  chronicler 
of  the  day  tell  the  rest : — 

"  But  the  gentle  merchants  of  the  Stilyard  brought  from  Dant- 
zic,  Bremen,  Hamburgh,  and  other  places  great  plenty ;  and  so 
did  other  merchants  from  Flanders,  Holland,  and  Frisland,  so  that 
wheat  was  better  cheap  in  London  than  in  all  England  over. 
Then  the  people  said, — '  See  how  we  had  been  served  by  the 
Frenchmen  in  our  necessity,  if  the  Emperor's  subjects  had  not 
holpen  us.'  For  this  kindness,  the  common  people  loved  the  Em- 
peror better,  and  all  his  subjects.  Henry  the  VIII.,  however,  hear- 
ing of  the  stoppage  of  the  French  wheat,  lent  the  city  a  thousand 
quarters.  '  Then  within  short  space,  the  merchants  of  London  so 
diligently  made  provision  in  all  places  for  wheat  and  rye,  that  after 
Christmas  they  lacked  none,  and  all  the  parties  adjoining  to  them 


86  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

were  fain  to  fetch  wheat  of  them,  and  none  to  them  was  denied, 
notwithstanding  the  unkind  commandment  given,  that  the  Lon- 
doners should  none  have  of  them." 

And  thus  it  was,  that  a  way  was  opened  for  the  introduction  of 
more  books  !  On  board  of  these  vessels  with  grain,  there  must 
have  been  various  importations  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament ; 
but  one  is  too  remarkable  to  be  passed  over  in  silence,  as  it  included 
not  less  than  five  hundred  copies  by  one  man.  Yes,  notwithstand- 
ing all  the  fury  of  Hackett,  and  the  imprisonment  of  Endhoven, 
a)wther  printer  in  Antwerp  had  already  finished  another  edition  ! 
This  was  now  the  second  in  that  place,  or  the  fourth  in  all.  The 
fact  comes  out,  incidentally,  about  four  months  after  this,  in  the 
examination  of  a  distributor,  before  Tunstal.  He  had  been 
charged  with  going  about  to  buy  a  great  number  of  New  Testa- 
ments, when  he  emits  the  following  answer  : — "  That  about  Christ- 
mas last,  (Dec.  1527,)  there  came  a  Dutchman,  being  now  in  the 
Fleet  prison,  which  would  have  sold  this  respondent  two  or  three 
hundred  of  the  said  New  Testaments  in  English,  which  this 
respondent  did  not  buy,  but  sent  him  to  Mr.  Fysh.  •  Connect  this 
with  the  following  entry  in  Foxe's  list  of  persons  abjm'ed  in  1.528. 
"John  Raimund,  [Ruremonde,]  a  Dutchman,  for  causing  fifteen 
hundred  of  Tyndale's  New  Testaments  to  be  printed  at  Antwerp, 
and  for  bringing  five  hundred  into  England." 

One  distinguishing  feature  of  this  edition  consists  in  certain 
woodcuts.  It  is  thus  referred  to  by  Joye,  as  the  second  Dutch 
edition — "  They  printed  it  again,  also  without  a  corrector,  in  a 
greater  letter  and  volume,  with  the  figures  in  the  Apocalypse, 
which  were  much  falser  than  their  first;"  and  alluding  then  to  the 
former  impression,  he  adds,  "  there  were  of  them  both  about  Jive 
thousand  books  printed."  One  copy  of  this  book,  which  appears 
to  have  been  reprinted  from  the  quarto  edition  of  Tyndale,  is  sup- 
posed to  be  in  the  library  of  Emamiel  College,  Cambridge. 

"  There  is  a  copy  of  this  edition,"  says  Dr.  Waterland  to  Mr. 
Lewis,  "  belonging  to  Emanuel  College,  marked  i.  5-66.  I  have 
it  now  in  my  hand.  I  make  this  judgment  from  the  j^o-^^re^,  that 
is  cuts,  drawings,  in  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  imperfect,  both  begin- 
ning and  end,  torn  out.  It  is  a  large  12mo.  if  it  may  not  be 
called  a  small  8vo.  The  titles  and  chapters  are  in  red  letter. 
There  is  a  part  of  '  the  prologe  unto  the  -Neiv  Testament,^''  at  the 
beginning." 

Another  account  states — "  It  is  printed  in  black  letter,  within 
border  lines  of  red  ink ;  and  the  head  line  throughout,  the  head 
of  each  book  and  chapter,  the  notation  marks,  and  most  of  the 
initial  letters,  are  also  in  red.  The  volume  has  marginal  referen- 
ces, a  small  woodcut  at  the  beginning  of  most  of  the  books,  and 
larger  ones  in  the  Revelations,  also  glosses  at  the  end  of  the  chap 
ters.  It  commences  on  iii.,  in  the  middle  of  '  A  prologue  unto  the 
Newe  Testament.'  It  has  no  folios,  and  a  full  page  contains  37 
lines,  exclusive  of  the  head  line." 

The  fact  was,  and  it  is  animating  to  discover  it  even  now,  that 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  87 

such  a  book  was  printing  in  Antwerp  at  the  very  time  lohen  End- 
hoven  was  suffering;  for  so  early  as  the  preceding  May,  and  just 
about  the  time  that  Warham  was  rejoicing  over  his  purchase  of 
Testaments,  the  printer  had  completed  the  volume  !  Thus,  after 
all  the  toil  of  Master  Hackett,  he  was  then  the  subject  of  fresh 
alarm.  On  the  23d  of  May  1527,  therefore,  he  wrote  to  Wolsey 
as  follows : — 

"  And  now  it  shall  please  your  Grace  to  understand  that  the 
21st  day  of  this  month,  at  Mechlin,  I  was  advertised  for  truth  that 
notwithstanding  any  correction  that  has  been  done  in  these  parts 
before,  yet  now  of  the  new,  some  iieiv  printers  of  the  town  of  Ant- 
werp have  brought  to  be  sold  to  this  Barrow  market  divers  English 
books  entitled  '  The  New  Testament  f  for  the  which  cause  I  have 
come  hither,  to  see  correction  and  punishment  to  be  done  upon  the 
said  books  ;  of  which  I  have  found  24  in  one  man's  hand.  We 
seek  for  more,  and,  doubtless,  I  trust  shortly  to  see  them  burned, 
and  as  many  such  like  as  I  can  find  in  these  countries." 

He  then  urges  once  more  the  necessity  for  a  specific  list  of 
heresies  to  be  sent  him,  that  he  might  punish  the  printers  person- 
ally, as  well  as  burn  the  books  ;  and,  by  v/ay  of  enforcing  this, 
he  has  more  heavy  tidings  to  convey — ■ 

"  1  hear  say  that  there  has  been  at  the  last  Frankfort  (spring) 
market,  more  than  tivo  thousand  such  like  English  books  !  but 
there,  like  as  I  hear  say,  they  favor  greatly  Luther's  acts,  and 
sustain  that  he  writeth  the  truth  !  and  leave  all  good  old  cus- 
toms." 

Under  all  these  circumstances  it  is  now  almost  evident,  that 
part  of  this  fourth  edition  had  found  its  way  into  England,  by  the 
end  of  1527 ;  for  that  Testaments  did  arrive  at  this  gloomy  and 
necessitous  period,  there  can  now  be  no  question.  Men  are  but 
too  apt  to  overlook  the  footsteps  of  a  particular  providence,  but  the 
arrival  of  books  through  such  a  medium,  and  at  such  a  period, 
was  too  remarkable  an  event  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  Could 
it  fail  to  be  observed  with  gratitude  at  the  time  ?  After  turning 
"  a  fruitful  land  into  barrenness,"  and  the  people  were  "brought 
low,  through  oppression,  affliction,  and  sorrow ;"  with  bread-corn, 
came  the  bread  from  heaven.  Through  these  very  channels,  the 
Sacred  Volume  had  come  before,  and  now,  notwithstanding  all  the 
wrath  and  rage  in  high  places,  it  came  again.  The  bread  that 
perisheth  must  rise  in  price,  and  finally  fail,  that  the  bread  of  life 
■  may  come.  He  vv^ho  appointed  a  way  for  his  anger,  was  at  the 
same  moment  preparing  a  way  also  for  the  reception  of  His  Word. 
In  wrath  he  remembered  mercy.  Well  might  the  people  have 
said — "  Whoso  is  wise,  and  will  observe  these  things,  even  they 
shall  understand  the  loving  kindness  of  the  Lord." 


88  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


SECTION    V. 

TYNDALE  AND    FRYTH ENGLAND  AND  SPAIN ENGLAND  AND  ITALY RETROSPECT 

PRESENT  PERSECUTION  IN   ENGLAND ARRESTED  BY  PREVAILING  DISEASE PER- 
SECUTION IN  ANTWERP NOBLY  WITHSTOOD  AND  DEFEATED WOLSEY's  PURSUIT 

AFTER  TYNDALE  AND  OTHERS ALL  IN  VAIN. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  1528,  we  have  no  distinct  account  of 
anything  new  having  issued  from  the  press,  translated  or  com- 
posed by  Tyndale ;  although  some  of  his  smaller  tracts,  without 
date,  may  have  been  printed.  There  were,  however,  fresh  editions 
of  his  two  publications,  already  mentioned.  Of  "  the  Parable," 
there  was  one  if  not  two  editions,  and  of  ^'  the  Obedience"  cer- 
tainly two,  the  first  of  which  is  dated  in  May,  and  the  second  in 
October  of  this  year.  That  the  books  had  been  read  or  purchased 
with  avidity,  and  were  in  growing  demand  ;  this,  especially  in 
those  early  days,  is  proof  sufficient ;  but  not  one  of  these  were 
printed  at  Worms.  Tyndale  and  Fryth  had  now  certainly  re- 
moved elsewhere.  All  these  pieces  were  printed  at  one  place  and 
by  the  same  man — Hans  Luft,  a  favorite  printer  "at  Malborough 
in  the  land  of  Hesse,"  or  Marburg,  the  capital  of  Upper  Hesse. 
To  our  Translator,  within  the  last  eighteen  months,  this  place 
must  have  become  strongly  attractive.  There  is  no  intimation  or 
even  hint  of  any  visit  yet  paid  to  Wittenberg;  it  was  still  200 
miles  distant,  and  it  becomes  more  than  doubtfuHvh ether  Tyndale 
was  ever  there.  Marburg,  the  ancient  Mattinm,  is  situate  on  the 
right  bank  of  the  Lahn,  a  tributary  of  the  Rhine,  41  miles  north 
from*Frankfort. 

Nor  are  we  at  any  loss  to  understand  how  Tyndale  was  here 
engaged.  It  must  have  been  a  mighty  addition  to  his  comfort,  for 
such  a  man  as  Roye  to  be  succeeded  by  John  Fryth.  The  former 
once  dismissed,  in  1.526  Fryth  had  reached  his  friend  and  father 
of  the  same  opinions.  Equally  interested  in  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  for  their  native  land,  from  day  to  day  this  subject  had 
fully  engrossed  their  minds.  But  at  present  we  refrain  from  say- 
ing more  till  the  books  of  the  Pentateuch  were  printed. 

John  Fryth  was  born  in  1503,  at  Westerham,  a  market-town  in 
Kent,  near  the  head  of  the  Darent,  a  tributary  of  the  Thames.  It 
was  allowed,  even  by  his  enemies,  that  Fryth  was  an  excellent 
scholar,  after  the  advantages  he  had  enjoyed,  first  at  Cambridge, 
and  then  at  Oxford,  thus  reversing  the  order  of  Tyndale's  educa- 
tion. As  Fryth,  how^ever,  received  his  University  education  at 
King's  College,  Cambridge,  he  must,  of  course,  also  have  been  a 
scholar  at  Eton.  It  was  while  proceeding  in  his  studies,  that 
Tyndale  was  at  Cambridge,  and  through  his  instrumentality,  as 
Foxe  expresses  it,  Fryth  "  first  received  into  his  heart  the  seed  of 
the  gospel,  and  sincere  godhness."  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  a 
circumstance  not  to  be  forgotten  in  our  future  history,  that  Fryth 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  89 

had  for  his  tutor  no  other  than  Stephen  Gardiner,  the  future  Bishop 
of  Winchester.  Some  time  in  1523,  when  T3aidale  was  in  Lon- 
don, it  is  next  to  certain  his  much-loved  friend  must  have  been 
with  him,  since  before  they  were  separated,  and  Fryth  remained 
behind,  it  has  been  stated,  that  they  used  to  converse  respecting 
the  necessity  for  the  Scriptures  being  "turned  into  the  vulgar 
speech,  that  the  poor  might  also  read  and  see  the  simple,  plain 
Word  of  God."  In  this  case,  Fryth  must  have  looked  and  longed 
for  success  to  attend  the  enterprise  of  the  man  he  most  loved  upon 
earth. 

Tyndale,  however,  sailing  for  Hamburgh,  Fryth  was,  ere  long, 
selected,  for  his  acquirements,  as  a  Cambridge  scholar  ;  and  called 
away  to  Oxford  by  Wolsey,  became,  as  we  have  seen,  a  canon  in 
Cardinal  College.  Having  already  proceeded  as  B.A.  at  Cam- 
bridge, he  was  admitted  to  the  same  degree  at  Oxford  in  December 
1525.  Fryth  could  not  have  been  idle  in  advancing  his  opinions, 
for  those  young  men  from  Cambridge,  already  mentioned,  were 
much  of  his  mind.  But  in  two  months,  even  to  a  day,  after  he 
had  taken  his  degree,  not  only  he,  but  they,  had  incurred  high  dis- 
pleasure. These  men  might  have  been  styled  "the  hope  of  the 
nation,"  though  we  have  heard  old  Warham  rate  them,  in  his  let- 
ter to  Wolsey,  as  nothing  more  than  "  a  number  of  young  uncir- 
cumspect  fools."  Fools  they  might  be  called  by  the  Primate  of 
England,  but  uncircuuispect  was  not  the  right  word.  Generally 
speaking,  they  were  looking  in  one  direction,  and,  at  the  moment, 
saw  farther  than  their  calumniator.  Here  at  least  was  Fryth  ; 
but  little  did  Wolsey  imagine,  that  in  selecting  him,  and  most 
probably  by  his  tutor  Gardinefs  reconnnendation,  he  had  laid  his 
hand  on  the  ardent  admirer  of  that  man  whom  he  was  afterwards 
so  eager  to  apprehend  on  the  Continent.  Left  behind  in  England, 
Fryth  had  proved,  among  his  fellows,  an  expectant  of  whatever 
Tyndale  should  be  able  to  accomplish ;  and  one  can  more  easily 
conceive  than  express  how  he  must  have  hailed  the  arrival  and  the 
very  first  sight  of  the  New  Testament  at  Oxford.  It  certainly  had 
been  longed  for,  and  it  came  at  last. 

Fryth  was  then  twenty-three  years  of  age,  and  not  only  a  lover 
of  learning,  but  acute  and  eminent  in  talent.  Yet,  once  aware 
of  the  cruelties  practised  on  Dalaber  and  Garret,  as  already  de- 
tailed, and  being  so  far  at  liberty,  he  effected  his  escape,  and 
landed,  like  his  forerunner,  on  a  foreign  shore.  This  could  not 
possibly  be  before  the  autumn  of  1526,  so  that  the  undivided  credit 
of  translating  the  New  Testament,  and  forwarding  it  to  his  coun- 
try, remains  with  Tyndale  alone.  The  flight  of  Fryth  has  been 
placed  much  later,  even  in  1528,  but  it  is  evident  that  he  durst  not 
have  remained  so  long.  That  he  ever  revisited  England  before 
he  came  to  die  at  the  stake,  we  have  no  certain  evidence ;  but 
we  now  see  him  as  the  able  coadjutor  of  his  elder  brother  for 
years. 

At  the  commencement  of  1528,  the  New  Testament  of  Tyn- 
dale had  been  introduced  into  England  for  the  space  of  two  years, 


90  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

a  fact  which  will  be  abundantly  confirmed  by  the  disclosures  of 
the  present  period.  Speaking  generally  of  these  times,  Strype 
has  said, — "  the  New  Testament  translated  by  Kitchen,  that  is 
Tyndale,  Avas  in  many  hands,  and  read  with  great  application 
and  joy  ;  and  they  had  secret  meetings,  in  which  they  instructed 
each  other  out  of  God's  Word ;"  but  after  carefully  examining  the 
minute,  though  scattered  details,  a  far  more  interesting  and  gra- 
phical account  now  comes  out,  not  only  of  these  two  years,  but  of 
the  years  preceding. 

From  the  days  of  John  Wickliffe,  if  not  Richard  Fitzralph,  the 
disciples  of  Chiist  were  much   in  the  same  situation  Avith  those 
Israelites  in  the  days  of  Elijah,  whom  God  "  reserved  to  himself." 
Hidden   and  imknown,  their  number  can  never  be  ascertained, 
otherwise  it  probably  would  surprise  us,  as  much  as  the  "  seven 
thousand"  did  the  desponding  prophet  of  old.     But   there  can  be 
no  doubt  that  portions  of  the  Scriptures  in  manuscript  were  read 
in  secret,  and  by  many  with  great  profit,  notwithstanding  all  the 
virulent  opposition.     Our  only  key  to  the  extent  of  this,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  opposition  displayed.     Mere  gleams  of  light  obtained 
from  the  Sacred  Word,  W'ere  sufficient  to  bring  down  the  wrath  of 
the  oppressor.     During  the  fifteenth  century,  various  cases  of  ab- 
juration and  burning  for  heresy  had  occurred,  but  from  the  com- 
mencement of  the  sixteenth,  as  light  increased,  the  opposition  be- 
came more  determined  and  systematic.     Particular  periods  are 
then  to  be  marked  as  seasons  of  persecution.     To  say  nothing  of 
the  first  ten  years,  though  disgraced  by  not  a  few  instances  of 
great  cruelty  ;  the  years  1511  under  Warham  of  Canterbury  and 
Smith  of  Lincoln  ;  1509  to  1517  under  Fitzjames  of  London  ;  and 
above  all,  1521,  under  Longland  of  Lincoln,  were  so  many  seasons 
of  the   most  determined  opposition  to  the  Word  of  God.      Nor 
should  it  be  unobserved  that  all  these  persecutions,  including  even 
the  last,  were  on  account  of  opinions,  not  gathered  or  received 
from  any  foreign  land  or  Continental  Christian.     Whatever  those 
opinions  were,  they  were  indigenous   to  this  country,   and  are 
mainly  to  be  ascribed  to  certain  portions  of  the  Sacred  Writings 
in  English  manuscript.     Before,  and  even  long  before  the  name 
of  Luther  was  heard  of  by  the  people,  these  opinions  were  sifted, 
debated,  and  maintained ;  nay,  as  late  as  1521,  though  the  writ- 
ings of  the  German  Reforiuer  were  then  publicly  denounced,  they 
were  as  yet  locked  up  in    Latin,  so  that,  amidst  all  the  barbarities 
of  that  year,  under  Longland,  we  hear  of  no  punishment  inflicted 
for  Lutheranism  so  called.     It  is  certainly,  therefore,  to  be  regretted 
that  even  British  historians,  in  too  many  instances,  should  have 
so  hastily  looked  over  to  Germany,  as  accounting  for  the  com- 
mencement and  progress  of  all  that  occurred  m  their  own  country 
in  the  first  quarter  of  the  sixteenth  century.     After  an  examina- 
tion of  the  official  records  of  the  day,  and   other  original  manu- 
scripts, more  patient  and  laborious  than  that  in  which   any  man 
has  ever  since  engaged,  it  is  not  surprising  that  John  Foxe  should 
dwell  on  the  retrospect  with  delight,  and  confess  his  inability  to  do 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  91 

it  justice  ;  while  he  as  distinctly  ascribes  this  work  of  God  to  his 
own  Word  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  and  to  this  alone,  though 
not  yet  in  print. 

We  have  glanced  at  all  this  as  justly  due  to  what  may  be 
styled  the  age  of  manuscript.  But  as  the  invention  of  printing 
was  itself  an  era,  so  assuredly  was  that  of  the  reception  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  in  print  into  Great  Britain.  This  might  be 
fairly  inferred  from  the  history  already  given  ;  but  it  is  now  worthy 
of,  special  notice,  that  for  three  or  four  years  before  the  arrival  of 
Tyndale's  first  editions,  a  people  seem  to  have  been  signally  pre- 
pared for  their  reception.  We  could  not  with  propriety  notice 
them  at  an  earlier  period,  as  it  is  chiefly  by  the  severities  of  the 
'present  year,  that  they  come  out  to  view.  From  the  examina- 
nations  upon  oath,  about  to  be  noticed,  Ave  could  now  enumerate 
above  a  hundred  of  these  people  by  name,  and  state  their  places 
of  abode,  but  these  were  merely  the  persons  detected,  exposed,  or 
punished.  Many,  many  more  there  must  have  been,  whose  record 
is  on  high.  They  met  together,  chiefly  in  London,  but  also  at 
diflferent  places  in  the  counties  of  Essex,  Suffolk,  Norfolk,  and 
Buckingham.  They  called  each  other  Brother,  and  said  that 
they  were  Brothers  in  Christ.  They  had  the  foiu-  Gospels  sepa- 
rately and  in  one  volume;  some  of  Paul's  Epistles  in  another; 
the  Epistles  of  Peter  and  that  of  James ;  all  in  Enghsh  manu- 
script, however  inferior  the  translation,  or  inaccurate,  through  fre- 
quent transcription.  In  regard  to  the  Epistle  of  James,  in  some 
parts  it  was  a  great  favorite,  and  far  from  startling  at  it,  as  the 
German  Reformer  himself  did  at  first,  and  for  some  time,  thei/ 
could  repeat  it  from  memory  ;  even  one  young  woman  was  detected 
who  could  say  the  whole.  Their  high  esteem  for  the  Oracles 
of  God,  was  to  be  seen  in  the  price  for  them  in  whole  or  in  part. 

These  friends  in  London  seem  to  have  held  their  meetings  from 
about  1523,  very  frequently  in  the  house  of  one  William  Russel 
in  Coleman  Street,  at  the  gate  of  Bird's  Alley,  over  against  St. 
Stephen's  Church  ;  when  Father  John  Hacker,  as  they  called  him, 
and  sometimes  others,  read  and  explained  the  Scriptures.  We 
have  already  pointed  out  the  spot  to  which  the  authorities  first 
sent  to  seize  books  ;  and  it  is  now  not  unworthy  of  notice  that  very 
near,  and  even  round  it,  notwithstanding  "  the  secret  search,"  the 
Word  of  God  continued  to  be  read  and  prized- — it  even  "  grew  and 
multiplied."  The  great  fire  in  London  of  1666,  it  is  true,  con- 
sumed all  those  parts,  but  of  the  eighty-nine  churches  burnt  down, 
at  least  fifty-four  were  rebuilt,  and  on  the  same  ground.  Bird's 
Alley  is  gone,  but  the  church  remains  where  it  was  ;  and  if  any 
one  wish  to  stand  on  the  same  spot  where,  amidst  all  the  wrath 
and  blasphemy  of  the  day,  the  Sacred  Volume  was  then  perused 
with  the  keenest  interest,  he  has  only  to  walk  along  that  part  of 
King's  Arms  Yard  which  yet  remains,  till  he  come  "over  against" 
St.  Stephen's  Church,  Coleman  Street. 

Similar  meetinofs  were  held  in  Essex.  The  largest  was  in  Col- 
Chester  itself,  but  there  were  friends  at  Witham,  Braintree,  Saffron 


92  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Walden,  and  Birdbrook,  as  well  as  at  the  Friary  of  Clare,  or 
Stokeclare,  in  Suffolk.  In  the  north  of  Essex  the  parish  of  Bum- 
stead  was,  as  the  persecutors  would  have  said,  a  hot-bed  of 
heresy. 

So  early  as  September  1526,  two  plain  country  men  from 
thence  came  to  London,  in  search  of  the  neiv  printed  Testaments, 
and  going  to  Austin  Friars,  there  met  with  Dr.  Barnes,  who,  it 
may  be  remembered,  was  then  a  prisoner  at  large.  One  of  these 
men  had  been  in  possession  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  which 
he  procured  from  Colchester  about  the  month  of  April  l^efore. 
These  men  reported  the  curate  of  this  parish,  Ricliard  Foxe,  as 
favorable  to  inquiry,  and  begged  a  letter  fiom  Barnes  to  him. 
He  gave  them  one,  sold  a  Testament  to  each,  and  after  their  re- 
turn, the  curate,  and  even  two  friars,  Topley  and  Gardiner, 
seemed  to  be  making  progress  ;  but  besides  them  there  were  a 
number  of  persons,  male  and  female,  scattered  throughout  these 
parts,  still  farther  advanced.  It  will  be  remembered  that  Myles 
Coverdale,  one  of  Barnes'' students,  came  up  to  London  after  him, 
at  the  time  of  his  melancholy  abjuration  in  February  1526.  We 
shall  trace  him  now  preaching  in  this  part  of  Essex,  in  company 
with  Richard  Foxe.  Thus,  on  the  29th  of  March  1528,  one  of 
these  friars,  Thomas  Topley,  heard  him  preach  at  Bumstead 
church,  and  such  doctrine  as,  in  connection  with  subsequent  con- 
versation, shook  his  mind  with  regard  to  various  superstitions. 
But  the  persecutions  we  are  now  about  to  notice  must  have 
scattered,  for  a  season,  all  these  groups  in  this  county,  as  well  as 
the  meetings  in  London ;  more  especially  as  Wharton  the  Vicar- 
General  of  Tunstal  moved  down  into  Essex  in  July  this  year, 
searching  after  his  prey.  It  is  then  that  we  shall  hear  more  of 
Coverdale. 

Many  of  those,  however,  throughout  the  land,  who  had  either 
purchased  or  perused  the  Testament  of  Tyndale,  were  now  about 
to  find  that  it  was  "  through  much  tribulation  they  must  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  God ;"  and  it  would  have  been  well  if  then 
the  brother  had  not  betrayed  his  brethren,  the  husband  his  wife, 
and  the  father  his  child !  Not  three  months  before,  the  country 
had  been  in  the  greatest  extremity,  through  scarcity  amounting 
to  famine,  and  not  a  few  had  pined  away  in  disease.  London, 
also,  as  we  have  seen,  had  more  especially  felt  the  pressure,  but 
no  sooner  had  plenty  returned  by  the  importation  of  foreign  grain, 
and  bread  had  fallen  in  price,  than  the  same  city  became  the  seat 
of  bitter  and  sifting  persecution.  The  country  at  large  had  just 
suffered  severely  through  the  crooked  and  ambitious  policy  of 
Wolsey ;  and  now  the  best  of  his  Majesty's  subjects,  simple 
hearted  and  unoffending  people,  are  to  be  molested  through  the 
cool  malignity  of  Tunstal.  He  had  before  this  preached  his  ser- 
mon, in  which  he  boasted  that  he  had  found  more  than  2000  er- 
rors in  the  printed  New  Testament.  Tunstal's  infamous  injunc- 
tion also,  of  October  1526,  had  hung  over  the  people  for  fourteen 
months,  without  being  rigorously  followed  up.     It  was  unavoid- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  93 

able,  as  he  had  been  so  engrossed  by  foreign  political  affairs.  It 
was,  therefore,  in  the  opening  of  1528,  that  one  feature  of  his 
character  began  to  be  more  fully  developed,  of  which  in  general 
a  very  strange,  not  to  say  erroneous,  estimate  has  been  given.  Sir 
T.  More  and  he  Avere  united,  as  men  familiarly  say,  like  hand 
and  glove  ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  to  be  expected,  that  he  should 
pronounce  him  to  be  inferior  to  none  "  in  the  integrity  of  his  prin- 
ciples, and  the  sweetness  of  his  disposition."  Godwin  says  that 
"he  was  a  very  rare  and  admirable  man,  with  nothing  wrong  but 
his  religion,  and  yet  he  was  a  yrofound  divine,  as  many  of  his 
works  yet  do  testify."  "  He  had,"  says  even  Gilpin  in  his  life  of 
Ridley,  "  true  notions  of  the  genius  of  Christianity  !  He  con- 
sidered a  good  life  as  the  end,  and  faith  as  the  means ;  and  never 
branded  as  an  hereticthat  person,  however  erroneous  his  opinions 
might  be,  in  points  less  fundamental,  who  had  such  a  belief  in 
Christ  as  made  him  live  like  a  Christian.  He  was  just,  therefore, 
the  reverse  of  his  early  patron  Warham  ;"  and  he  concludes  by 
affirming,  "  that  Tunstal  thought  persecution  one  of  the  things 
most  foreign  to  his  function  !"  We  allow  that  the  reverse  of  this, 
in  some  points,  was  the  character  of  Warham  ;  but  was  it  less  so 
of  Tunstal?  Both  were  men  of  learning  and  talent,  and  Tun- 
stal's  taste  in  letters  was  superior  to  most  of  his  contemporaries  ; 
but  let  any  one  hold  fast  opinions  which  they  conceived  would, 
even  ultimately,  affect  the  hierarchy,  and  neither  of  them  scrupled 
for  a  moment  in  proceeding  to  the  greatest  extremity.  Tunstal, 
it  is  true,  was  still,  and  of  quiet  behavior,  cautious,  and  had  great 
command  over  his  passions ;  a  worldy-wise  man,  who  contrived 
to  thread  his  way  through  those  difficult  times,  so  that  he  died  in 
his  bed,  at  the  advanced  age  of  85.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
works  bear  witness,  by  these  he  must  be  judged.  What  signifies 
learning,  however  eminent,  except  it  be  applied  to  some  laudable 
and  beneficial  purpose  ?  And  though  it  should  be  accompanied 
with  apparent  sedateness,  and  much  sagacity  in  worldly  affairs  ; 
all  these  in  union,  so  far  from  concealing  great  and  radical  defects 
in  moral  character,  only  render  them  the  more  atrocious.  To  say 
nothing  of  the  violence  of  Tunstal's  language  when  writing  to 
Erasmus,  in  earlier  life,  or  of  the  incontinence  with  which  he  has 
been  charged,  certainly  no  man  who  was  so  frequently  employed 
by  Wolsey,  and  served  his  purpose  so  well,  could  by  any  possi- 
bility hold  fast  his  integrity,  or  walk  uprightly ;  and  Tunstal  be- 
ing most  celebrated  as  a  courtier,  and  at  snch  a  time,  the  reader 
may  be  left  to  judge  of  his  veracity.  As  for  humanity,  what 
though  he  might  have  an  aversion  from  shedding  blood,  or  rather 
a  dread  of  shedding  it?  What  shall  we  say  as  to  his  cool  bar- 
barity in  sifting  and  cross-examining,  then  threatening  and  re- 
examining, till  the  poor  creature  quivered,  and  became  perplexed, 
trembled  and  abjured  ?  Not  satisfied,  see  him  seize  on  the  ab- 
jured parties,  and,  through  his  sophistry,  compel  them  at  last  to 
expose  and  even  accuse  their  nearest  and  dearest  relatives  and 
friends !     No,  he  was  an  ingenious  tormentor,  distinguished  for 


94  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

his  patient  dexterity  in  producing  mental  misery ;  and  we  may 
rely  on  it,  that  Tyndale,  who  new  his  doings  well,  though  he  did 
not  charge  hiiu  with  shedding  so  much  blood,  had  good  reason 
for  designating  him  as  he  did,—"  that  still  Satan,  the  imaginer 
of  all  mischief."  "Cursed,"  said  Jortiu,  when  speaking  of  him, 
"  cursed  are  those  theological  principles,  which  produce  such  sad 
effects  even  in  good-tempered  men,  and  eat  up  so  much  of  their 
honor  and  humanity  !"  The  only  mistake  in  this  exclamation, 
is  that  of  styling  such  principles  theological.  The  truth  Avas,  that 
none  of  those  men,  even  the  mildest,  understood  the  sacred  rights 
of  conscience,  because  their  own  was  "  seared  with  a  hot  iron." 
They  were,  for  the  time,  the  "  rulers  of  the  darkness  of  this 
world,"  while  the  praiseworthy  people  whom  they  tried  to  devour 
or  exterminate,  were,  in  fact,  however  poor  and  despised,  a  chosen 
band  of  wrestlers  "against  spiritual  wickedness  in  high  places." 

At  all  events,  whatever  Warham  had  been  in  days  that  were 
past,  we  shall  find  that  Tunstal  was  "  the  grand  Inquisitor"  in 
1528.  In  January  his  underlings  were  busily  preparing  for  his 
sitting  in  judgment ;  and  then  followed  those  numerous  cases, 
from  February  to  May  inclusive,  which  are  upon  record,  in  his 
Register. 

The  shrewd  and  systematic  method  adopted  by  Tunstal  seems 
to  have  been  to  find  out  the  most  intelligent  or  influential  men, 
among  these  people  who  were  to  be  cross-examined,  and  by  effec- 
tually threatening  them,  so  detect  many  of  the  rest.  In  January 
or  the  beginning  of  February  one  man  was  found,  and  before  long 
other  two  if  not  three.  In  the  midst  of  these  harassing  times,  it 
was  not  to  have  been  expected,  that  all  woiUd  prove  faithful ;  but 
surely  these  eanly  readers  of  the  printed  New  Testament,  upon 
English  ground,  had  not  anticipated  that  any  of  their  leaders 
would  fail  and  betray  them  !  Yet  so  it  was  for  poor  Hacker,  the 
first  man  referred  to,  being,  as  Strype  says,  "hard  set  upon,  made 
a  discovery,  by  interrogatories  put  to  him  upon  oath,  of  a  great 
many  of  his  friends  and  followers  both  in  Essex  and  London." 
Following  out  this  clue,  at  least  three  other  men  followed  the  sad 
example  ;  John  Pykas  of  Colchester,  with  John  Tybal  and 
Thomas  Hempsted  of  the  parish  of  Bumstead.  These  poor  men 
now  stood  in  the  character  of  "  persecutor's  evidence,"  and  were  to 
be  called  upon,  whenever  it  was  found  necessary  !  Hacker,  to 
save  himself,  had  betrayed  at  least /or/^y  of  his  friends,  with  whom ' 
he  had  often  read  the  Scriptures,  the  majority  of  whom  resided  in 
London,  and  the  others,  as  many  more,  in  the  coimtv  of  Essex 
alone,  as  amounted  to  above  a  hundred  in  all !  Happily,  these 
were  but  a  part  of  the  whole;  but  here  was  a  field,  quite  sufficient 
for  the  Bishop  and  his  Vicar-General.  The  former  required  only 
to  assemble  his  deeply-prejudiced  assistants,  and  the  reader  may 
be  curious  to  know  who  were  those  men  who  first  sat  in  judgment 
upon  Tyndale's  translation,  and  the  earliest  possessors  of  the  pre- 
cious volume.  Tunstal  had  taken  care  to  secure  around  him 
more  than  a  dozen  of  men  to  preside,  either  altogether,  or  by  turns, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  95 

and  they  are  styled  in  the  Register  "  all  learned  men,"  of  course. 
Besides  Geffrey  Wharton,  D.T).  his  Vicar-General,  and  John  Darel, 
B.D.,  Wharton's  official,  Matthew  Grafton  and  Henry  Bonsfel,  No- 
taries, there  were  Robert  Ridley,  D.D.,  and  John  Royston,  Pro- 
fessor of  Theolog-y,  Richard  Sparchforde,  M.A.,  Thomas  Forman, 
S.T.  P.,  John  Timstal  and  Thomas  Chambre,  Chaplains,  Nicholas 
Tunstal,  Thomas  Dowman,  Thomas  Pilkington,  and  James 
Multon. 

Wharton.,  to  do  him  justice,  would  seem  to  have  been  not  so 
bitter  as  some  others  ;  he  died  next  year.  Royston  had  been  far 
more  indebted  to  Humphrie  Munmouth,  than  even  Tyndale.  Yet 
Munmouth  is  about  to  be  molested  and  imprisoned,  and  Royston 
is  here  !  Sparchforde  had  been  promoted  in  1522  to  the  living 
of  Hackney  ;  but  the  most  conspicuous  of  these  assistant  persecu- 
tors was  Robert  Ridley,  already  noticed.  The  Tunstals,  as  well 
as  Ridley,  were  related  to  the  Bishop. 

In  now  turning  to  the  disclosures  made  by  persecution  in  the 
early  part  of  this  year,  we  shall  find  them  doubly  important  as  to 
evidence  on  one  point,  namely,  the  period  in  which  the  New  Tes- 
taments of  Tyndale  were  first  introduced  into  England.  Indepen- 
dently of  the  abundant  proof  already  given,  they  show  that  Tyn- 
dale's  quarto  and  octavo  editions  were  purchased  and  perused 
throughout  the  year  1526  ;  and  that  Tunstal's  injunction,  in 
October  of  that  year,  was  not  groundless,  when  it  affirmed  that 
they  were  spread  throughout  "  all  his  diocese,  in  great  number." 

From  the  Register  itself  we  select  the  following  cases. 

I.  February  24,  1528. — "  Dr.  Geffrey  Wharton,  aforesaid,  sat 
judicially,  in  the  long  Chapel  of  St.  Paul's  Church,  London,  near 
the  Northgate.  And  then  appeared  before  him  Sir  Sebastian 
Herris,  curate  of  the  parish  Church  of  Kensington  ;  who  confessed 
that  he  had  two  books  ;  viz.  the  New  Testament  in  the  vulgar 
tongue,  translated  by  William  Hotchin,  Priest,  and  Friar  Roye  ; 
and  '  Unio  Dissidentium,'  containing  in  it  the  Lutheran  heresy. 
But  Herris  being,  by  the  said  Wharton,  Vicar-General,  absolved 
from  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  that/i«f/  been  by  the  canon 
passed  against  him,  he  enjoined  him,  by  oath  upon  the  holy  Gos- 
pels, that  he  should  not  for  the  future  keep  any  of  the  said  books, 
or  any  other  containing  heresy  in  it ;  nor  knowingly  read,  sell, 
pawn,  or  any  other  way  dispose  of  such  books  ;  nor  knowingly 
converse,  or  hold  familiarity  with  any  person  suspected  of  heresy, 
nor  favor  them.  And,  moreover,  he  enjoined  the  said  Sir  Sebas- 
tian, under  pain  of  excommunication,  that  after  he  had  obtained 
hcense  to  depart,  he  should  not  tarry  nor  abide  within  the  City  of 
London  [being  so  dangerous  a  place  to  be  infected  %ciih  heresy,) 
above  a  day  and  a  night ;  but  go  thence  elsewhere,  and  not  ap- 
proach near  the  city  anywhere, /o/<r  miles  in  circuit,  for  the  space 
of  tiDo  years."  We  have  no  trace  left  as  to  what  became  of  this 
man;  but  it  is  cheering  to  observe  that  there  appears  to  have  been 
no  abjuration  on  his  part.  He  was  thus  banished  for  possessing  the 
English  New  Testament,  but  as  no  mention  is  made  of  the  pre- 


96  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE, 

cise  period  in  which  he  acquired  it,  we  pass  on  to  the  next,  or  one 
of  the  earhest  instances  in  proof  of  this  point. 

II.  March  2. — John  Pykas  of  Colchester,  with  Thomas  Mat- 
thew and  Henry  Rayland  from  the  same  place,  appeared  before 
the  Vicar-General,  being  cited  to  answer  to  certain  articles,  and 
next  day,  Tuesday  the  3d  of  March,  Tunstal  himself  appeared. 
"  Cuthbert,  Bishop  of  London,  sitting  judicially,  in  the  chapel 
within  his  palace  at  London,  ministered  in  word  against  John 
Pykas,  the  articles  which  were  ministered  to  John  Hacker,  and  all 
things  contained  in  the  same  ;  adding,  that  he  had,  and  retained 
in  his  keeping,  the  New  Testament  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  trans- 
lated by  William  Hotchyn  and  Friar  Roy,  notwithstanding  the 
condemnation,  publication  and  monition  made  thereupon.  Upon  the 
ministering  of  which  and  other  things,  the  same  reverend  father 
took,  ex  officio  stto,  for  witnesses,  John  Boughton  of  Colchester  and 
John  Hacker .'"  "  March  7.  John  Pykas  made  answer  to  the 
articles  ministered  to  him,  before  the  said  Bishop,  sitting  judicially 
in  the  chapel  of  his  palace  in  London," — which  answer  was  to 
this  tenor  : — "  That  about  five  years  last  past,  at  a  certain  time, 
his  mother,  then  dwelling  at  Bury,  sent  for  him  ;  and  moved  him 
that  he  should  not  believe  in  the  Sacraments  of  the  Church,  for 
that  was  not  the  right  way.  And  then  she  delivered  to  this  re- 
spondent one  book  of  Paul's  Epistles  in  English  (manuscript ;) 
and  bid  him  live  after  the  manner  and  way  of  the  said  Epistles 
and  Gospels,  and  not  after  the  way  that  the  Church  doth  teach." 
— "  Also  about  a  two  years  last  past .'"  (or  March  1526,)  "  he  bought 
in  Colchester  of  a  Lumbard  of  London,  a  New  Testament  in  Eng- 
lish and  jiaid  for  it  four  shillings,  which  Neio  Testament  he 
kept,  and  read  it  through  many  timesP 

This  instance,  so  early  in  point  of  date,  is  also  very  distinct, 
carrying  us  back  to  March  if  not  February  1526  ;  and  from  the 
price  paid,  equal  to  between  two  and  three  pounds  sterling,  seems 
to  have  been  Tyndale's  largest  Testament.  But  the  fact  was, 
that  Pykas  was  not  merely  the  piuxhaser  of  one  copy,  but  the 
seller  of  others,  as  will  appear  in  the  next  case.  This  poor  man, 
a  baker  by  trade,  aged  thirty-three,  having  abjured;  "  after  this," 
says  Strype,  "  Pykas  and  Hacker,  the  chief  leaders  of  the  rest, 
were  thus  sifted,  and  by  imprisonment,  severities,  and  threatening, 
brought  to  confess  all  the  'known  men  and  women,'  as  they  were 
then  called,  even  their  friends,  their  brethren,  their  nearest  rela- 
tions, and  those  that  themselves  had  brought  into  those  opinions  ; 
they  were  enjoined  penances,  and  abjured  and  sworn  to  be  witness 
against  others,  and  to  betray  all !" 

III.  With  this  first  distinct  testimony  before  us,  it  is  curious 
enough,  that  it  was  upon  this  very  day  that  Tunstal  issued  his  well- 
known  "  License  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  Lord  Chancellor  of  Eng- 
land, to  read  and  retain  the  books  containing  the  Lutheran 
heresy."  The  date  in  his  Register  is  as  follows — "  Dat.  vij  die 
Martii  anno  domini  millesimo  quingentesimo  xxvij,  et  nostre  cons. 
sexto,''^  that  is,  7th  March  1528 ;  as  he  became  Bishop  of  London 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  97 

in  Oct.  1.522,  and  their  year  ran  on  to  the  25th  of  March.  This 
Avas  the  most  unfortunate  step  that  More  ever  took.  The  hcense 
was  granted  mainly  with  a  view  to  the  "refutation  of  Tyndale's 
translation  and  otlier  writings,  as  will  appear  by  the  event.  Tun- 
stal,  in  higli  spirits,  expected  that  he  would  "play  the  Demos- 
thenes" in  English,  as  he  had  done  in  Latin  ;  but  we  liave  yet 
to  see  what  became  of  two  Lords  Chancellor,  in  succession, 
Wolsey  and  More,  when  brought  under  the  power  of  Tyndale's 
pen. 

IV.  April  28. — This  confession  is  formally  entitled,  "  Confessio 
Johannis  Tyball  de  Burastede  ad  Turrim,  facta  et  recognita  per 
eundem  Johannem  coram  Reverendo  in  Christo  Patre  Dno. 
Cuthberto.  London,  Episcopo,  in  capella  infra  palaciam  London, 
xxviii.  die  mensis  Aprilis,  anno  Dni.  raill°  quingen™^-  xxviii. 
Quam  postea  signavit." — "Examined,  he  saith,  'that  about  ^wo 
years  agone,  (or  April  1526,)  he  companied  with  Sir  Richard  Fox, 
curate  of  Bumstead,  and  shewed  him  all  his  books  that  he  had ; 
that  is  to  sa}^,  the  New  Testament  in  English ;  the  Gospel  of 
Matthew  and  Mark  in  English  ;  which  he  had  of  John  Pykas  of 
Colchester  ;  a  book  expounding  the  Pater-noster,  the  Ava  Mai^ia. 
and  the  Credo  ;  certain  of  Paul's  Epistles  after  the  old  transla- 
tion.— And  so  in  process  of  time,  by  reason  of  things  contained 
in  the  said  books,  and  disputing  and  instructing,  he  brought  Sir 
Richard  Fox  to  his  learning  and  opinions.  Furthermore,  he  saith 
that  at  Michaelmas  last  past  was  twelve  months,  (September 
1526,)  this  respondent  and  Thomas  Hilles,  came  to  London  to  Friar 
Barnes,  then  being  at  the  Friars  Augustines  in  London,  to  buy  a 
New  Testament  in  English,  as  he  saith.  And  they  found  the 
said  Friar  Barnes  in  his  chamber ;  where  there  was  a  merchant- 
man reading  in  a  book,  and  two  or  three  more  present.  And 
when  they  came  in,  the  Friar  demanded  them  from  whence  they 
came ;  and  they  said  from  Bunistede,  and  so  forth  in  communication 
they  desired  the  said  Friar  that  they  might  be  acquainted  with 
him — because  they  would  have  his  counsel  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment which  they  desired  of  him.  And  he  saith  that  the  said 
Friar  Barnes  did  perceive  very  Avell  that  Thomas  Hilles  and  this 
respondent  were  infected  with  opinions,  because  they  would  have 
the  New  Testament.  And  then  farther  they  shewed  the  said 
Friar,  that  one  Sir  Richard  Fox,  curate  of  Bumstede,  by  their 
means,  was  well  entered  in  their  learning  ;  and  said,  that  they 
thought  to  get  him  whole,  in  short  &pace.  Wherefore  they  desired 
the  said  Friar  Barnes  to  make  a  letter  to  him,  that  he  would  con- 
tinue ia  that  he  had  begun :  which  Friar  did  promise  so  to  write 
to  him  a  letter  at  afternoon,  and  to  get  theyn  a  New  Testament. 

"  After  that  communication,  the  said  Thomas  Hilles  and  this 
respondent  shewed  the  Friar  Barnes,  of  certain  old  books  that 
they  had :  as  of  the  four  Evangelists,  and  certain  Epistles  of 
Peter  and  Paul  in  English ;  which  books  the  said  Friar  did  little 
regard,  and  made  a  twit  of  it,  and  said—'  a  point  for  them  !  for 
they  be  not  to  be  regarded  toward  the  new  printed  Testament  in 


98  HISTOI^Y    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

English  ;  for  it  is  of  more  cleaner  English.'  And  then  the  said 
Friar  Barnes  delivered  to  them  the  said  New  Testament  in  Eng- 
lish, for  which  they  paid  three  shillings  and  two  pence ;  and 
desired  them  that  they  should  keep  it  close,  for  he  icould  be 
loath  that  it  should  be  known.,  as  he  now  remembereth.  And 
after  the  deliverance  of  the  said  New  Testament  to  them,  the  said 
Friar  Barnes  did  liken  the  New  Testament  in  Latin  to  '  a  cymbal 
tinkling  and  brass  sounding  ;'  but  what  farther  exposition  he  made 
upon  it,  he  cannot  tell.  And  then,  at  afternoon,  they  fetched  the 
said  letter  of  the  said  Friar,  which  he  wrote  to  Sir  Richard,  and 
read  that  openly  before  them ;  but  he  doth  not  now  remember 
what  was  in  the  same  ;  and  so  departed  from  him  ;  and  did  never 
since  speak  with  him,  or  write  to  him,  as  he  saith.  Also  he  saith 
that  about  a  half  year  agone  (November  1527)  he  delivered  the 
said  New  Testament  to  Friar  Gardyner,  which  he  never  had 
again.  Also  he  saith  that  Helen  Tyliall,  his  niother,  and  Alice 
Tyball,  his  wife,  be  guilty  in  all  the  foresaid  articles,"  &c. 

Here  there  is  a  very  distinct  reference  to  all  the  books  mentioned 
by  Ridley.    The  New  Testament ;  Matthew  and  Mark,  separately ; 
and  even  the  Introduction  to  the  Romans  ;  for  the  fact  is,  that  at 
the  end  of  the  Introduction  we  have  "  Here  followeth  a  treatise 
of  the  Pater-noster,  very  necessary,  and  profitable,  wherein,  yff 
thou   marke,  thou   shalt   perceave  what  prayer  is,  and  all  that 
belongeth  to  prayer."     Here,  also,  the  New  Testament  was  pos- 
sessed in  April,  and  another  copy  purchased  in  September  1526  ; 
but  this  last  purchase  is  the  more  interesting,  as  it  corroborates 
the  statement  already  given,  that  Barnes  was  at  this  very  season 
a  free  prisoner  at  Austin  Friars ;  as  well  as   acting  in  the  way 
which  brought  him  again  under  suspicion.    As  for  Tyball  himself, 
we  know  not  when  he  died,  but  we  can  trace  him   five  years 
after  this  period.     The  season  of  John  Fryth's  imprisonment  must 
have  been   one  of  great  excitement   among  the  friends   of  truth 
everywhere.       Tyball  had    then   come   up  to  London,   and  one 
evening,  the  19th  of  April  1533,   he  was  seized,  (through  a  vile 
informer,  Holt,   the  King's  tailor,)  in   company  with  Heioet,  the 
future  fellow-martyr  of  Fryth  ;  Hewet  was  sent  to  the   Lollard's 
tower,   but   Tyball  was   bound  with   ropes   and  carried  to   the 
Bishop's  house,  put  into  a  close  room,  and  watched  by  a  priest's 
servant.     The   next  day  Stokesley  came  in  from    Fulham,  and 
examined  him  and  others.     He  had  been   four  times  in  prison 
already,  and  therefore  says  Foxe,  he  was  "  five  times  in  bonds  for 
Christ," — "  but  by  God's  provision  he  was  delivered  out  of  prison, 
although  he  could  not  enjoy  his  house  and  lands.     The  tenor  of 
his  injunction  was,  that  he  should  not  come  within  seven  miles  of 
his  own  house,  which   made  him   fain  to  sell  all  that  he  had  in 
Essex .'" 

Tyball  speaks  of  a  companion  named  Thomas  Hilles,  and  we 
have  found  his  confession  in  full,  among  the  Harleian  Manu- 
scripts. Though  merely  entitled,  "  the  confession  of  a  Lollard,"  it 
agrees  so  exactly  with  the  story  of  Tyball  that  there  can  be  no 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  99 

question  as  to  the  "Lollard"  being  this  very  man.  He  states 
that  he  also  purchased  a  Testament,  which  he  read  from  house  to 
house,  and  retained  till  March  1528,  when  he  sold  it  to  Rich- 
ard Fox. 

By  the  beginning  of  May,  Tunstal  had  removed  from  the  chapel 
in  his  palace,  down  to  one  near  Charing  Cross,  in  the  manor  of 
Nix,  the  bishop  of  Norwich,  of  whose  temper  and  spirit  wc  have 
had  such  ample  evidence.  On  the  11th,  he  was  still  sitting  in 
judgment  on  the  poor  people  from  Essex  ;  but  the  spirit  of  perse- 
cution was  now  gathering  strength,  and,  on  the  14th,  Sir  Thomas 
More  comes  in  view.  On  that  day,  he  and  Sir  William  Kingston, 
Constable  of  the  Tower,  as  members  of  the  Privy  Covmcil,  sent 
for  Humfrie  Munmouth,  as  he  subscribes  his  name.  He  was  far 
too  important  a  character  to  be  passed  over  ;  and  his  being  so  is  a 
proof  that  there  had  not  been,  till  this  year,  any  severe  search  after 
supposed  offenders.  Not  satisfied,  they  went  with  him  to  his  house, 
and  examined  all  his  letters  and  books.  This  generous  man,  with 
whom  Tyndale  had  lived,  who  corresponded  with  him  afterwards, 
and  aided  him  all  the  time  he  remained  in  Hamburgh,  was  now 
committed  to  the  Tower,  "  on  suspicion  of  heresy,  for  some  books 
found  in  his  house."  Five  days  after  this,  on  Tuesday  the  19th 
of  May,  he  addressed  a  petition  to  the  King's  Council.  It  is  enti- 
tled— "  Unto  the  most  honorable  Lord  Ijegate  and  Chancellor  of 
England,  and  to  the  honorable  Council  unto  your  Sovereign  Lord, 
King  Henry  VIII.,  the  19th  of  May,  and  in  the  20th  year  of  his 
reign  ;  beseeching  your  Grace,  and  all  my  Lords  and  Masters,  to 
have  pity  on  me,  poor  prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London,  at  your 
pleasure."     In  this  petition,  he  confesses,  among  other  books — 

"  Also  I  delivered  (to  the  father  confessor  of  Zion)  a  book  of  the 
New  Testament,  the  which  book  my  Lord  of  London  had.  Also 
I  had  a  little  treatise  that  the  priest,  Tyndale,  sent  me,  when  he 
sent  for  his  money,"  i.  e.  from  Hamburgh  in  the  close  of  1.524. 
"  And  all  those  books,  save  the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  lay 
openly  in  my  house,  for  the  space  of  tivo  years,  or  tnore,  that  every 
man  might  read  on  them  that  w^ould  at  their  pleasure." 

Munmouth's  testimony  Ijrings  us  to  the  same  period  with  that 
of  Pykas  ;  but  as  for  the  Testament,  no  doubt,  Tyndale  would 
take  care  that,  if  possible,  his  generous  patron  should  have  one,  at 
least  as  soon  as  Garret  was  carrying  them /row?,  London  to  Oxford, 
in  January  1526.  It  may  here  be  added,  that  in  earlier  hfe  Mun- 
mouth had  visited  Rome  itself,  which  may  have  had  a  similar  ef- 
fect on  him  as  it  had  on  some  others.  AVhen  the  times  improved, 
he  was  an  Alderman  of  London,  and  served  as  Sheriff  there  in 
1535.  His  will  is  dated  16th  November  1537,  by  which  he  leaves 
a  silver  cup,  and  gilt,  equal  in  value  to  c€120  sterling,  to  Cromwell, 
that  he  might  be  kind  to  three  preachers  there  mentioned,  among 
whom  was  Dr.  Barnes.  Soon  after  this,  Munmouth  died,  having 
commended  his  soul  unto  Christ  Jesus,  "  my  Maker  and  Redeemer, 
in  whom,  and  by  the  merits  of  whose  blessed  passion,  is  all  my 
whole  trust  of  clean  remission  and  forgiveness  of  my  sins." 


100  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

But  of  all  the  confessions  now  made,  the  following  is  not  the 
least  important.  It  includes  the  disclosures  of  a  man  who  had 
been  very  active  before  this,  and,  notwithstanding,  as  much  so  as 
he  could,  even  afterwards.  This  was  Robert  Necton.  By  him  v/e 
learn  that  Mr.  Fyshe,  whose  tract,  "  the  Supplication  of  Beggars," 
had  created  such  commotion  in  February  1526,  had  actualy  re- 
turned to  London,  and  was  living  there,  long  before  that  year  had 
expired.  We  now  find  also  Mr.  Richard  Harman,  an  English  mer- 
chant at  Antwerp,  had  acted  in  concert  with  Fyshe,  and  had  con- 
trived modes  of  secretly  conveying  the  Sacred  Volume  into  Eng- 
land. The  account  which  Necton  gives  of  his  first  engaging  in  the 
business  of  sale  and  circulation,  is  no  less  curious,  from  its  being 
at  the  instigation  of  such  a  man  as  George  Constantyne,  who, 
though  originally  bred  a  surgeon,  by  this  time  had  entered  the 
Church,  and  hence  is  styled  Vicar.  Of  course,  therefore,  he  had 
to  proceed  with  the  greatest  caution.  He  v/ould  not  go  direct  to 
Fyshe  himself,  but  informs  Necton,  and  then  from  him.,  he  bought 
whatever  copies  he  wished.  Constantyne,  one  of  the  most  singular 
characters  of  the  day,  survived  the  present  period,  at  least,  thirty- 
two  years.  At  certain  periods,  doing  all  that  in  him  lay  to  promote 
the  circulation  of  the  Word  of  God  ;  at  another,  betraying  the 
whole  cause  ;  he  is  here  introduced  incidentally,  for  the  first  time, 
but  he  will  come  before  us  again  and  again,  w^hen  some  notice 
must  be  taken  of  his  singular  and  varied  life. 

The  reader  now  only  requires  to  be  reminded,  that  such  a  man 
as  this  Robert  Necton,  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  poor  and  dependent, 
perambulating  the  country  to  obtain  his  bread  by  selling  books — 
far  from  it ;  the  occupation  was  too  hazardous  then  for  any  mere 
hireling.  Thus,  Necton  speaks  of  living  at  his  brothers  house  in 
Norwich,  and  this  was  no  other  than  the  Sheriff  of  the  city,  as 
will  appear  in  1.531.     His  confession  was  as  follows  : — 

"  He  bought,  at  sundry  times,  of  Mr.  Fyshe,  dwelling  by  the 
White  friars,  in  London,  many  of  the  New  Testaments  in  English ; 
that  is  to  say,  now  five,  and  now  ten ;  and  sometimes  more,  and 
sometimes  less,  to  the  number  of  twenty  or  thirty  in  the  great 
volume.  The  which  New  Testaments,  the  said  Mr.  Fyshe  had 
of  one  Mr.  Harmand,  (Harman,)  an  Englishinan,  being  beyond 
sea  ;  but  how  many  he  had,  this  respondent  cannot  tell. 

"And  this  respondent  saith,  that  about  a  year  and  a  half  ago 
(1526)  he  fell  in  acquaintance  with  Vicar  Constantyne,  here  in  Lon- 
don ;  which  shewed  this  respondent ^r5^,  that  the  said  Mr.  Fyshe 
had  New  Testaments  to  sell ;  and  caused  this  respondent  to  buy 
some  of  the  said  N.  Ts.  of  Mr.  Fyshe.  And  the  said  Mr.  Fyshe, 
at  the  desire  and  instance  of  Vicar  Constantyne,  brought  the  said 
N.  Ts.  home  to  this  respondent's  house.  And  before  that  V.  Con- 
stantyne caused  this  respondent  to  buy  some  of  the  said  N.  Ts., 
he  had  none,  nor  no  other  books,  except  the  chapters  of  Matthew. 

"•  And,  moreover,  this  respondent  saith,  that,  about  the  same 
time,  (1526.)  he  sold  five  of  the  said  New  Testaments  to  Sir  Wil- 
liam Furboshore,  singing-man,  in   Stowmarket,   in  Suffolk,  for 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  101 

seven  or  eight  groats  a-piece  :  also,  two  of  the  same  Testaments 
in  Bury  St.  Edmonds,  for  the  same  price. 

"  Also,  he  saith,  Vicar  Constantyne,  at  divers  times,  had  of  this 
respondent  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  of  the  New  Testaments,  of  the 
biggest :  and  this  respondent  saith,  that  the  said  Vicar  Constan- 
tyne, divers  times,  bought  of  hhn  certain  of  the  said  New  Testa- 
ments, and  this  respondent  likewise  of  hi??i.  Also  he  sold  Sir 
R-ichard  Bayfield  two  New  Testaments,  unbound,  about  Christmas 
last,  (1527,)  for  the  which  he  paid  three  shillings,  four  pence. 
Furthermore,  he  saith,  that  he  hath  sold  five  or  six  of  the  said 
New  Testaments  to  divers  persons  of  the  city  of  London,  whose 
names,  or  dwelling-places,  he  doth  not  remember. 

"  Moreover,  he  saith,  that  since  Easter  last,  he  bought  of  JeflTrey 
(Lome,)  Usher  of  St.  Anthony's,  with  whom  he  has  been  ac- 
quainted by  the  space  of  a  year  or  thereabout,  (by  reason  he  was 
Mr.  Forman,  the  Parson  of  Honey  Lane,  his  servant,  and  for  that 
this  respondent  did  much  resort  to  the  said  parson's  sermons,) 
eighteen  New  Testaments  in  English,  of  the  small  volume ;  and 
of  Avhich  New  Testaments,  since  Easter,  this  respondent  carried 
fifteen  of  them  to  Lynn,  to  sell ;  which  he  would  have  sold  to  a 
young  man  there — but  he  would  not  meddle  with  them,  because 
they  were  prohibited  ;  and  so  this  respondent  left  the  said  books 
at  Lynn,  till  liis  returning  thither  again. 

"  To  the  19th  article  against  him,  beginning — '  that  he  went 
about  to  buy  a  great  number  of  New  Testaments,'  he  saith,  that 
about  Christmas  last,  there  came  a  Dutchman,  being  now  in  the 
Fleet  prison,  which  would  have  sold  this  respondent  two  or  three 
hundred  oi  the  said  N.  Testaments  in  English,  which  this  respond- 
ent did  not  ]3uy,  but  sent  hiin  to  Mr.  Fyshe  to  buy  them  ;  and  said 
to  the  Dutchman, '  look,  what  Mr.  Fyshe  doth,  1  will  do  the  same.' 
But  whether  Mr.  Fyshe  bought  any  of  them,  he  cannot  tell :  for 
the  which  three  hundred  he  should  have  paid  £16 — 5  shillings ; 
after,  nine  pence  a-piece. 

"To  the  20th  article  he  saith,  that  since  Easter  last,  (12th 
April  1528,)  he  was  at  Norwich,  at  his  brother's  house,  where  one 
had  complained  of  this  respondent  to  (Nix)  my  Lord  of  Norwich, 
because  he  had  a  New  Testament.  Wherefore  his  brother  coun- 
selled this  respondent  to  send  or  deliver  his  said  N.  T.,  and  said  to 
him,  if  he  would  not  deliver  it,  my  Lord  of  Norwich  would  send 
him  to  my  Lord  of  London.  And  so  afterwards  he  sent  it  to 
London  by  the  carrier. 

"  To  the  21st  article — '  that  contrary  to  the  prohibition  (October 
1526)  he  hath  kept  the  N.  Testament' — he  confesseth,  tliat  after 
he  had  knowledge  of  the  condemnation  of  the  said  N.  Testament, 
by  the  space  of  a  year  or  more,  (i.  e.  in  fact,  nearly  a  year  and  a 
half,  or  from  23d  Oct.  1526,  to  the  12th  April  1528,  as  already 
confessed,)  he  hath  had  in  his  custody,  kept  and  studied  the 
same  Testam.ent,  and  has  read  it  thoroughly  many  times.  And 
also  has  read  it  as  well  within  the  city  and  diocese  of  London,  as 
within  the  city  and  diocese  of  Norwich,  and  not  only  read  it  him- 


102  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

self,  hut  read  and  taught  it  to  divers  others. — Per  me,  Robert 
NectonJ^ 

There  is  no  account  left  as  to  the  time  of  Necton's  death  ;  but 
after  being  now  released,  he  continued  to  go  on,  much  as  he  had 
done,  for  two  or  three  years,  when  he  was  again  apprehended. 
His  exposure  of  Constantyne  rendering  it  unsafe  for  him  to  remain 
in  London,  he  escaped  to  Brabant,  where  he  occasionally  prac- 
tised his  first  acquired  profession,  that  of  a  surgeon,  but  passed 
and  repassed  the  sea,  importing  books,  till  1530,  when  he  was 
caught.  During  this  period,  as  Necton  had  supplied  him  with 
books,  so  now  he  had  supplied  Necton,  and  that  with  many.  But 
Constantyne,  once  cruelly  used  and  in  fear  of  his  life,  not  only 
exposed  his  old  acquaintance,  but  different  other  individuals  !  "  It 
is  well  known,"  says  Sir  Thomas  More,  "  that  Necton  had  him- 
self, and  a  man  of  his  also,  sold  many  such  books  of  heresy ;" 
and  again,  "Richard  Necton  was,  by  Constantyne's  detection, 
taken  and  committed  to  Newgate,  where,  except  he  happen  to  die 
before  in  prison,  he  standeth  in  great  peril  to  be  burned  ere  it  be 
long,  for  his  falling  again  to  Tyndale's  heresy."  This  was  printed 
of  him  in  1.532,  but  we  never  read  of  his  coming  to  this  painful 
yet  glorious  death. 

From  the  evidence  now  adduced  it  appears  that  in  January 
1526,  Thomas  Garret,  at  least,  received  from  abroad  copies  of  the 
New  Testament,  printed  in  the  English  language — that  he  im- 
mediately had  given  them  out  in  London,  sent  them  down  to 
Cambridge,  and  carried  them  himself  to  Oxford,  in  that  very 
month — -that  notwithstanding  the  grand  burning  of.  books  at  St. 
Paul's,  on  the  11th  of  February  1526,  and  the  anathemas  of 
Fisher  on  that  day,  nay,  and  the  burning  at  Oxford  soon  after, 
when  the  Testament,  amongst  other  books,  was  involved  in  the 
flames,  still  the  work  went  on — that  even  Fyshe  himself  was  soon 
after  in  London,  and  remained  in  it,  receiving  from  abroad,  and 
dispersing  the  precious  volumes  for  a  considerable  time.  Then 
co)ne  up  these  men  from  Essex,  and,  along  with  Munmouth,  all 
agree  in  their  testimony.  Put  upon  their  oath,  not  one  among 
them  could  have  any  motive  to  falsify  in  regard  to  the  length  of  the 
time  in  which  these  Testaments  had  been  in  their  possession.  On 
the  contrary,  could  such  an  idea  have  occurred  to  any  one  of  them, 
the  temptation  must  have  been  to  shorten,  not  extend  the  period ; 
for  the  longer  it  was,  so  much  the  more  guilty  must  they  have  ap- 
peared in  the  eye  of  their  judges.  But  in  receiving  their  united 
testimony,  how  far  does  it  carry  us  ?  That  as  early  as  February, 
and  downwards  to  October  1526,  Tyndale's  Testaments,  both 
quarto  and  octavo,  as  well  as  the  first  separate  edition  of  Matthew 
and  Mark,  were  upon  English  ground,  and  reading  with  eager- 
ness, not  only  in  the  metropolis,  but  the  surrounding  counties, — 
that,  notwithstanding  the  fulminations  from  London  and  Canter- 
bury, and  "  the  secret  search,  at  one  time,"  the  precious  books  were 
retained  and  read  in  secret  still.  Nay,  we  have  seen  one  man, 
Necton,  immediately   afterwards  commence  his    cautious  opera- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  103 

tions — mentioning  very  distinctly,  first,  the  quarto  of  Tyndale,  or 
the  large  vohime,  then  the  octavo  edition,  and  finally  another 
edition,  printed  at  Antwerp,  as  already  described.  Doubtless  there 
had  been  other  men  before  him  so  employed,  as  there  were  others 
afterwards,  including  himself  again. 

But  the  purposes  of  Infinite  Wisdom  in  thus  trying  the  faithful, 
and  purifying  his  cause,  were,  for  the  present  at  least,  accomplished. 
Tunstal,  it  may  have  been  observed,  had  shifted  his  seat,  from  his 
own  palace,  near  the  old  bridge  of  London,  down  to  Charing  Cross, 
and,  for  ought  we  know,  this  might  be  from  fear  ;  bat  such  cool 
and  deliberate  cruelty  must  not  continue  either  in  London  or  West- 
minster, and  so  the  persecution  seems  to  have  been  cut  short  by  a 
Sovereign  hand,  or  the  immediate  visitation  of  God. 

That  fearful  disease,  styled  by  foreigners,  the  Sudor  Angliciis, 
on  account  of  the  violence  with  which  it  seized  this  nation,  or,  as 
the  English  themselves  called  it,  the  "  sweating  sickness,"  broke 
out  in  the  end  of  May.  The  patient  expired  in  a  few  hours,  and 
often  in  two  or  tliree.  By  the  7th  of  June,  above  two  thousand 
had  died  in  Loudon,  and  by  the  30th,  forty  thousand  had  been 
aifectecl,  of  whom  died  at  least  two  thousand  more.  Early  in 
June,  the  King  himself  became  alarmed  ;  the  disease  entered  the 
Royal  household,  and  proved  fatal  in  at  least  three  cases  ;  and  be- 
fore the  month  ended,  it  had  entered  Wolsey's  establishment. 
Henry  kept  himself  shut  up,  had  his  household  reduced  to  the 
smallest  number  permitted  by  the  statutes  of  Elthain,and  his  fear 
increased.  In  July,  on  the  5th,  still  more  apprehensive,  he  directs 
Wolsey  "  to  cause  general  processions  to  be  made,  universally 
through  the  realm,  as  well  for  good  weather  to  the  increase  of 
corn  and  fruit,  as  also  for  the  plague  that  iioiv  reigneth."  By 
the  9  th,  he  had  made  his  wnll,  advises  Wolsey  to  follow  his  ex- 
ample, and  desires  to  hear  from  him  every  second  day.  "He  con- 
fessed himself  every  day,"  say  Le  Grand  and  Burnet ;  "  the  Q,ueen 
did  the  same,  and  so  did  Wolsey." 

This  was  the  fourth  visitation  of  that  singular  disease,  of  which 
the  English  only  died.  During  the  prevalence  of  this  malady, 
however,  it  does  not  appear  that  the  Cardinal  was  so  much  afraid 
of  it,  as  of  forfeiting  the  entire  confidence  of  his  Master.  He  had 
appointed  an  Abbess  to  the  Abbey  of  Wilton,  which  had  ruffled 
Henry's  temper  ;  for  ever  since  the  disclosures  of  Clarencieux  as 
to  Spanish  affairs,  he  was  more  suspicious  and  apt  to  take  oflfence. 
But  Wolsey  once  more  mollified  him  ;  b}^  August  the  disease  had 
passed  away,  and  all  went  on  as  before.  The  King  was  hunting 
in  September,  and  inviting  Wolsey  to  take  part  wath  him  in  the 
sport.  All  was  bustle  and  preparation  for  the  arrival  of  Cardinal 
Campeggio,  and  Henry  wished  to  have  the  use  of  Hampton  Court 
for  three  or  four  days  to  receive  him  there.  But  we  now  return 
to  more  important  affairs. 

Though  the  cruel  proceedings  of  Tunstal  and  his  coadjutors, 
seem  to  have  been  cut  short  by  frightful  disease ;  in  the  course  of 
the  examinations  held,  the  persecutors  had  obtained  several  pieces 


104  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  information,  far  too  important  in  their  eyes,  to  be  either  forgot- 
ten or  neglected.  Tyndale  and  Roye  (erroneously  supposed  to  be 
still  with  him,)  were  now  conspicuously  before  them.  One  gen- 
tleman in  particular,  Mr.  Harman,  had  been  mentioned  as  actively 
engaged  in  importing  English  Testaments,  and  neither  George 
Constantyne  nor  Mr.  Fyshe  could  pass  unnoticed.  Meanwhile, 
since  Tyndale's  writings  had  obtained  such  circulation  in  our 
country,  it  seemed  necessary  that  an  attempt  should  be  made  to 
answer  them ;  and  so  by  way  of  adding  greater  horror  to  the  her- 
esies said  to  be  contained  in  them,  as  we  have  already  seen,  it  was 
during  the  very  period  when  Tunst.al  was  busy  with  his  cross-ex- 
aminations, that,  with  all  due  solemnity,  he  had  issued  his  official 
license  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  that  he  might  retain  and  read  those 
troublesome  publications,  and  with  all  his  skill  in  sophistry,  write 
them  down. 

As  for  Cardinal  Wolsey,  after  these  examinations  in  London, 
he  was  bent  on  seizing  the  Men  abroad,  and  three  persons  in  par- 
ticular, though  other  two  were  also  specified.  In  June,  therefore, 
he  had  written  to  Hackett,  requesting  that  the  Lady  Margaret 
would  sanction  the  delivery  of  these  three,  with  a  view  to  their 
being  immediately  sent  into  England.  But  on  the  28th  of  that 
month,  the  envoy  informed  him,  that  after  many  arguments  "  de- 
bated pro  et  contra,  they  to  me  and  I  to  them,"  the  Privy  Council 
had  concluded,  that  even  the  Emperor  himself  might  not  send 
any  heretic  out  of  his  dominions  as  a  prisoner,  except  his  first  ex- 
amination was  held  abroad,  where  he  was  ;  and  even  after  that, 
the  transmission  of  the  party  must  be  by  the  advice  of  the  In- 
quisitors of  the  Faith  there.  They  had,  however,  resolved  that 
all  the  foresaid  three  heretics,  when  they  could  be  found,  should 
be  taken  prisoners,  they  and  their  books  with  them;  but  the 
Council  requested  one  or  two  learned  men  to  be  sent  abroad  to 
confront  them.  If  they  should  be  "confounded  or  found  guilty," 
they  would  either  be  sent  over  to  Wolsey,  or  punished  there,  accord- 
ing to  their  deeds. 

The  names  of  these  obnoxious  men  were  Tyndale,  Roye,  and 
Harman.  George  Constantyne  and  Mr.  Fyshe  may  appear  to 
have  been  the  other  two,  if  Jerome  Barlow,  soon  to  be  noticed, 
was  not  the  fifth  individual.  Fourteen  days  they  busily  searched, 
but  Mr.  Harman  alone  could  be  found. 

Hackett  had  found  considerable  difficulty  when  dealing  Vv^th 
Christopher  Endhoven,  the  German  printer,  in  the  end  of  1526  ; 
but  now  that  an  English  merchant  and  a  gentleman  has  been 
seized,  should  the  "Lords  of  Antwerp"  still  remain  firm  to  their 
purpose,  as  then  expressed,  in  the  end,  at  least,  our  oflicious  am- 
bassador may  find  his  interference  to  be  followed  by  greater  trouble 
and  disgrace.  Antwerp  was  still  the  staple,  and,  for  commerce 
sake,  their  English  merchants  must,  if  possible,  be  protected  ;  but 
to  England  for  protection  it  was  in  vain  to  look.  She  was  not 
then,  what  she  has  often  been  since, — and  thanks  to  the  Sacred 
Volume  alone  ! — "  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed  ;"  so  that  the  Em- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  105 

peror  himself  must  be  applied  to.  He  was,  according-ly,  and  by- 
two  petitions,  in  tlie  Fleinish  language,  on  behalf  of  the  EngUsfi 
prisoners.  Both  are  now  in  the  British  Museum,  dated  July  1528, 
and  the  substance  of  them  may  be  thus  summed  up — 

"  Richard  Harman  being  in  prison,  for  having  sold  New  Testa- 
ments to  Eiiglish  merchants^  having  been  sent  to  him  out  of 
Germany,  as  also  being  accused  for  lodging  in  his  house  certain 
Lutherans,  (as  all  Bible  men  were  then  nicknamed,)  and  for 
eating  flesh  on  Sunday,  does  plead  for  himself,  petitioning  the 
Emperor :  He  desires  that  Jce  and  his  ivife  might  be  let  out  upon 
sufficient  hail,  to  recover  his  debts  upon  the  breaking  up  of  the 
fair ;  lest  losing  that  which  is  due  to  him,  he  should  not  be  able 
to  give  satisfaction  to  his  creditors." 

Hackett,  however,  obtained  letters  from  Henry  the  Eighth,  to 
seize  Mr.  Harman  as  a  traitor  ;  but  the  reigning  Princess  wished 
to  be  informed  what  were  the  particular  acts  of  treason.  Great 
interest  was  then  made  for  Harman,  who  had,  for  many  years, 
been  a  burgess  of  Antwerp.  Hackett  implores  Commissioners  to 
be  sent  from  England ;  and,  little  knowing  the  secret  politics  of 
our  Cardinal  at  the  moment,  which  had  destroyed  his  influence  in 
the  Imperial  Cabinet,  he  is  eager  that  the  Emperor  should  be  re- 
quested to  write  to  Lady  Margaret ;  otherwise,  he  fears  that  "  the 
great  purse  of  Antwerp  would  prove  the  deliverance  of  Harman," 
his  victim.  And,  by  the  lOtli  of  September,  he  is  obliged  to  con- 
fess, that  "notwithstanding  the  King^s  patent  letters,  the  Lady 
Margaret  and  her  Council  would  not  deliver  up  the  heretics." 

In  spite  of  all  the  plans  of  the  English  ambassador,  Hackett, 
to  prolong  the  imprisonment  of  Harman  and  to  secure  his  trans- 
portation to  England,  that  he  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
persecutors,  he  was  finally  released,  and  immediately  he  caused 
Hackett  to  be  arrested,  and  brought  an  action  for  damages  against 
him,  as  the  author  of  his  imprisonment ;  but  Hackett  escaped 
punishment  by  pleading  his  official  character  as  ambassador. 

The  imprisonment  of  Mr.  Harman  was  followed  by  lasting 
consequences  to  Hackett.  He  was  soon  compelled  to  change  his 
residence  to  Brussels,  and  five  years  after  this,  in  1534,  he  died  at 
Douay,  in  debt.  Mr.  Harman  returned  to  England — was  com- 
mended for  his  zeal — was  restored  to  favor,  as  well  as  all  his  priv- 
ileges connected  with  "  the  English  House"  at  Antwerp,  and  at 
the  express  request  of  the  Q,ueen  of  England. 

This  gentleman  had  been  a  devoted  friend  of  Tyndale's  object 
and  design,  as  well  as  of  Tyndale  himself,  in  which  his  wife  had 
cordially  joined  with  him.  The  printers  of  Antwerp  managed 
their  own  business,  and,  by  various  means,  imported  their  editions 
into  England,  which,  of  course,  had  affected  the  sale  of  Tyndale's 
books  ;  but  the  Testaments  with  which  Mr.  Harman  was  charged, 
were  said  to  be  sent  to  him  out  of  Germany.  Warham,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  must  therefore,  to  his  great  mortification, 
have  very  soon  perceived,  that  he  had  not,  as  he  at  first  supposed, 
purchased  all ;  and,  therefore;  even  in  Ant%oerp,  where  Hackett 


106  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

had  so  raged,  we  shall  actually  find  Tyndale  himself;  and  when 
his  finances  were  at  the  lowest  ebb,  selling  the  remainder,  with 
great  advantage,  next  year.  Nay,  selling  them  to  Tunstal,  who, 
in  1524,  had  thought  that,  as  a  Greek  scholar,  Tyndale  "  could 
not  fail"  to  find  some  situation  ! 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  turmoil  at  Antwerp,  however,  the  truth 
was,  that  Wolsey  had  been  far  from  inattentive  to  the  information 
received  from  Hackett,  although  he  had  seemed  to  be  remiss  in  not 
answering  his  letters.  On  the  contrary,  as  soon  as  he  understood 
by  his  letter  of  the  14th  of  July,  that  "  the  twaine  of  the  three,"  or 
Tyndale  and  Roije^  were  not  to  be  found  in  Antwerp,  or  its  vicinity, 
the  Cardinal  had  bethought  himself,  and  resolved  to  apply  else- 
where in  pursuit  of  them.  Accordingly  he  writes  a  letter  to 
Counsellor  Herman  Rincke  of  Cologne.  In  Rincke,  he  had  a 
determined  enemy  to  the  "  new  learning,  and  a  man,  in  some  re- 
spects, quite  to  his  own  heart.  His  letter  finished,  a  suitable  agent 
was  found  in  the  person  of  Friar  John  West  of  Greenwich. 

On  his  arrival  at  Cologne,  with  Friar  Flegh,  Rincke  was  absent 
from  home,  at  the  autumn  fair  in  Frankfort ;  but  the  letter  was 
immediately  conveyed  to  him  by  a  swift  messenger;  and,  by  the 
4th  of  October,  we  have  his  reply,  sent  by  the  same  Friar.  It  is 
in  Latin  ;  and  though  defective  in  several  words,  enough  remains 
to  render  it  an  interesting  and  important  document.  A  literal 
translation  of  the  greater  part,  must  not  be  withheld  from  the 
reader — 

"  The  letters  of  your  Grace  to  me,  given  by  Master  John  West, 
Priest  of  the  Observant  Order  of  St.  Francis,  Avritten  the  fifth  of 
'August,  at  Hampton  Court,  in  your  Grace's  palace,  were  sent  and 
conveyed  to  me  from  Cologne  to  Frankfort  in  two  days,  by  a  swift 
messenger,  the  2nd  (22nd)  of  September  ;  with  regard  to  buying 
up,  everywhere,  books  printed  in  the  English  language,  and  as  to 
the  apprehension  of  Roye  and  Hiitchyn,  i.  e.  Tyndale.  But 
neither  they,  nor  their  accomplices,  have  been  seen  in  the  Fairs  at 
Frankfort  since  (paschate)  the  12th  of  April,  or  even  the  first  of 
March  ;  and  [we  cannot  find  out]  neither  [their  abode]  whether 
they  remain  or  whether  they  be  dead,  nor  has  John  (Schoot)  Scott 
of  Argentine  (i.  e.  Strasburg)  said  that  he  knew  them,  or  their 
printers.  But  their  books  are  full  of  heresy,  and  against  the  mag- 
nificence and  honor  of  your  Grace,  [which  they  treat  with  contempt] 

and  icith  reproach.    They  are —  and  very  wicked,  and  opposed 

to  Christian  charity,  [as  well  as  to]  his  Highness,  my  most  gracious 
Lord,  my  generous  and  illustrious  Prince ;  they  render  [themselves 
odious]  to  all  the  worshippers  of  Christ." 

He  then  states  that  he  had  been  at  Frankfort  "  with  ready 
money,  laboring  himself  personally  to  the  utmost — but  John  Scott, 
the  printer,  besides  a  pledge  to  be  given  to  the  Jews,  demanded 
also  the  reward  of  his  own  labor,  and  the  expense  of  the  paper ; 
and  said  that  he  would  sell  them  to  him  who  would  offer  him  inost 
vioneyy  He  had  then  labored  with  diligence  to  gather  up  all  the 
books  he  could  find,  and  he  promises  to  do  his   utmost  to  appre- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  107 

hend  Roye  and  Hiitchyn,  and  other  rebels.  He  refers  to  his  former 
services,  and  thus  prepares  the  way  for  the  following  proposal — 
"  That  a  license  should  be  granted  to  him,  with  the  concurrence 
of  Charles  V.,  of  the  largest  extent."  "  In  my  judgment  it  is  fit  to 
be  contiuued,  that  as  throughout  the  whole  Roman  Empire,  so  es- 
pecially in  Germany,*  those  annoying  the  King  of  England,  and 
the  traitors  against  the  same,  ought  not  to  be  protected  or  endured  ; 
much  less  heretics,  stirring  up  a  sedition  among  the  Christians  of 
the  whole  English  kingdom.  On  account  of  the  force  and  legality 
of  a  similar  license,  Edmund,  Duke  of  Suffolk,  was  ordered  by 
King  Philip,  as  \vas  said,  to  be  brought  into  England.  Then  also 
William  Roye,  William  Tyndale,  Jerome  Barlow,  Alex- 
ander Barklay,  and  their  adherents — ^also  George  (Constans) 
Constant YNE,  and  many  others,  ought  to  be  taken,  punished, 
and  exposed,  both  for  destroying  the  Lutheran  heresy,  and  to  con- 
firm tlie  Christian  faith  !" 

We  are  now  at  Frankfort  great  fair,  and  the  reader  may  recol- 
lect of  Hackett  the  aml)assador  informing  Wolsey,  that  he  heard 
of  New  Testaments,  to  the  number  of  two  thousand,  having  been 
for  sale  at  the  sprinf^-  fair  of  last  year ;  but  now,  when  Scott  is 
apprehended  and  examined,  he  demands  a  pledge  to  be  given  to 
//fe. Tews,  in  security  for  /Aei;*  concern  in  such  tratBc,  "/o  Scotland 
and  England  as  to  the  same  placed  No  doubt  the  Jews  were 
there  last  year,  as  well  as  this ;  and  it  certainly  would  be  a  very 
singular  and  memorable  coincidence,  if  the  Jews,  for  hire  or  gain, 
had  assisted  in  such  importations  !  And  yet,  what  else  can  be  in- 
ferred, from  Scott's  exaction  or  demand?  But  if  so,  the  descend- 
ants of  Abraham,  to  whom  were  committed  "  the  Oracles  of  God," 
as  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament,  may  have  been  unconsciously 
conveying  to  England,  as  an  article  of  merchandise,  "  the  living 
oracles,"  as  recorded  in  the  New:  and  doing  this  too  at  a  period, 
when  the  nation,  as  such,  was  up  in  arms  against  the  undertak- 
ing !  To  this  people,  under  God,  we  stand  indebted  for  a  Saviour, 
and  the  Bible,  but  we  know  not  that  it  has  ever  been  conjectured 
of  any  other  nation,  that  the  Jeivs  had  any  concern,  however  re- 
mote, in  giving  or  conveying  to  it  the  New  Testament. 

We  are  not,  indeed,  to  suppose  that  our  Translator  either  had 
been  at  Frankfort,  or  that  any  of  Af.?  publications  are  here  referred 
to  as  printed  at  Strashurg  ;  much  less  that  any  connection  what- 
ever now  existed  between  him  and  Roye.  With  regard  to  Tyn- 
dale at  this  moment,  or  Fryth,  of  whom  no  notice  is  taken,  happily 
Mr.  Counsellor  Rincke  was  altogether  off  the  scent.  Forty-five 
miles  to  the  north,  at  Marburg,  they  were  busily  engaged,  both 
with  the  pen  and  the  press ;  yet  it  is  quite  possible  that  some  of 
Tvndale's  productions  may  have  passed  through  this  Frankfort 
fair.  Rincke,  liowever,  had  certainly  laid  hold  of  the  printer  em- 
ployed by  Roye,  and  these  as  certainly  were  his  publications  to 
which  reference  is  made. 

By  the  time  that  West  and  his  companions  arrived  in  England 
with   this  letter,   Wolsey,  so  far  from  prospering  "  many  happy 


108  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

years,"  as  Rincke  had  prayed,  probably  never  had  one  day  of  un- 
mingled  enjoyment.  The  confidence  of  his  own  Royal  Master 
had  begun  to  decline,  and  Rincke  but  little  knew  the  game  that 
Wolsey  was  playing  at  that  moment  with  the  Emperor ;  other- 
wise, neither  he  nor  Hackett  could  have  expected  him  to  have  any 
influence,  upon  any  subject,  with  Charles.  Thus  the  remainder 
of  the  Cardinal's  wrath  was  restrained,  and  happily  Rincke  never 
obtained  the  license  or  Commission  for  which  he  panted  ;  besides, 
his  politics  must  have  soon  changed  with  the  times.  His  son  had 
been  in  England  before,  and  now  that  he  came  a  second  time,  he 
has  been  supposed  to  have  remained  for  some  time,  though  of  this 
we  have  found  no  positive  evidence. 

As  for  Friar  West,  he  entirely  failed  in  apprehending  any  of  the 
men  pointed  out.  It  must  have  been  still  more  mortifying  to  him 
that,  while  he  was  wandering  on  the  Continent,  in  his  disguised 
habit,  Roi/e,  the  very  man  whom  Wolsey  wished  to  have,  above 
all  others,  had  actually  paid  a  visit  to  England ;  and  to  crown  all, 
West,  upon  returning  to  his  monastery,  not  only  received  no  thanks 
for  his  toil,  but  very  soon  found  it  a  great  deal  too  hot  for  him. 
The  "  new  learning"  had  begun  to  spread  even  there  !  He  might, 
as  we  have  found,  write  to  Hackett  in  November,  telhng  him  how 
the  King  and  the  Cardinal  were  engrossed,  and  could  not  answer 
his  letters  ;  but  by  the  next  month,  he  himself  could  not  gain  ac- 
cess even  to  Wolsey,  and  was  at  his  wits'  end. 

The  chase  was  now  over  till  Henry  himself  began,  for  thus 
ended,  at  least,  the  Cardinal's  hunt  after  heretics  so  called  !  After 
this,  he  will  have  quite  enough  to  do,  in  taking  care  of  himself 
It  was  Providence  ruling  and  overruling  all  things,  for  the  sake 
of  His  own  Word. 


SECTION    YI. 

TYNDALe's     progress    in     the     old      testament PERSECUTION    IN      ENGLAND 

THWARTED     ONCE     MORE TUNSTAL    AT    ANTWERP WOLSEY's    CAREER TYN- 

OALE's  INFLUENCE  IN  THE  PALACE CRANMER  FIRST  EMPLOYED WOLSEy's  FALL 

LORD    CHANCELLOR  MORE RISE    OF    CRUMWELL PARLIAMENT  ASSEMBLED 

COMMOTION    THERE MORE,    THE    BISHOPS,  AND    THE  KING,  IN    LEAGUE    AGAINST 

THE  SCRIPTURES COVERDALE    SENT    TO   HAMBURGH ANOTHER  OR    FIFTH    EDI- 
TION OF  THE  TESTAMENT. 

It  has  been  customary  to  speak  of  Tyndale's  Pentateuch  as 
published  in  1530,  but  this  is  incorrect.  The  five  books  might  be 
afterwards  bound  up,  but  originally  they  were  neither  printed  at 
the  same  press,  nor  published  together,  but  separately.  In  the 
order  of  importation,  at  least,  the  account  of  the  creation  and  the 
early  history  of  mankind  in  Genesis,  seems  to  have  been  followed 
by  Deuteronomy,  that  compendious  repetition  or  summary  of  the 


HISTORY    OF    TJIE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  109 

law,  with  explanatory  additions.  At  all  events  before  the  end  of 
their  year  1.529,  or  the  25th  of  March,  1530,  these  two  books  are 
among  those  publicly  denounced ;  and  those  alone  under  the  fol- 
lowing titles  : — "  The  Chapters  of  Moses,  called  Genesis — the 
Chapters  of  Moses,  called  Deuteronomos."  When  Ave  come  to 
the  spring  of  1530,  the  five  books  of  Moses  will  be  more  fully 
noticed. 

During  this  year,  the  state  of  his  native  land  had  continued  to 
oppress  the  mind  of  Tyndale.  However  modest  and  unpretending 
in  his  character,  as  lie  could  not  be  unacquainted  with  the  great 
effects  produced  by  what  he  had  already  done,  so  he  must  have 
felt  that  he  was  raised  up  for  a  certain  purpose ;  and  that  with 
the  progress  of  events  or  the  condition  of  his  country  he  must 
endeavor  to  keep  pace  with  his  pen.  The  correctness  and  celerity, 
as  well  as  power,  with  which  he  did  so,  will  appear  alike 
remarkable. 

One  distinguishing  feature  of  our  Translator's  character,  was 
loyalty  to  his  King,  blended  with  love  to  his  country.  The  latter 
he  had  discovered  by  commencing  with  "  the  Parable  of  the 
unrighteous  Mannnon,"  and  the  former,  or  rather  both,  by  his 
next  publication,  "  the  Obedience  of  a  Christian  man."  Deeply 
interested  as  he  was,  however,  in  the  best  interests  of  the  reign- 
ing monarch,  he  would  not  stoop  to  flatter  him,  much  less  wink 
at  the  course  he  now  pursued.  Hence  this  year  his  small  publica- 
tion on  the  subject  of  matrimony,  and  his  exposition  of  1  Corin- 
thians, vii.  chapter.  The  former,  a  warning  as  to  its  abuse,  the 
latter,  illustrative  of  the  sin  attending  its  gross  violation — an 
abounding  evil  of  the  age. 

Marriage  was  then  a  question  of  vital  importance  to  the  virtue 
and  happiness  of  his  country  ;  dreadfully  trampled  on  and  invaded 
by  the  priesthood  of  the  day,  and  now,  by  the  highest  authority 
of  the  land,  in  his  own  person,  threatened  to  be  dissolved.  It 
became,  therefore,  such  a  man  as  Tyndale  to  take  up  the  subject. 
His  voice  was  solitary  indeed,  but  it  had  now  a  power,  which, 
probably  he  had  never  anticipated;  it  went  also  through  the  land, 
for  whatever  he  now  published  was  sought  for  and  read  ;  and 
not  the  less  so,  that  everything  he  put  forth  was  so  denounced. 

Fryth  was  engaged  about  this  time  in  translating  from  the 
German  a  small  work,  entitled,  "The  Revelation  of  Antichrist," 
one  of  the  first  books  printed  in  English  against  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiff. He  published  it,  witli  a  long  prefatory  epistle  and  an  anti- 
thesis at  the  end,  under  the  assumed  name  of  Richard  Brightwell. 
It  was  printed  "  at  Malborow,  in  the  land  of  Hesse,  the  12th  day 
of  July  1529,  by  me  Hans  Luft." 

About  this  period  both  Tyndale  and  Fryth  had  removed  from 
Marburg ;  and  by  the  month  of  August,  in  Antwerp  itself,  a 
negociation  with  Tunstal,  respecting  books,  took  place. 

The  work  of  persecution  went,  on  in  England.  Among  those 
who  were  examined,  the  most  eminent  was  a  respectable  citizen 
and  leather-merchant  of  London,  John  Tewksbury.     His  case  was 


110  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  more  interesting'  from  his  having  possessed  a  inaimscrlpf  copy 
of  the  Bible,  and  his  openly  deponing  that  he  had  been  studying  in 
tiie  holy  Siuipture-!  from  the  year  1512.  He  professed,  however^ 
that  he  had  been  brought  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  by  the 
reading  of  "  Tf/ndale's  New  Testament^''  and  his  subsequent 
publication  or  exposition  of  the  Parable  of  the  Wicked  Mammon. 
"In  tlie  doctrine  of  justification,"  says  John  Foxe,  "  and  all  other 
articles  of  his  faith,  he  was  very  expert  and  prompt  in  his  answers, 
in  such  sort  as  Tunstal  and  all  his  learned  men  were  ashamed, 
that  a  leather-seUer  should  so  dispute  with  them,  with  such  power 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  heavenly  wisdom,  that  they  were  not  able 
to  resist  him." 

The  number  of  Bishops  presiding  at  the  examination  of  this 
good  man,  proves  at  once  the  importance  of  his  case,  and  the 
extent  to  which  their  alarm  and  hatred  had  now  gone.  Besides 
Tunstal  himself,  there  was  West  of  Ely,  and  Clark  of  Bath,  with 
Standish  of  St.  Asaph,  and  Longland  of  Lincoln.  These  men 
had  the  truth  told  them  on  this  occasion,  and  were  even  warned. 
Amongst  other  things,  Tewksbury  had  the  boldness  to  say, — "I 
pray  God  that  the  condemnation  of  the  Gospel  and  translation  of 
Xho,  New  Testament,  be  not  to  your  shame,  and  that  ye  be  not  in 
peril  for  it."  They  continued  disputing  with  him  day  after  day, 
for  more  than  eight  or  ten  days  together  ;  his  first  appearance 
being  on  the  13th  of  April.  At  last  he  abjured,  though,  like 
Bilney,  only  for  the  present. 

As  old  Thomas  Fuller  said — "It  takes  more  to  make  a  valiant 
man,  than  being  able  to  call  another  coward,"  though  in  report- 
mg  such  abjurations,  one  cannot  but  revert  to  the  first  grand 
and  public  reaantation  of  Birnas,  at  St.  Paul's.  He  might, 
before  that  year  ended,  be  selling  New  Testaments  confidentially, 
and  in  private,  but  this  could  never  compensate  for  the  mischief 
he  had  done,  by  his  great  and  sad  failure.  Its  influence  must 
have  been  yet  felt,  in  preventing  that  bold  decision  which  would 
have  been  followed  by  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  Thus,  this 
worthy  man  Tewksbury,  only  required  another  to  precede  him, 
in  the  year  1.531,  when  we  shall  find  him  gather  courage,  deeply 
repent,  and  follow  with  great  and  determined  courage  to  the 
stake. 

How  criminal  was  that  man,  who,  with  cool  deliberation,  thus 
spent  his  days  in  laying  a  snare,  or  in  weaving  a  net  for  the  feet 
of  these  saints  ?  By  him,  indeed,  they  were  not  put  to  death  ; 
they  were  left  by  him  for  Stokesly  to  butcher,  though  the  guilt  of 
this  righteous  blood  must  ever  rest  upon  Tunstal,  as  well  as  his 
successor. 

But  again,  and  that  a  tliird,  if  not  the  fourth  time,  a  gracious 
Providence  interposed.  This,  too,  was  about  the  xexy  same  month 
as  in  the  two  preceding  years  ;  not  by  disease,  indeed,  as  last 
year,  but  by  a  method  as  effectual,  the  occupation  of  Tunstal 
abroad.  In  1526  the  authorities  were  scattered  by  prevailing 
sickness.     In  1527  they  were  so  again  by  political  affairs.     In 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  Ill 

]  528  they  were  scared,  as  we  have  seen,  by  the  "  Sudor  Aiighcus," 
and  this  year  they  are  again  diverted  from  their  prey  by  pressing 
affairs  of  state.  These  men  could  discern  some  of  the  signs  of 
the  times,  but  they  could  not,  or  rather  would  not,  observe  the 
finger  of  God. 

Tunstal,  cool  and  fresh,  was  ready  to  engage  whenever  state 
policy  demanded  his  services,  and  the  proof  of  his  being  as  yet 
the  leading  persecutor  of  the  truth,  is  plainly  seen  in  this,  that 
when  once  he  departed,  the  storm  in  a  great  degree  subsided.  In 
a  very  short  time,  however,  far  from  forgetting  Tyndale's  opera- 
tions, we  shall  find  him  fully  as  busy,  in  another  way,  abroad,  as 
he  had  been  at  home. 

On  the  30th  of  June,  Tunstal  and  Sir  Thomas  More,  with 
Dr.  Knight,  the  King's  Secretary,  received  their  commissions,  and 
left  England  for  Cambray,  where  Hackett  met  them.  Altogether 
they  watched  over  their  own  King's  interest,  so  far  as  it  was  in- 
volved in  the  treaty  of  Cambray  ;  remaining  in  attendance  till 
the  .5th  of  August,  when,  what  was  called  "  the  Women's  or  the 
Ladies'  peace,"  was  finally  concluded.  It  has,  however,  been  but 
seldom  observed,  that  at  the  same  time  and  place,  another  treaty 
was  signed,  betwixt  our  King  and  the  Lady  Margaret,  in  the 
name  of  the  Emperor  ;  Tunstal^  More,  and  Hackett,  being  the 
commissioners.  It  embraced  "  the  continuation  o{  traffic  for  mer- 
chants between  the  two  countries,  and  the  forbidding  to  prmt  or 
sell  any  Lutheran  books  oti  either  side." 

Thus  it  is  that  we  are  introduced,  very  naturally,  to  the  period 
when  Tunstal's  zeal  for  the  burning-  of  the  Scriptures  emphatically 
began  to  display  itself.  No  doubt  he,  as  well  as  the  Bishop  of 
Norwich,  had  cheerfully  borne  his  share  of  the  first  purchase  by 
Warhani  in  1527  ;  but  he  was  eager  to  seize  this  fine  and  favor- 
able opportunity  of  proving  his  own  zeal.  He  was  now  in  the 
north  of  France,  and  could  easily  take  Antwerp  on  his  way  home. 
With  three  such  men,  all  equally  ^hostile,  the  subject  of  heretical 
books  must  have  been  fully  canvassed,  involved  as  they  were  in  a 
formal  treaty.  The  Jirst  was  bent  on  burning  them  ;  he  had 
licensed  the  second  to  read  them  only  that  he  might  write  them 
down,  and  his  first  production,  written  in  1528,  had  just  come  out 
as  he  left  London  ;  and  as  for  the  third,  John  Hackett,  he  had 
first  suggested  both  burning  and  persecution,  and  not  as  yet  suc- 
ceeded to  the  extent  of  his  wishes ;  though  it  was  only  four  months 
since  he  had  been  affronted  at  Antwerp,  and  so  deeply  felt 
the  indignity.  The  high  privileges  of  Antwerp,  however,  re- 
mained inviolate,  for  they  had  been  fully  and  expressly  recognized 
in  the  recent  treaty,  as  well  as  those  of  all  the  other  Hanse-towns 
under  the  Emperor's  sway.  No  choice  being  thus  left,  as  to  the 
mode  of  procedure,  the  policy  of  jmrchasing  books  in  order  to 
burn  them,  and  thus  prevent  progress,  was  discussed.  This,  in- 
deed, might  ultimately  promote  the  cause  they  desired  to  damage, 
and  More  shrewdly  suspected  it  certainly  would.  "  So  much," 
said  he  to  George  Constantyne,  afterwards,  "so  much  I  told  the 


112  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Bishop,  before  he  went  about  it."  Tunstal's  zeal,  however,  could 
not  thus  be  quenched.  Knight  proceeded  to  Italy  on  the  King's 
business  ;  More  returned  home  ;  Tunstal  went  by  way  of  Ant- 
werp, and  the  following  story  of  his  "  exploit"  there,  is  worthy  of 
notice,  on  account  of  its  natural  consequences.  It  is  introduced 
by  Halle  immediately  after  the  treaty  of  Cambray,  and  it  is  copied 
by  Foxe,  as  happening  in  the  year  1529.  We  give  the  narrative 
with  an  eye  on  both  authors. 

"  Here,  it  is  to  be  remembered,  that  at  this  present  time,  one 
Augustine  Packington,  a  mercer  and  merchant  of  London,  the 
same  time  was  in  Antwerp,  where  the  Bishop  then  was ;  and  this 
Packington  was  a  man  that  highly  favored  Tyndale,  but  to  the 
Bishop  showed  the  contrary.  The  Bishop,  desirous  to  have  his 
purpose  brought  to  pass,  communed  of  the  New  Testaments,  and 
how  gladly  he  would  buy  them.  Packington  then  hearing  him 
say  so,  said — '  My  Lord,  if  it  be  your  pleasure,  I  can  in  this  matter 
do  more,  I  dare  say,  than  most  of  the  merchants  of  England  that 
are  here,  for  I  know  the  Dutchmen,  (^.  e.  Germans)  and  strangers 
that  have  bought  them  of  Tyndale,  and  have  them  here  to  sell ; 
so  that  if  it  be  your  Lordship's  pleasure  to  pay  for  them,  for  other- 
wise I  cannot  come  by  them  but  I  must  disburse  money  for  them 
—I  will  then  assure  you  to  have  every  book  of  them  that  is  im- 
printed, and  is  here  unsold.'  The  Bishop  said — '  Gentle  Mr.  Pack- 
ington, do  your  dihgence  and  get  them  ;  and,  with  all  my  heart, 
I  will  pay  for  them,  whatsoever  they  cost  you  ;  for  the  books  are 
erroneous  and  nought,  and  I  intend  surely  to  destroy  them  all,  and 
to  burn  them  at  Paul's  Cross.'  Augustine  Packington  then  came 
to  Tyndale.  and  said — '  William,  I  know  thou  art  a  poor  man, 
and  hast  a  heap  of  New  Testaments  and  hooks  by  thee,  for  which 
thou  hast  both  endangered  thy  friends,  and  beggared  thyself;  and 
I  have  now  gotten  thee  a  merchant,  which,  with  ready  money, 
shall  despatch  thee  of  all  that  thou  hast,  if  you  think  it  profitable 
for  yourself — '  Who  is  the  merchant  V  said  Tyndale.  '  The 
Bishop  of  London,'  said  Packington.  '  0,  that  is  because  he  Avill 
burn  them,'  said  Tyndale.  '  Yes,'  quoth  Packington.  '  I  am  the 
gladder,'  said  Tyndale,  '  for  these  two  benefits  shall  come  thereof 
— I  shall  get  money  to  bring  myself  out  of  debt,  and  tlie  whole 
world  will  cry  out  against  the  burning  of  God's  Word — and  the 
overplus  of  the  money  that  shall  remain  to  me,  shall  make  me 
more  studious  to  correct  the  said  New  Testament,  and  so  newly 
to  imprint  the  same  once  again,  and  I  trust  the  second  will  much 
better  like  (please)  you,  than  ever  did  the  first.'  So,  forward  went 
the  bargain — the  Bishop  had  the  books — Packington  had  the 
thanks — and  Tyndale  had  the  money  !" 

This  story  may  be  allowed  to  remain  substantially  correct,  though 
the  latter  words  put  into  the  mouth  of  Tyndale,  must  be  received 
as  the  embellishment  of  Packington,  or  rather,  perhaps,  of  the  old 
chronicler  Halle,  who  was  fond  of  a  good  story.  Certainly  Tyn- 
dale never  expressed  himself  precisely  in  these  terms.  ^- After 
this,^'  says  Foxe,  "  Tyndale  corrected  the  same  New  Testament 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  113 

again,  and  caused  them  to  be  new  imprinted,  so  that  they  came 
thick  and  threefold  over  into  England  !"  The  further  illustration 
of  this  assertion,  will  occur  before  long.  In  the  meanwhile  the 
books  purchased  by  Tunstal  were  sent  home,  but  they  were  not 
committed  to  the  flames  till  it  could  be  done  with  the  greatest 
effect. 

Tunstal  and  More  having  both  returned  to  London,  the  pro- 
ceedings at  Cambray  were  reported  and  highly  approved.  Before 
Sir  Thomas  was  sent  into  France,  the  King  had  sounded  him  as 
to  the  divorce.  He  was  then  opposed  to  it,  and  as  much  so  now  : 
but  as  he  had  succeeded  to  admiration  in  procuring  more  money 
from  the  Emperor  than  had  been  expected,  and  Henry  might  an- 
ticipate that,  like  most  men,  he  only  had  his  j^rice,  and  would  come 
round,  he  was  about  to  elevate  hiin  to  the  Chancellorship.  Cardinal 
Wolsey  and  Sir  Thomas  More  had  never  cordially  agreed,  for  in 
many  points  they  were  perfect  contrasts.  Under  the  auspices  of 
the  latter,  amiable  in  domestic  life,  having  no  thirst  for  pomp  or 
display,  and  superior  to  the  love  of  money,  some  great  change  was 
at  hand.  The  fall  of  Wolsey  was  followed  by  the  appointment  of 
More  to  the  high  trust  which  the  Cardinal  had  Long  held. 

Throughout  the  last  year  of  declining  influence,  vexations,  in 
quick  succession,  awaited  the  Cardinal.  About  May  he  had 
wished  to  proceed  once  more  into  France,  upon  a  mission  to  Cam- 
bray, (on  which  we  have  found  that  Tunstal  and  More  were  sent 
in  June,)  but  the  King  pointedly  refused,  as  he  could  no  longer 
confide  in  him.  Again,  Sir  T.  Cheney,,  for  having  in  some  way 
offended  the  Cardinal,  had  been  excluded  from  the  Court,  when 
Lady  Anne  Boleyn  interposed  and  secured  his  return,  whether 
Wolsey  would  or  not.  But  finally,  and  as  if  to  crown  all,  and 
after  we  have  witnessed  how  eager  he  had  been  to  apprehend 
Tyndale,  he  must  be  brought  in  contact  with  one  of  his  publica- 
tions. The  story,  in  full,  is  to  be  found  in  Foxe's  manuscripts, 
now  in  the  Museuju,  and  it  has  been  quoted  by  Strype.  Lady 
Anne  Boleyn  had  been  in  possession  of  a  copy  of  Tyndale's  "  Obe- 
dience of  a  Christian  man,"  for  though  the  time  drew  nigh,  it  had 
not  then  been  pointedly  condemned  by  Royal  authority.  She  had 
lent  this  book  to  one  of  her  female  attendants,  named  Gainsford  : 
but  one  day  as  she  was  reading  it,  a  young  gentleman,  also  in  the 
service  of  Lady  Anne,  Mr.  Zouch,  father  to  the  knight,  afterwards 
of  that  name,  snatched  the  book  away,  and  was  very  unwilling 
to  restore  it.  He  had  been  induced  to  read  it,  and  was  so  affected 
that,  as  the  stoiy  goes,  '4ie  was  never  well  but  when  he  was 
reading  of  that  book."  Wolsey  had  ordered  all  about  the  court 
to  take  special  pare,  and  prevent  such  writings  from  being  circu- 
cated  there,  lest  they  should  chance  to  come  into  the  hands  of  the 
King ;  but  this  very  caution  pro-ved  the  means  of  bringing  to  pass 
Avhat  he  most  dreaded!  The  Dean  of  the  Chapel-Royal,  Dr. 
Sampson,  saw  this  publication  in  the  young  man's  hands,  who 
was  reading  it  in  the  chapel,  not  improbably  tired  of  the  unmean- 
ing service.     Calling  Zouch,  he  took  the  publication  from  hini, 

8 


114  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

and  delivered  it  to  the  Cardinal.  In  the  meantime,  Lady  Anne, 
inquiring  for  her  book,  the  attendant,  fearful  lest  her  mistress,  as 
well  as  herself,  should  come  into  trouble,  fell  on  her  knees,  and 
told  her  all  the  circumstances.  Her  mistress  expressed  no  displeas- 
ure with  the  parties  in  her  service,  but  replied  with  emotion, — • 
"Well,  it  shall  be  the  dearest  book  that  ever  the  Dean  or  the  Car- 
dinal took  away."  Lady  Anne  forthwith  applied  to  Henry,  and 
upon  her  knees  "desired  the  King's  help  for  her  book."  Upon 
the  King's  tokeii  it  was  delivered  up,  and  Lady  Anne  carrying  the 
volume  or  tract  to  his  Blajesty,  requested  that  he  Avould  read  it. 
The  King  did  so,  and  professing  to  be  pleased  with  the  contents, 
added  '•  this  book  is  for  me,  and  all  Kings,  to  read." 

This  story  is  fully  confirmed  by  Wyatt,  with  some  slight  varia- 
tion. Lady  Anne  "  was  but  newly  come  from  the  King,  when 
the  Cardinal  came  in  with  the  book  in  his  hands,  to  make  com- 
plaints of  certain  points  in  it,  that  he  knew  the  King  would  not 
like,  and  withal  to  take  occasion  with  him,  against  those  that 
countenanced  such  books  in  general,  and  especially  women ;  and 
as  might  be  thought,  with  mind  to  go  farther  against  Lady  Anne 
more  directly,  if  he  had  perceived  the  King  agreeable  to  his  mean- 
ing. But  the  King,  that  somewhat  before  distasted  the  Cardinal, 
finding  the  notes  Lady  Anne  had  made,  all  turned  the  more  to 
hasten  his  ruin,  which  was  also  furthered  on  all  sides. 

This  incident  therefore  must,  in  substance  have  occurred  ;  al- 
though Foxe  goes  on  to  build  by  far  too  much  upon  it.  The 
words,  in  Henry's  mouth,  were  probably  nothing  more  than  a 
compliment  to  the  lady  ;  or  at  best,  they  expressed  only  a  tran- 
sient feeling,  similar  to  one  of  old,  in  the  mind  of  King  Herod 
towards  John  the  Baptist.  But  be  this  as  it  miglit,  Campeggio 
was  off  to  Italy,  and  the  sun  of  royal  favor  had  set  upon  Wolsey 
forever. 

On  Wednesday  the  3d  of  November,  at  the  Chamber  in  Black- 
friars,  Parliament  met ;  when  Lord  Chancellor  More,  in  his  elo- 
quent oration,  gave  the  first  overtures  of  the  King's  intentions. 
The  Cardinal's  fall, — the  state  of  the  Church, — and  the  ^'■new 
learning,^^  formed  the  pith  of  this  opening  speech.  The  King 
was  present  when  the  Cardinal  was  glanced  at,  and  in  no  cour- 
teous terms. 

As  for  the  various  subjects  then  styled  ecclesiastical,  they  were 
incorporated  or  hiterwoven  with  civil  affairs.  The  abuses,  says' 
Herbert,  having  now  come  at  last  to  the  King's  knowledge,  he 
remitted  their  redress  to  the  Lower  House  of  Parliament.  "  The 
Mortuaries,  or  the  exactions  from  the  children  of  deceased  parents, 
— the  enormous  expense  of  Probates,  or  proofs  of  will3,~Plurali- 
ties  to  the  extent  of  eight  or  ten  livings,  engrossed  by  one  man, — 
abounding  non-residence, — Priests  being  Surveyors"^  Stewards  of 
estates,  Farmers,  and  Graziers  in  every  county, — Priors,  and  other 
ecclesiastics,  being  the  buyers  and  sellers  of  Wool,  of  Cloth,  and 
all  kinds  of  merchandize.  Such  were  the  grievances  then  to  be 
redressed. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  115 

Three  bills  were  therefore  drawn  up,  by  the  appointment  of  the 
Burgesses  of  ParHament, — the  first  relating  to  Mortuaries,  the 
second  to  Probates,  and  the  third  embracing  all  the  other  evils. 

The  first,  when  sent  up  to  the  Lords,  was  rather  courteously- 
received  ;  the  second,  concerning  Probates,  followed  in  two  days ; 
but  on  tills,  Warham,  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  all  the 
other  bishops  frowned.  Fisher,  the  Bishop  of  Rochester,  spoke 
with  greatest  violence  and  warmth.  In  the  parliament  chamber, 
says  the  contemporary  chronicler,  he  said  openly  these  words, — 
"  My  Lords,  you  see  daily  what  bills  come  hither  from  the  Com- 
mon house,  and  all  is  to  the  destruction  of  the  Church  ;  see  what 
a  realm  the  kingdofii  of  Bohemia  tons,  and  when  the  Church 
went  down.,  then  fell  the  glory  of  the  kingdom, — now  with  the 
Commons  is  nothing  but  down  tenth  the  Church, — and  all  this, 
me  seemeth,  is  for  lack  of  faith  only." 

These  last  expressions  once  reported  to  the  Commons,  they 
sent  their  speaker.  Sir  Thomas  Audley,  with  thirty  members,  to 
the  King.  Henry,  also  dissatisfied,  promised  to  call  for  the  Bishop, 
and  send  them  reply.  Accordingly,  Warham  and  six  of  his  breth- 
ren, besides  Fisher,  had  to  appear,  when  the  latter  apologized, 
saying,  he  meant  "the  doings  of  the  Bohetniajis  were  for  lack  of 
faith."  The  King  received  his  representation,  but  the  Commons 
were  still  by  no  means  satisfied  with  this  "  blind  excuse." 

After  this,  the  Commons  referred  to  the  laws  and  constitutions 
of  the  Church,  as  enforcing  these  bills,  but  the  "  Spirituality"  de- 
fended the  existing  state  of  things  by  "presumption  and  usageP 
One  commoner,  a  gentleman  of  Gray's  Inn,  had  the  courage  to 
reply, — "  The  usage  hath  ever  been  of  thieves,  to  rob  on  Shooter's 
hill,  ergo — is  it  lawful?"  Of  course  very  great  offence  was  taken 
at  the  comparison,  as  if  the  fees  for  Probates  Avere  to  be  considered 
robbery.  The  Commons  stood  firm,  and  the  temporal  Lords  be- 
gan to  lean  to  their  side,  but  the  bills  could  not  yet  pass. 

Meanwhile  the  Lords  assented  to  a  bill  of  tJieir  own,  and  sent 
it  down  to  the  Commons,  which  will  remind  the  reader  of  years 
gone  by,  as  it  referred  to  measures  introduced  by  Wolsey,  and 
ultimately  supported  by  the  present  Chancellor,  then  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Commons.  This  was  a  bill  releasing  the  King  of 
all  such  sums  as  he  had  borrowed  from  his  subjects,  in  the  fifteenth 
year  of  his  reign.  The  measure,  of  course,  was  felt  severely  by 
the  Commons,  and  the  more  so,  as  it  would  render  them  unpopu- 
lar with  their  constituents  ;  but  as  the  majority  of  members  were 
the  King's  servants,  and  others  were  gained  over,  the  bill  passed. 

By  way  of  gratitude  in  return,  the  King  granted,  with  certain 
exceptions,  a  general  pardon  of  ofiences,  and  aiding  the  Connnons 
for  the  redress  of  their  grievances,  he  caused  two  new  bills  to  be 
presented  afresh  to  the  Lords,  to  which  they  at  last  assented, 
although  that  in  reference  to  the  probate  of  wills  was  peculiarly 
offensive  to  the  Bishops. 

The  Commons  then  sent  up  their  third  bill,  in  reference  to  plu- 
ralities, non-residence,  farming,  &c.     At  this  the  Priests  not  only 


116  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

railed  on  the  Commons  as  heretics,  but  the  Bishops,  in  the  Upper 
House,  says  Hall,  "  would  in  no  ways  consent."  At  last  the  King 
interposed.  Causing  eight  members  from  each  House  to  meet  and 
confer  in  the  Star  Chamber,  the  Temporal  Lords  present  united 
with  the  Commons,  and  next  day  the  bill,  somewhat  qualified, 
passed  into  a  law. 

It  is  of  importance  now  to  observe,  that  before  this  Parliament 
was  prorogued,  on  the  17th  of  December,  there  was  one  other 
measure  respecting  which  there  was  no  dissension  among  the 
Bishops,  nor  any  division  between  the  two  Houses,  and  this  was 
how  to  deal  with  the  new  learning  come  into  the  land.  "  It  had 
been,"  says  Lord  Herbert,  "  secretly  admitted  into  many  places  of 
this  kingdom  with  much  approbation,  so  that  even  the  most  igno- 
rant began  to  examine  whether  the  errors  then  ordinarily  contro- 
verted, did  belong  to  the  doctrine  or  i\\Q  government  of  the  Church." 
This  subject,  it  should  be  remembered,  had  been  noticed  among 
the  "  overtures  of  the  King's  intentions,"  in  this  short  session,  and 
whether  suggested  by  the  new  Chancellor,  must  appear  by  what 
followed.  Sir  Thomas  More  might  smile  at  Tunstal's  simplicity, 
in  having  purchased  books  at  Antwerp  to  burn  them  in  London, 
by  and  bye ;  but  at  the  same  time,  whatever  his  pen  or  his  power 
could  do,  was  now  to  be  employed  against  the  authors  and  the 
possessors  of  all  such  publications.  With  his  pen  he  had  been 
busy  ever  since  he  was  licensed,  in  March  last  year ;  and  now,  as 
Lord  Chancellor,  he  will  enjoy  the  gratification  of  employing  his 
power,  and  inmiediately  upon  his  entrance  into  oflftce. 

Sir  Thomas  More  has  certainly  been  fortunate,  even  to  a  pro- 
verb, in  his  biographers.  At  once  the  pride  and  the  pet  of  the 
literary  world,  they  have  drawn  his  character  on  this  principle — 
that  "  what  ofiiends  the  eye  in  a  good  picture,  the  painter  casts 
discreetly  into  shades  ;  so  that  any  writer  laid  under  the  necessity 
of  bringing  to  light  the  generally  concealed  features  of  the  man, 
nuist  run  the  risk  of  being  charged  with  a  sin  against  taste.  It 
is,  however,  chiefly  with  his  official  character,  and  as  the  opponent 
of  Tyndale  and  Fryth,  that  we  have  here  to  do.  His  official 
movements  against  them  are  matter  of  history,  and  as  for  his 
sentiments  and  feelings,  there  is  no  necessity  for  calling  witnesses 
to  prove  what  they  were.  Plentifully  were  they  expressed  by  him- 
self, through  many  folio  pages. 

Wolsey  being  degraded,  had  the  spirit  of  persecution  rested  only 
in  his  breast  as  Prime-Minister,  of  coin-se  it  must  now  have  abated 
under  his  successor.  Notwithstanding,  therefore,  the  prodigious 
faults  of  the  fallen  Cardinal,  let  us  inquire,  and  render  him  impar- 
tial justice. 

It  must  have  been  observed,  that  the  criminal  charges  preferred 
against  Wolsey  by  the  Lords,  were  presented  to  the  King,  with 
More  at  their  head  ;  and  that  the  43d  article  included  these  words, 
— "  besides  all  his  other  heinous  offiinces,  the  said  Lord  Cardinal 
hath  been  the  impeacher  and  disturber  of  due  and  direct  correc- 
tion of  heresies^  being  highly  to  the  danger  and  peril  of  the  whole 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  117 

body  and  good  Christian  people  of  this  reahii."  The  neglect  of 
Warham's  letter  was  now  no  doubt  remembered  ;  but  they  specially 
referred  to  AVolsey's  inhibiting  the  Bishops  who  desired  to  repair 
to  Cambridge,  in  1523,  for  the  correction  of  such  errors  as  were 
said  to  reign  among  the  students  and  scholars  there ;  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  they  now  affirmed,  these  errors  had  "  crept  more 
abroad,  and  took  greater  place."  This  was  a  charge  which,  when 
the  whole  article  is  read,  evidently  came  warm  from  the  heart  of 
all  the  prelates  who  were  present ;  and  Wolsey,  in  various  in- 
stances, certainly  had  not  allowed  them  to  run  riot,  to  the  extent 
they  demanded ;  his  own  interests,  at  the  moment,  forbidding  the 
gratification  of  their  malice.  The  loftier  flight  of  his  own  personal 
ambition  had  so  engrossed  his  mind,  that  the  fiery  and  unmitiga- 
ble  zeal  of  these  men  must  have  frequently  been  felt  by  him  as 
an  annoyance,  retarding  his  progress ;  and  now,  that  he  is  to  be 
crushed,  they  were  rejoicing  in  hope  of  other  days  under  his  suc- 
cessor— better  in  their  estimation,  but  bitter  days  and  nights  to 
those  who  either  stood  in  their  way,  or  dared  to  oppose  them. 

As  it  regarded,  therefore,  what  the  Bishops  longed  so  much  to 
enjoy — "  the  direct  correction  of  heresies,"  the  reader  will  bear  in 
mind  the  embassy  on  whicli  More  with  Tunstal  had  been  lately 
sent ;  but  more  especially  the  closing  treaty  at  Cambray,  which 
they  had  arranged  and  signed.  It  was  the  first  amicable  arrange- 
ment of  any  kind,  between  the  Emperor  and  Henry,  for  a  consid- 
erable time  past.  Charles,  before  this  period,  had  twice  issued 
what  were  styled,  "Placards,"  throughout  his  dominions,  and,  in 
fulfilment,  it  seems,  of  this  treaty,  on  the  14th  of  October  he  had 
issued  a  third.  By  this,  all  those  who  had  relapsed  after  abjura- 
tion, were  to  be  burnt — as  for  others,  men  were  to  die  by  the  sword 
— women  to  be  buried  alive  !  All  were  warned  against  receiving 
any  heretic  to  their  houses,  on  pain  of  death  and  confiscation  of 
goods  !  Suspected  persons  were  to  receive  no  honorable  employ- 
ment ;  and,  in  order  to  find  out  heretics,  one-half  of  their  estates 
was  promised  to  informers  ! 

Was  there  then  no  echo  in  England  to  this  ferocious  placard  ? 
or  did  More  and  Tunstal  pay  no  regard  to  the  treaty  they  had 
signed  ?  So  far  from  this,  the  subject  was  one  to  which  both  im- 
mediately bent  all  their  energies.  For  months  past,  indeed,  the 
pen  of  More,  dipped  in  gall,  had  been  busy  on  the*  subject  of  sup 
pressing  heresy  ;  arguing  for  persecution  unto  death,  in  his  strange 
and  characteristic  "  Dialogue ;"  and  the  first  time  he  opens  his 
mouth  in  Parliament  as  Chancellor,  he  has  it  among  the  overtures 
of  the  King's  intentions.  His  appearance  in  print,  since  the  month 
of  June,  as  the  determined  opponent  of  Tyndale,  had  fully  shown 
the  man,  for  five  months  before  his  elevation  to  the  Great  Seal ; 
and  the  spirit  now  displayed  by  him  aflforded  no  comfortable  pros- 
pect for  those  who  had  espoused  the  truth,  and  were  promoting  its 
diffusion  at  great  hazard  and  expense. 

"  As  soon^^''  says  Burnet,  "  as  More  came  into  favor,  he  pressed  the 
King  much,  to  put  the  laws  against  heretics  in  execution,  and  sug- 


118  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

gested  that  the  Court  of  Rome  would  be  more  wrought -upon  by 
the  King's  supporting  the  Church,  and  defending  the  faith  vigor- 
ously, than  by  threatenings  :  and,  therefore^  a  long  proclamation 
was  issued  out  against  the  heretics,  many  of  their  books  were  pro- 
hibited, and  all  the  laws  against  them  were  appointed  to  be  put 
in  execution,  and  great  care  was  taken  to  seize  them  as  they  came 
into  England." 

The  facts  of  the  case  may  be  more  distinctly  stated.  Tunstal, 
as  well  as  More,  must  perform  his  part ;  and  Warham  also,  now 
that  Wolsey  is  out  of  the  way,  has  no  objections  to  go  all  lengths 
with  his  fellows.  Accordingly,  before  the  opening  of  this  Parlia- 
ment, the  Convocation  had  been  summoned  to  meet.  They  did 
so  on  the  fifth  of  November,  when  at  their  first  meeting  a  refor- 
mation of  abuses  was  proposed  ;  and  with  that  an  inquiry  was 
made  concerning  heretical  books.  A  committee  of  Bishops  was 
appointed  with  relation  to  heretics.  On  the  19th  of  December, 
two  days  after  Parliament  had  risen,  secresy  was  enjoined,  and 
again  a  second  time,  on  pain  of  excommunication,  so  eager  were 
they  to  catch  the  prey.  They  closed  their  Convocation  on  the 
24th,  or  a  week  after  Parliament,  and  then  came  out  that  procla- 
mation which,  as  Foxe  says,  was  made  throughout  all  England, 
the  year  of  our  Lord  1529,  and  the  21st  year  of  Henry  VIII. ; 
commencing,  "  The  King  our  Sovereign  hord^''  (fee. — "  The 
Bishops,"  he  tells  us,  "  were  the  procurers  of  this  fierce  and  terrible 
proclamation,  devised  and  set  out  in  the  King's  name  ;"  but  there 
can  be  no  question  that  the  Chancellor's  influence  was  united  with 
theirs  in  this  matter.  Indeed,  the  style  in  several  places  will  show, 
that  it  nmst  have  been  their  joint  production.  More  and  Tunstal, 
no  doubt,  drew  it  up ;  and  as  the  Chancellor's  hand  is  so  visible 
throughout,  this  consequently  may  be  regarded  as  about  the  first 
of  his  official  papers.     A  few  of  the  items  must  not  be  omitted. 

"  First — that  no  man  within  the  King's  realm,  or  other  dominions 
subject  to  his  highness,  hereafter  presume  to  preachy  teach,  or  iji- 
form,  anything  openly  or  privily,  compile  and  write  any  book,  or 
keep  any  school,  contrary  to  the  determination  of  Holy  Church. 
That  no  man  willingly  favor  or  maintain  any  such  person.  That 
all  persons  having  such  books  and  writings  deliver  them  up,  within 
fifteen  days. 

"  Furthermore,  if  any  person, be  convicted,  before  the  Bishop  or, 
his  Commissary,  in  any  case  above  'expressed,  the  Bishop  may 
keep  in  prison  the  said  person  or  persons,  as  it  shall  seem  best  to 
his  discretion,  and  may  set  a  fine,  to  be  paid  to  the  behoof  of  the 
King,  except  where  the  said  persons  ought  totally  to  be  left  to  the 
secular  power. 

"  Also,  if  any  person  within  this  realm  do  abjure,  and  after  their 
abjuration  relapse,  they  ought  to  be  rehnquished  to  the  jurisdiction 
secular — wherein  faith  is  to  be  given  to  the  Bishop,  or  his  Com- 
missary. The  Sheriff  of  the  county,  or  Mayor  of  the  city,  town, 
or  burgh,  to  be  present  at  the  sentence  given  by  the  Bishop  or  his 
Commissary,  and  receive  the  said  persons  to  further  execution. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  119 

"  Also,  the  Chancellor,  the  Treasurer  of  England,  the  Justice 
of  the  one  Bench  and  of  the  other.,  Justices  of  Peace,  Slieriffs, 
Mayors,  Bailies,  and  other  officers,  shall  make  oath  on  tak'ing 
their  charge,  to  give  their  whole  power  and  diligence,  to  put  away 
and  make  utterly  to  cease  and  destroy,  all  heresies  and  errors 
commonly  called  Lollardies.  They  shall  assist  the  Bishops  and 
their  Commissaries — shall  favor  and  maintain  them  as  often  as 
required  by  them. 

"Moreover,  the  Justices  of  the  King'' s  Bench,  Justices  of  Peace 
and  of  Assize,  shall  inquire  at  their  Sessions  of  all  those  that  hold 
errors  or  heresies,  and  who  be  their  maintainers,  the  common 
writers  of  books,  as  also  of  their  schools,  sermons,  &c. 

"  Furthermore,  as  all  offenders  '  appertain  to  the  Judge  of  Holy 
Church,  and  not  to  the  Judge  secular,'  they  be  delivered  to  the 
Bishops  or  Commissaries,  by  indenture  between  them,  to  be  made 
within  ten  days,  or  sooner,  after  their  arrest ;  if  those  persons  be 
not  indicted  for  other  things,  whereof  the  knowledge  belongs  to 
the  Judge  secular.  In  which  case,  after  they  be  acquitted  before 
the  latter,  that  they  be  conveyed  in  safe  guard  to  the  Commissa- 
ries, there  to  be  acquitted  or  convicted  after  the  laws  of  Holy 
Church. 

"That  no  person  is  henceforth  to  bring  into  this  realm,  or  to 
sell,  receive,  take,  or  detain,  any  book  or  ivork,  printed  or  written, 
against  the  faith  Catholic — the  decrees,  laws,  and  ordinances  of 
Holy  Chuich — or  in  reproach,  rebuke,  or  slander  of  tlie  King,  his 
counsel,  or  the  Lords  spiritual  and  temporal.  In  case  they  have 
any  such  books  they  shall  immediately  bring  them  to  the  Bishop 
of  the  diocese,  without  concealment  or  fraud  :  or  if  they  know  any 
person  having  any  of  the  said  books,  they  shall  detect  them  to  the 
said  Bishop,  all  favor  or  affection  laid  apart,  and  that  they  fail 
not  thus  to  do  as  they  will  avoid  the  King^s  high  indignation  and 
displeasure." 

That  no  man  might  pretend  ignorance,  a  list  of  the  books 
restrained  or  forbidden,  specially  named  by  the  Bishops,  was  also 
pubhshed  ;  including  ninety-four  distinct  tracts  or  books  in  Latin, 
and  at  least  twenty-four  in  English,  the  great  majority  of  which 
were  by  Tyndale  or  his  friends,  viz. : — 

By  Tyndale.  TheNewTestament— The  Parable  of  the  Wicked 
Manmion — The  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man — Introduction  to 
Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans — Exposition  of  1st  Cor.,  vii.  chapter 
— The  chapters  of  Moses  called  Genesis — The  chapters  of  Moses 
called  Deuteronomy — The  Matrimony  of  Tyndale. 

By  Fryth.  The  Revelation  of  Antichrist,  with  an  Epistle  to 
the  Christian  Reader.  By  Fyshe.  The  Supphcation  of  Beggars 
- — The  Sum  of  Scripture.  By  Roye.  A  Dialogue  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son — The  Satyre  on  Wolsey,  or  Burying  of  the 
Mass.  Besides  various  others,  "  Godly  Prayers" — The  Psalter — 
Hortulus  animee,  in  English — The  Primer,  or  A.  B.  C.  against  the 
Clergy.    &c. 


120  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

This  proclaraation  was  issued  about  the  beginning  of  the  year 
1530. 

"  The  Bishops,"  says  Foxe,  "  had  that  7iow  which  they  would 
have  ;  neither  did  there  lack,  on  their  part,  any  study  unappUed, 
any  stone  unremoved,  any  corner  unsearched,  for  the  dihgent  exe- 
cution of  the  same." 

Here,  then,  we  have  the  first  Royal  proclamation  interdicting 
printed  books,  and  pursuing  the  importers,  the  possessors,  or  au- 
thors of  them  to  death  by  fire.  This  was  one  of  the  first  fruits  of 
the  new  administration,  and  it  marks  tlie  present  period  as  an  era 
in  the  history  of  persecution  for  conscience'  sake ;  since  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  country,  that  is,  the  King  and  his  Council,  were 
now  fully  committed.  The  only  formal  public  instruments  hitherto 
issued,  were  the  injunctions  of  Warham,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  Tunstal,  Bishop  of  London,  in  the  close  of  1526 ;  and  up  to 
December  1529,  this  persecution  had  been  an  affair  of  the  "  Spir- 
ituality" alone.  The  King,  it  is  true,  had  approved  of  what  the}^ 
did  in  1526,  and,  before  then,  was  himself  writing  to  the  Nether- 
lands, and  eager  about  the  burning  of  books.  But  his  name,  as 
Sovereign,  had  never,  till  this  period,  been  employed  to  strike  terror 
into  the  hearts  of  his  own  subjects,  to  make  heresy  and  treason 
convertible  terms,  and  lay  the  entire  civil  power  at  the  feet  of  the 
Bishops. 

Wolsey,  unquestionably,  had  great  influence  over  his  Majesty, 
but  he  had  never  employed  it  in  persuading  him  thus  publicly  and 
personally  to  embrue  his  hands  in  the  blood  of  his  subjects  on 
English  ground ;  this  was  reserved  to  distinguish  the  administra- 
tion of  Sir  Thomas  More ;  so  that  the  chief  redeeming  point  in 
the  character  of  the  lofty  and  overbearing  Cardinal,  must  stand  in 
contrast  with  the  greatest  blot  in  that  of  his  unostentatious  and 
learned  successor. 

Once  in  possession  of  power,  the  mace  as  well  as  the  pen  must 
be  employed  to  prevent  the  progress  of  the  "  new  learning ;"  so 
that  if  Wolsey  had  chastised  the  people  with  whips,  More,  as  led 
by  these  Bishops,  seems  determined  to  do  so  with  scorpions. 

And  what  was  the  existing  condition  of  this  prelatical  cause, 
which  the  new  Lord  Chancellor  was  so  eager  to  defend  and  main- 
tain? It  consisted  mainly  of  priests,  and  according  to  his  own 
admission  in  his  "Dialogue," — "he  wot  well  that  many  weve  very 
lewd  and  naught," — but  "  let  the  priest  be  never  so  vicious,  and  so 
impenitent,  and  so  far  from  all  purpose  of  amendment,  that  his 
prayers  are  rejected  and  abhorred  ;  yet  the  profit  of  his  mass  was 
to  every  one  else,  just  as  good  as  if  he  were  the  most  virtuous 
man  !"  And  again, — "  If  the  Church  say  one  thing,  and  the  Holy 
Scriptures  another  thing,  the  faith  of  the  Church  is  to  be  taken  as 
the  ivord  of  .God.,  as  well  as  the  Scripture,  and  therefore  to  be  be- 
lieved." These  are  a  few  of  his  own  express  words ;  but  no  soli- 
tary selected  expressions  can  convey  an  adequate  idea  of  the  viru- 
lence, not  to  say  the  verbosity,  and  fallacious  reasoning  of  this 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  121 

writer.  It  certainly  would  exhaust  the  patience  of  most  readers, 
in  the  prseent  day,  to  wade  through  his  foho  Dialogue. 

Such  was,  in  part,  the  state  of  things  in  England  at  the  close 
of  this  year  and  commencement  of  the  next.  It  was  purely  with 
a  view  to  enlighten  and  bless  his  country  and  to  deliver  it  from 
thraldom,  that  Tyndale  had  hitherto  labored,  assailing  only  what 
was  positively  sinful,  and  worthy  of  destruction.  No  English 
writer  had  drawn  his  pen  against  him  till  this  summer,  when  Sir 
Thomas  More  put  forth  his  laborious  Dialogue.  Tyndale's  trans- 
lation of  the  New  Testament,  he  had  severely  condemned,  art- 
fully approving  of  a  new  translation,  to  meet  the  pressure  from 
without, — a  translation  of  course  by  the  Bishops ;  one  of  which 
Cranmer  said  about  eight  years  after  this,  that  he  had  no  idea  of 
its  being  accomplished  "  till  one  day  after  Doomsday." 

No  choice  therefore  was  now  left  to  Tyndale,  but  to  encounter 
this  "ornament  of  the  Pontifical  chair," — "one  of  the  greatest 
prodigies  of  wit  and  learning,"  according  to  Anthony  Wood,  "that 
this  nation  ever  before  his  time  had  produced."  Tyndale.  how- 
ever, entertained  no  fear  of  him,  and  he  will  not  long  remain  with- 
out a  suflScient  answer.  On  the  whole,  it  is  now  evident  that  this 
had  been  a  most  busy  season,  nor  is  it  difficult  to  perceive  the  oc- 
casion or  cause  of  all  the  turmoil.  For  while  the  "nether  house 
of  parliament,"  as  Foxe  calls  it,  had  been  "communing  of  their 
griefs  wherewith  the  spirituality  had  before  time  grievously  op- 
pressed them  ;"  the  Convocation  had  been  communing  also,  with 
mingled  grief  and  indignation,  over  the  ^'■new  learning-^'  come  into 
the  land.  Some  might  say  that  the  hand  of  Tyndale  was  in  all 
this,  and  in  one  sense  it  was,  but  then  he  was  not  in  the  country. 
Properly  speaking,  the  commotion  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  Word 
of  God,  however  denounced,  which  he  had  translated,  and  sent 
home,  to  fight  its  own  way. 

Before  the  close  of  this  year,  however,  if  we  look  abroad  once 
more,  we  are  cheered  by  observing  that  the  great  cause  went  on. 
The  Government  at  home  had  been  absorbed  in  human  legisla- 
tion, and  confounded  by  its  perplexities.  All  the  while,  Tyndale 
had  been  diligent  in  preparing  more  of  the  divine  law  for  his 
countrymen,  and  it  will  be  home  presently.  He  had  been  employ- 
ing the  press  at  Marburg,  but  had  left  it  himself  for  Antwerp. 

An  edition  of  Tyndale's  Testament  has  been  long  assigned  to 
about  this  period,  though  we  are  not  able  to  fix  it,  by  adducing 
such  curious  evidence  as  in  preceding  cases.  Hackett,  however, 
as  early  as  May  1527,  has  hinted  at  as  many  as  2000  having  been 
for  sale  at  Frankfort ;  and  Joye  affirms  that  the  Dutch,  as  he  calls 
them,  had  printed  it  a  third  time.  We  may,  therefore,  with  all 
safety,  put  down  another,  or  the  ffth  edition,  to  1529.  It  is  quite 
possible  that  there  might  have  been  one  last  year,  as  well  as  this  ; 
but,  at  all  events,  Tyndale  himself  will  reprint  his  Testament 
next  year. 


122  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


SECTION    VII. 

TYNDALE's   progress    in    the  old  testament PRACTICE  OF   PRELATES STATE 

OF     ENGLAND WOLSEY's     FINAL    RUIN,    SICKNESS,    DEATH PERSECUTION     GOES 

ON KING    AND    PRELATES    DENOUNCE     THE    SCRIPTURES LATIMER's    BOLD    RE- 
MONSTRANCE  NEW     TESTAMENTS    BURNT ANOTHER,     THE     SIXTH     EDITION 

VIGOROUS    IMPORTATION— DEATH   OF    S.    FYSHE. 

We  have  come  to  a  more  noted  period  in  our  Translator's 
eventful  life.  From  the  variety  and  importance  of  his  publica- 
tions which  had  now  appeared  in  print,  it  was  evident  that  the 
past  and  the  present  had  been  years  of  great  and  incessant  activ- 
ity on  his  part;  nor  were  his  opponents  less  active.  The  bench 
of  Bishops,  now  headed  by  the  civil  power,  w^ere  firmly  leagued 
together,  and  arrayed  against  him.  Considering  all  that  Tyndale 
already  knew,  it  is  quite  apparent  from  his  writings,  that  he  had, 
long  before  this  time,  been  prepared  in  spirit  for  martyrdom. 
Resolved  to  tell  tlie  wliole  truth,  and,  as  far  as  he  knew,  nothing 
but  the  truth,  his  path  lay  right  before  him.  When  pressed  out 
of  measure,  he  might  and  did  seek  for  quiet  and  safety,  that  he 
might  pursue  his  work  ;  but  he  was  of  one  mind — and  no  peril, 
no  prospect  of  danger,  could  turn  him.  Depending  on  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit  for  success,  and  feeling,  as  he  had  translated,  that 
"  the  wrath  of  the  God  of  heaven  appeareth  against  all  ungodli- 
ness and  unrighteousness  of  men,  who  withhold  the  truth  in 
unrighteousness,"  he  must  have  resolved  to  suppress  nothing,  or 
sooner  '■  die  upon  his  shield," — a  better  than  that  of  the  ancient 
warrior,  because  the  shield  of  faith. 

Tyndale's  translations  of  the  five  books  of  Moses  were  soon  in 
circulation  through  his  native  country.  His  treatise  entitled  "  The 
Practice  of  Prelates,"  was  also  this  year  in  England  ;  and  his 
"Answer  to  the  Dialogue  of  Sir  Thomas  More,"  will  follow. 
After  disposing  of  Wolsey  and  the  prelates  in  general,  he  had 
taken  up  the  production  of  Wolsey's  successor  in  office.  Two 
Lords  Cancellor  against  one  poor  expatriated  Exile,  might  seem 
to  be  fearful  odds,  but  time  Avill  show  who  gained  the  victory. 

That  portion  of  the  Sacred  Volume  now  sent  into  England,  has 
frequently  been  referred  to  by  previous  authors,  as  being  "  the  first 
edition  of  Tyndale's  Pentateuch  ;"  but  that  this  is  incorrect,  will 
at  once  appear  from  the  following  collation. 

Genesis,  in  hlack  letter,  76  leaves,  with  this  colophon  at  the 
end, — "  Emprented  at  Marlborow,  in  the  land  of  Hesse,  by  me, 
Hans  Luft,  the  yere  of  our  Lorde,  m.d.xxx.,  the  xvii  dayes  of 
Januarii."  Exodus,  in  ronian  letter,  76  leaves  ;  Leviticus,  roman 
letter,  52  leaves ;  Numbers,  in  hlack  letter,  67  leaves ;  Deuter- 
onomy, in  roman  letter,  63  leaves.  There  is  a  separate  title  and 
a  prologue  to  each  book;  at  the  end  of  Genesis,  Exodus,  and 
Deuteronomy,  and  at  the  beginning  of  Numbers,  are  tables  ex- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  123 

pounding  certain  words.  There  are  a  few  notes  in  the  margins, 
and  throughout  the  whole,  ten  wooden  cuts.  There  is  no  colo- 
phon or  date,  except  that  already  given,  attached  to  Genesis. 
From  all  this,  but  especially  from  inspection,  it  is  evident  that 
these  live  books  were  printed  at  separate  presses  ;  Genesis  for  cer- 
tain, and  probably  Numbers,  at  Marburg.  Deuteronomy,  and  for 
aught  we  know.  Exodus  and  Leviticus,  at  Hamburgh.  That 
they  were  circulated  at  first  separately^  in  England,  is  evident, 
because  they  were  thus  distinctly  denounced ;  first.  Genesis  and 
Deuteronomy,  and  then  the  whole  five  books,  but  still  distinctly 
noted.  At  the  same  time,  when  the  whole  were  finished,  Tyn- 
dale  meant  them  to  be  bound  together,  as  he  then  printed  a  gen- 
eral preface,  which  may  have  led  to  the  popular  description  of 
"  the  Pentateuch,  first  edition." 

The  rarity  of  these  five  books,  entire,  is  almost  equal  to  that 
of  the  first  octavo  New  Testament  of  152-5.  Only  one  perfect 
copy  is  known  to  exist,  which  once  belonged  to  Mr.  Wilkinson, 
and  is  now  in  the  library  of  the  Right  Hon.  Thomas  Grenville. 
The  next  best  copy,  as  it  has  been  completed,  in  the  finest  fac- 
simile, from  the  preceding,  once  belonged  to  Mr.  Tutet.  It  was 
purchased  at  the  sale  of  his  books,  by  the  late  Mr.  Heber,  and 
from  his  collection  by  Mr.  Grenville ;  who  only  seems  to  have 
parted  with  it,  on  obtaining  his  present  unique  perfect  book.  We 
know  not  what  the  perfect  copy  cost,  but  this  second  was  adver- 
tised for  sale  in  1835,  by  Thorpe  of  London,  at  fifty  guineas. 
Little  did  Tyndale  imagine  that,  at  the  distance  of  more  than 
three  centuries,  the  labor  of  his  hands  would  be  so  highly  esti- 
mated. 

Besides  these  two,  all  the  other  copies  known  to  exist,  are 
incomplete.  That  in  the  Museum  at  Bristol,  wants  the  book  of 
Genesis ;  that  in  Zion  College,  presented  by  Mr.  Lewis,  the  book 
of  Deuteronomy,  and  besides,  the  marginal  notes  are  cut  off,  as 
directed  by  Act  of  Parliament  in  January  1543  !  The  copy  in 
the  British  Museum  wants  the  first  and  last  and  tv/o  other  leaves  ; 
the  one  at  Cambridge  is  also  imperfect.  In  the  Bodleian  library 
at  Oxford,  there  is  a  beautiful  copy  of  Genesis  alone. 

Tyndale's  next  publication  was  "  the  Practice  of  Prelates  ;"  and, 
as  far  as  it  regards  the  subjects  introduced,  as  well  as  the  manner 
in  which  they  are  handled,  it  is,  in  some  respects,  the  most 
remarkable  of  all  his  controversial  writings.  More  than  ever 
bent  upon  the  emancipation  of  his  country  from  mental  bondage, 
he  longed  to  see  the  throne  established  in  righteousness  ;  but  he 
could  entertain  no  hope  of  this  until  the  power  behind  it,  which 
had  risen  above  the  throne  itself,  was  laid  prostrate.  "  If  that 
King  of  the  grasshoppers,"  said  he,  "which  devoureth  all  that  is 
green,  were  destroyed ;  then  were  the  kingdom  of  our  catterpil- 
lars  at  an  end." 

Exposing  the  proceedings  of  Parliament  as  only  so  many 
strokes  of  policy,  Tyndale  showed  that  they  had  been  merely 
clearing  away  the  brushwood,  or  lopping  the  branches  of  a  tree, 


124  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

which  would  grow  again,  while  it  ought  to  have  been  uprooted 
from  the  soil  of  England.  "  The  root  yet  left  behind,  whence  all 
that  they  have  for  a  time  weeded  out,  will  spring  again,  by  little 
and  little,  as  before  ;  if  they,  as  their  hope  is,  may  stop  this  light 
of  God's  ivord  that  is  now  abroad.''  These  few  last  words  show 
the  soul  of  our  Translator.  The  authority  of  the  Divine  word, 
was,  in  his  mind,  paramount  to  every  other  consideration,  and 
this  was  the  cause  of  his  now  speaking  out  so  boldly ;  but  it  cer- 
tainly was  no  common  proof  of  talent  and  of  an  enlarged  mind, 
that  so  early  after  Parliament  rose,  Tyndale  should  be  able  to 
send  such  a  publication  into  England ;  embracing,  as  it  did,  not 
merely  the  corruption  of  past  ages  traced  to  its  source,  but  the 
national  doings  of  the  day,  down  to  the  end  of  March  in  the 
present  year,  if  not  later. 

As  far  as  intelligent  and  skilful,  though  pungent,  warning 
could  go,  Tyndale  had  thus  nobly  done  his  duty.  He  had  fully 
exposed  the  once  aspiring  Cardinal,  now  sinking  into  ruin,  and 
the  enormous  expense  entailed  on  the  countr}^  by  his  tortuous 
administration  ;  he  had  faithfully  warned  his  Sovereign,  and  put 
the  country  on  its  guard,  as  to  the  state  persecution,  which,  we 
have  seen  that  the  new  Chancellor  as  well  as  the  prelates  had 
advised.  Few  men,  if  indeed  any  one  of  that  age,  could  have 
written  such  an  exposition  of  the  times,  as  Tyndale  had  just 
given ;  and  yet  his  labor  for  this  year  was  not  at  an  end.  He 
had  com.menced  his  reply  to  Sir  Thomas  More's  Dialogue,  and  in 
the  printed  edition  of  his  w^orks  it  is  said  to  have  been  made  in 
1530  ;  but  as  it  certainly  did  not  appear  in  print  till  next  year,  we 
defer  till  then  saying  more  of  a  production  which  Henry  the  VHI. 
was  so  eager  to  see,  that  a  part  of  it  at  least  was  actually  written 
out,  by  his  Envoy  in  Brabant,  and  sent  him  for  perusal  before  its 
publication.  This,  too  was  done  without  Tyndale's  knowledge, 
and  it  is  mentioned  now  simply  as  a  proof  of  his  powerful  influ- 
ence, as  well  as  the  interest  attached  to  anything  which  might 
come  from  his  pen. 

In  the  meantime  Wolsey's  secret  movements  to  regain  his  lost 
popularity  and  his  correspondence  with  Rome  being  detected,  he 
was  arrested  for  high  treason  on  Friday  the  4th  of  November,  and 
on  the  6th  he  was  upon  his  way  to  London  :  the  very  day  he  had 
fixed  for  his  being  enthroned  at  York,  as  Archbishop.  "  The 
Lords  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk  have  told  me,"  said  the  French  am- 
bassador, in  writing  to  his  court  on  the  10th  of  November,  "  that 
they  have  many  important  matters  against  him,  and  many  grave 
accusations  ;  and  among  these,  as  the  King  informed  me.  that 
he  has  been  machinating  against  his  Majesty,  both  in  the  king- 
dom and  al^road  ;  and  has  mentioned  to  me  where  and  how  ;  and 
that  one  of  his  own  servants  had  discovered  it,  and  laid  the  accu- 
sation. These  new  things  much  aggravate  the  old  ones.  I  greatly 
lament  his  misfortune,  but  cannot  remedy  it." 

Wolsey  professed  himself  to  have  no  fear,  but  he  could  not  dis- 
guise it ;  the  shock  was  unexpected  at  the  moment,  and  he  soon 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  125 

sunk  under  it ;  for  though  he  set  out  on  his  journey  in  safe  keep- 
ing, he  could  move  no  farther  than  Leicester  Abbey.  The  most 
melancholy  feature  of  his  dying  hour  was,  that  he  literally  expired 
with  the  language  of  a  persecutor  on  his  lips.  Addressing  him- 
self to  Sir  William  Kingston,  the  Constable  of  the  Tower,  whom 
Henry  had  sent  down  to  convey  him,  he  said  : — "  Well,  well,  Mas- 
ter Kingston,  I  see  the  matter  against  me,  how  it  is  framed  ;  but 
if  I  had  served  God  as  diligently  as  I  have  done  the  King,  He 
would  not  have  given  me  over  in  my  grey  hairs.  I  pray  you,  with 
all  my  heart,  to  have  me  most  humbly  commended  unto  his  royal 
Majesty.  And  say  furthermore,  that  I  request  his  Grace,  in  God's 
iiatne,  that  he  have  a  vigilant  eye  to  depj'ess  this  neio  sect  of 
Lutherans,  that  it  do  not  increase  within  his  doininions  through 
his  negligence^  in  such  a  sort,  as  that  he  shall  be  fain  at  lengthto 
put  harness  upon  Jiis  hack  to  subdue  them;"  and  after  exhaust- 
ing himself  by  a  long  harangue  in  the  same  style,  referring  to 
Wickliffe  and  Sir  John  Oldcasile,  he  closed  with  these  words. — 
'■^from  the  tvhich  mischief,  God,  of  his  tender  7nercy,  defend  us  ! 
Master  Kingston,  farewell.  I  can  no  more,  but  Avish  all  things  to 
have  good  success.  My  time  draweth  on  fast.  I  may  not  tarry 
with  you.  And  forget  not,  I  pray  you,  what  I  have  said  and 
charged  you  withal :  for  when  I  am  dead,  ye  shall  peradventure 
remember  my  words  much  better."  "  And  even  with  these  words," 
adds  Cavendish,  "  he  began  to  draw  his  speech  at  length,  and  his 
tongue  to  fail ;  his  eyes  being  set  in  his  head,  his  sight  failed  him." 

He  had  arrived  at  this  Abbey  only  on  Saturday  evening,  and 
now  breathed  his  last,  at  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Tues- 
day, the  29th  of  November.  The  body  was  dressed  in  his  robes, 
and  in  less  than  twenty-two  hours  conunitted  to  the  grave  ;  for  by 
six  o'clock  on  Wednesday  morning,  Cavendish,  his  confidential 
servant,  and  the  other  parties,  had  left  for  London. 

Thus  the  man  who  had  been  literally  clothed  in  purple  or  scar- 
let and  fine  linen,  and  fared  sumptuously  every  da}^, — having 
daily  in  his  hall  three  special  tables  spread  for  his  principal  offi- 
cers ;  who  had  the  highest  nobility  for  his  household  servants  ;  his 
steward,  treasurer,  and  comptroller  in  waiting,  with  their  white 
robes,  as  in  the  King's  palace  ;  his  master-cook,  in  damask  satin, 
with  a  chain  of  gold  round  his  neck  ;  with  hundreds  of  individuals, 
of  various  ranks,  in  daily  attendance  on  his  person :  This  man,  who 
had  a  most  penetrating  judgment,  in  consequence  of  a  well-fur- 
nished mind  ; — who  had  raised  himself  from  humble  rank  to  the 
highest  degree  of  power,  of  wealth,  and  of  worldly  dignity,  which  had 
ever  been  enjoyed  by  any  English  subject ; — who  had  not  only  gov- 
erned England  for  the  space  of  twenty  years,  but  infiuenced  the 
most  important  affairs  of  Europe  ;  and  during  that  period  had  been 
courted,  flattered,  caressed,  by  the  Kings  of  the  civilized  world; — 
this  man  dies,  not  merely  in  obscurity,  but  disgrace ;  and  though 
the  charge  of  high  treason  hung  over  him  unrefuted,  with  his  last 
breath  he  enforces  persecution  !  ! 

In  vain  had  he  for  years  been  preparing  for  himself  a  monu- 


126  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

merit  of  brass,  of  exquisite  workmanship  and  at  great  expense. 
He  may  be  buried  in  an  abbey,  but  the  very  grave,  will,  before 
long,  be  so  treated,  that  no  man  in  England  shall  be  able  after- 
wards to  point  to  the  spot  where  his  bones  were  laid  !  Since  1524, 
or  in  other  words,  for  the  last  six  years  of  his  prodigious  power, 
though  uncertain  whether  he  should  be  interred  in  Italy  or  Eng- 
land, Wolsey  had  been  preparing  for  posthumous  glory.  "  He 
had  begun,"  says  Lord  Herbert,  "  a  monument  for  himself  long 
since,  (wherein,  as  appears  by  our  records,  he  had  not  omitted  liis 
own  image,)  which  one  Benedetto,  a  statuary  of  Florence,  took 
in  hand  in  1524,  and  continued  till  1529,  receiving  for  so  much  as 
was  already  done  4250  ducats ;  the  design  whereof  was  so  glori- 
ous, that  it  exceeded  far  that  of  Henry  the  Seventh.  Neverthe- 
less, dying  in  this  manner.  King  Henry  made  use  of  so  much  as 
he  found  lit,  and  called  it  his.  Thus  did  the  tomb  of  the  Cardi- 
nal partake  the  same  fortune  with  his  college,  as  being  assumed 
by  the  King." 

About  the  year  1716,  the  very  place  of  interment  could  not  be 
ascertained.  "  That  great  lover  of  antiquity,  Brown  Willis,  Esq.," 
says  Carte  the  English  historian,  "  having  an  extraordinary  vene- 
ration for  Cardinal  Wolsey,  as  the  original  founder  of  Christ  Church 
in  Oxford,  desired  me  to  tri/  if  I  could  find  out  the  sepulchre  of 
the  Cardinal,  which  I  did,  hoping  that  when  I  had  provided  tools 
and  laborers,  some  others  would  have  contributed  with  me  to  the 
expense  :  but  finding  that  onl}'  one  person  would  contribute  twelve- 
j)ence,  I  desisted." 

"  In  the  year  1787,"  says  the  Can^bridge  Chronicle  of  the  2d  of 
June,  "  as  a  laborer  was  digging  for  potatoes  upon  the  spot  where 
the  high  altar  was  supposed  to  stand,  he  found  a  human  skull, 
with  several  other  bones,  all  perfect.  From  the  situation  of  the 
place,  and  other  circumstances,  it  was  conjectured,  at  the  time, 
that  this  might  be  the  identical  skull  of  Wolsey  !" 

Thus,  when  he  died,  he  carried  nothing  away,  neither  did  his 
glory  descend  after  him.  Perhaps  there  never  was  another  instance 
in  the  history  of  this  country,  which  reminds  one  so  strongly  of 
that  "  great  power"  which  the  King  of  Israel  said  he  saw  "  spread- 
ing like  a  green  bay  tree, — yet  he  passed  away,  and  lo,  he  was 
gone :  )'^ea,  I  sought  him,  but  he  could  nowhere  be  found  !"  Mon- 
uments, indeed,  he  left  behind,  which  still  remain  as  proofs  of  his 
taste  in  that  age,  as  well  as  of  his  prodigious  wealth  ;  nor  is  the 
nation,  even  at  this  moment,  entirely  free  of  a  peculiar  influence, 
which,  as  Vicar-General,  he  first  imparted  to  Henry  the  Eighth. 

The  first  person  Avho  excites  notice  in  1530,  was  that  poor  old 
and  blind,  literally  blind  man,  the  Bishop  of  INTorwich  once  more. 
He  felt  sorely  annoyed  by  the  circulation  and  efiects  of  these  Eng- 
lish books.  Three  years  ago,  he  had  contributed,  with  great  good 
will,  towards  the  purchase  made  by  Warham,  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testaments, — a  vain  expedient,  as  might  have  been  anticipated, 
to  prevent  their  getting  into  the  hands  of  the  people.  But  he  was 
as  warm  in  the  cause  as  ever,  and  his  own  words  will  best  display 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  127 

the  spirit  with  which  he  w^as  agitated,  though  now  in  the  eightieth 
year  of  his  age  !  His  letter  is  addressed,  as  before,  to  his  friend, 
the  Archbishop. 

"  After  most  humble  recommendations,  I  do  your  Grace  to  un- 
derstand, that  I  am  accumbered  with  such  as  keepeth  and  readeth 
these  erroneous  books  in  English,  and  believe  and  give  credence 
to  the  same,  and  teacheth  others,  that  they  should  so  do.  My 
Lord,  I  have  done  that  lyeth  in  me  for  the  suppression  of  such 
persons;  but  it  passeth  my  power,  or  any  'spiritual'  man  for  to 
do  It.  For  divers  saith  openly  in  my  diocess,  that  the  King's 
Grace  would  that  they  should  have  the  said  erroneous  books,  and 
so  maintaineth  themselves  of  the  King.  Whereupon  I  desired 
my  L.  Abbot  of  Hyde,  to  shew  this  to  the  King's  Grace,  beseech- 
ing him  to  send  his  honorable  letters,  under  his  seal,  down  to 
whom  he  pleases  in  my  diocess  ;  tiiat  they  may  show  and  publish 
that  it  is  not  his  pleasure,  that  such  books  should  be  had  or  read, 
and  also  punish  such  as  saith  so. — The  said  Abbot  hath  the  names 
of  some  that  cracketh  in  the  King's  name,  that  their  false  opin- 
ions should  go  forth,  and  will  die  in  the  quarrel ;  that  their  un- 
gracious opinions  be  true  ;  and  trusteth  by  Michaelmas  day  there 
shall  be  more  that  shall  believe  of  their  opinion,  than  they  that 
believeth  the  contrary.  If  I  had  known  that  your  Grace  had  been 
at  London,  I  would  have  commanded  the  said  Abbot  to  have 
spoken  with  you ;  but  your  Grace  may  send  for  him,  when  ye 
please,  and  he  shall  shew  you  my  whole  mind  in  this  matter,  and 
how  I  thought  best  for  the  suppression  of  sucli  as  holdeth  these 
erroneous  opinions  ; /o;*  if  they  continue  any  time,  I  think  they 


SHALL  UNDO  US  ALL 


"  The  said  Abbot  departed  from  me  on  Monday  last ;  and  sith 
that  time  I  have  had  much  trouble  and  business  with  others  in 
like  matters  ;  as  they  say,  wheresomever  they  go,  they  hear  say, 
that  the  King's  pleasure  is,  the  New  Testament  in  English  shall 
go  forth,  and  men  shall  have  it,  and  read  it.  And,  from  that 
opinion,  I  can  by  no  means  turn  them,  but  (except)  1  had  greater 
authority  to  punish  them  than  I  have.  Wherefore,  I  beseech  your 
good  Lordship  to  advertise  the  King's  Grace,  as  I  trust  the  said 
Abbot  hath  done  before  this  letter  shall  come  unto  your  Grace, 
that  a  remedy  may  be  had. 

"  But  now  it  may  be  done  well  in  my  diocess  ;  for  the  gentle- 
men and  the  commonality  be  not  greatly  infected  ;  but  merchants, 
and  such  that  hath  their  abiding  not  far  from  the  sea.  The  said 
Abbot  of  Hyde  can  shew  you  of  a  Curate,  and  well  learned,  in  my 
diocess,  that  exhorted  his  parishioners  to  believe  contrary  to  the 
Catholic  faith.  There  is  a  College  in  Cambridge,  called  Gunnel 
Hall,  of  the  foundation  of  a  Bishop  of  Norwich.  I  hear  of  no  clerk 
that  hath  come  out  lately  of  that  College,  but  savoreth  of  the 
frying-pan,  though  he  speak  never  so  holily. 

I  beseech  your  Grace  to  pardon  me  of  my  rude  and  tedious  writ- 
ing to  you  ;  the  zeal  and  love  that  I  owe  to  Almighty  God  cause 
mc  this  to  do  !     And  thus  Almighty  God  long  preserve  your  Grace 


128  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

in  good  prosperity  and  health.  At  Hoxne,  the  xiiii  day  of  May, 
1530,  Your  obediensary  and  daily  orator." 

But  there  was  no  occasion  for  this  miserable  old  man  being  so 
urgent.  Little  did  he  know  how  deeply  Warham  and  his  brethren 
were  impressed  with  the  impending  danger,  if  these  books  were 
not  seized  and  burnt.  The  highest  authorities  were  now  all  alive 
to  the  perils  of  the  hierarchy.  For  some  time  the  united  strength 
of  the  most  able  opponents  in  the  kingdom — Lord  Chancellor 
More,  Warham,  Tunstal,  and  Gardiner,  had  been  employed  in 
framing  an  authoritative  list  of  all  the  heresies  detected  in  Tyn- 
dale's  writings,  with  a  denunciation  of  them  all.  Tyndale's  name, 
too,  in  connection  with  his  New  Testament  and  Pentateuch,  was 
now  still  more  distinctly  branded,  even  hy  royal  authority.  These 
prelates  and  their  assistants  had  contrived  to  find  ont  about  two 
hundred  heretical  sentences  in  only  six  publications,  of  which  one 
hundred  and  seven  were  charged  upon  "  Tyndale  and  Fryth." 

"  All  which  great  errors  and  pestilent  heresies,  being  contagious 
and  damnable,  with  all  the  books  containing  the  same,  with  the 
translation  also  of  Scripture  corrupted  by  William  Tyndale,  as 
well  in  the  Old  Testament  as  in  the  Neiv,  and  all  other  books  in 
English  containing  such  errors  ;  the  King's  Highness,  present 
in  person,  by  one  whole  advice  and  assent  of  the  Prelates  and 
clerks,  as  well  of  the  Universities,  as  of  all  other  assembled  to- 
gether, determined  utterly  to  be  repelled,  rejected,  and  put  away 
out  of  the  hands  of  his  people,  and  not  to  be  suffered  to  get  abroad 
among  his  subjects," 

After  this  followed  a  long  "  Bill  in  English  to  be  published  by 
the  Preachers,"  that  his  Highness'  pleasure  and  determination 
should  be  known  in  "  all  his  Realm." 

This  original  document,  closely  written  on  eight  skins  of  parch- 
ment, may  still  be  seen  in  the  Library  at  Lambeth  Palace.  At 
the  end  there  is  an  array  of  twenty  names,  pointing  out  the  most 
noted  persons  present  on  this  occasion,  to  which  they  add,  "  with 
many  more  learned  men  of  the  said  Universities,  in  a  great  num- 
ber assembled,  then  and  there  together  witness  to  the  premises 
required  and  adhibited."  But  although  the  language  employed 
was  no  doubt  intended  to  convey  the  idea,  it  by  no  means  follows, 
that  they  individually  assented  ;  far  from  it.  A  minority  there 
was,  we  know  from  other  sources,  though  we  cannot  give  their 
names.  More  and  Warham,  Tunstal  and  Gardiner,  the  framers 
of  the  whole,  besides  others,  of  course  cordially  approved  of  every 
Avord  ;  but  Hugh  Latimer  was  among  the  number  present,  and 
this  has  perplexed  or  misled  more  critics  than  one.  Perhaps  he  had 
no  business  to  be  there,  however  anxious  to  know  what  was  going 
on  ;  but  the  occasion  of  his  being  in  such  bad  company  admits  of 
explanation,  after  which  he  will  appear  in  his  noblest  character. 

Latimer  had  been  preaching  ever  since  he  saw  Wolsey  at  White- 
hall, and  before  then  he  had  argued  for  the  Scriptures  being  given 
to  all.  For  some  time,  also,  before  the  present  period,  it  had  been 
in  his  favor,  that  his  old  opponent.  West,  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  took 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  129 

part  with  Q,iieen  Catharine,  and  was  one  of  her  Advocates. 
Henry,  eager  to  have  the  assent  of  the  University  of  Cambridge 
to  his  divorce,  had  sent  down  Dr.  Butts,  the  physician  to  promote 
this  object.  Latimer,  whatever  may  be  said,  approved  of  the  di- 
vorce, and,  therefore,  so  pleased  if  not  aided  the  Doctor,  that  he 
invited  him  to  accompany  him  to  London.  Introducing  him  to 
the  King,  he  had  been  officiating  before  him  at  Windsor  in  the 
month  of  March.  In  the  afternoon  of  Sunday,  the  27th,  while 
Latimer  was  preaching,  the  Vice-Chancellor  of  Cambridge, 
Dr.  William  Buckmaster,  arrived  with  the  University's  letters  for 
his  Majesty.  The  King  was  not  altogether  satisfied  with  their 
decisions,  but  Latimer  Avas  already  high  in  favor.  "  At  after- 
noon," says  Buckmaster  himself,  "  I  came  to  AVindsor,  and  also  to 
part  of  Mr.  Latimer's  sermon,  and  after  the  end  of  the  same,  I 
spake  with  Mr.  Secretary — and  so  after  evensong  I  delivered  our 
letters  in  the  chamber  of  presence,  all  the  Lords  beholding.  His 
Highness  gave  me  there  great  thanks,  and  talked  with  me  a  good 
while.  But  by  and  bye,  he  greatly  praised  Mr.  Latimer's  sermon, 
and,  in  so  praising,  said  on  this  wise :  '  This  displeaseth  greatly 
Mr.  Vice-Chancellor  yonder.  Yon  same,'  said  he  unto  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  '  is  Mr.  Vice-Chancellor  of  Cambridge,'  and  so  pointed 
to  me."  The  next  day,  after  another  conversation  with  Henry, 
the  King  having  told  him  that  he  would  have  their  final  and  a 
better  decision,  Buckmaster  was  dismissed  home  after  Easter;  but 
Latimer  still  remained,  and  continued  preaching. 

Meanwhile  Warham's  party  were  already  sitting  in  council  at 
Westminster,  and  Latimer,  not  having  left  London,  was  present 
among  others,  on  the  24th  of  May,  but  his  account  of  the  meeting 
afterwards  was  this.  Referring  his  Majesty  to  that  very  day,  he  tells 
him,  "  As  concerning  your  last  proclamation,  prohibiting  such  books, 
the  very  true  cause  of  it,  and  chief  counsellors  were  they,  whose 
evil  living  and  cloaked  hypocrisy  these  books  uttered  and  dis- 
closed. And  howbeit  that  (although)  there  were  three  or  four  that 
would  have  had  the  Scripture  to  go  forth  in  English,  yet  it  hap- 
pened there,  as  it  is  evermore  seen,  that  the  most  part  overcometh 
the  better ;  and  so  it  might  be,  that  these  men  did  not  take  this 
proclamation  as  yours,  but  as  theirs,  set  forth  in  your  name  ;  as 
they  have  done  many  times  more,  which  hath  put  this  your  realm 
in  great  hindrance  and  trouble,  and  brought  it  in  great  penury." 

These  proceedings,  says  Burnet,  were  printed  in  June,  but  when 
once  they  were  sent  forth  through  the  country,  so  far  from  having 
assented  to  them,  they  proved  the  urgent  motive  to  one  of  the 
noblest  acts  of  Latimer's  varied  life — ^his  well  known  letter  to 
Henry  VIII.,  of  this  year.  The  words  already  quoted  are  taken 
from  it,  and  though  it  be  an  anticipation,  by  way  of  dispatching  all 
we  require  to  say  of  Latimer  at  present,  a  few  sentences  more  will 
explain  his  views  and  feelings,  as  to  these  Bishops  and  their  doings. 

"  Your  Grace,"  says  he,  "  may  see  what  means  and  craft  the 
Spirituality  (as  they  ivill  be  called)  imagine  to  break  and  with- 
stand the  acts,  which  were  made  in  your  Grace's  last  Parliament, 

9 


130  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

against  their  superfluities..  Wlierefore  tliey  that  thus  do,  your 
Grace  may  know  them  not  to  be  true  foUowers  of  Christ." 

Alluding  then  to  the  results  of  this  proclamation,  he  goes  on  to 
say, "  Therefore  pleaseth  it  your  good  Grace,  to  return  to  this  golden 
rule  of  our  Master  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  Avhich  is  this,  'by 
their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them.'  For  where  you  see  persecution, 
there  is  the  Gospel,  and  there  is  truth  ;  and  they  that  do  persecute 
be  void  and  without  all  truth  ;  not  caring  for  the  clear  light  which 
'  is  come  into  the  world,'  and  which  shall  utter  and  shew  forth 
every  man's  works.  And  they  whose  works  be  nought  dare  not 
come  to  this  light,  but  go  about  to  stop  it  and  hinder  it,  letting 
(obstructing)  as  much  as  they  may,  that  the  Holy  Scripture 
should  not  be  read  in  our  mother  tongue,  saying  that  it  would 
cause  heresy  and  insurrection  ;  and  so  they  persuade,  at  the  least 
way  they  would  fain  persuade,  your  Grace  to  keep  it  back.  But 
here,  mark  their  shameless  boldness,  which  be  not  ashamed,  con- 
trary to  Christ's  doctrine,  to  gather  figs  of  thorns,  and  grapes  of 
bushes,  and  to  call  light  darkness,  and  darkness  light,  sweet  sour, 
and  sour  sweet,  good  evil,  and  evil  good,  and  to  say,  that  that 
which  teacheth  all  obedience,  should  cause  dissension  and  strife. 
But  such  is  their  belly  wisdom,  wherewith  they  judge  and  meas- 
ure every  thing  (in  order)  to  hold  and  keep  still  this  wicked  Mam- 
mon, the  goods  of  this  world  which  is  their  God ;  and  hath  so 
blinded  the  eyes  of  their  hearts,  that  they  cannot  see  the  clear 
light  of  the  sacred  scripture,  though  they  babble  never  so  much  of  it. 

"But  as  concerning  this  matter,  other  men  have  showed  your 
Grace  their  minds,  how  necessary  it  is  to  Jiave  the  Scripture  in 
English.  The  which  thing  also  your  Grace  hath  promised  by 
your  last  proclamation :  the  which  promise,  I  pray  God  that  your 
gracious  Highness  may  shortly  perform,  even  to-day  before  to- 
morrow. Nor  let  not  the  wickedness  of  these  ivorldty  men  detain 
you  from  your  godly  purpose  and  promise?^ 

Nor  was  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  or  even  the  Pentateuch, 
only  arrived  this  year,  forgotten  on  this  occasion.  "  For  what 
marvel  is  it,"  says  he,  "  that  they  being  so  nigh  of  your  Council, 
and  so  familiar  with  your  Lords,  should  provoke  both  your  Grace 
and  them  to  prohibit  these  books,  which  before,  by  their  own  au- 
thority, have  forbidden  the  New  Testament,  under  pain  of  ever- 
lasting damnation  ?  For  such  is  their  manner  ;  to  send  a  thou- 
sand men  to  hell,  ere  they  send  one  to  God :  and  yet  the  New 
Testament,  and  so  I  think  by  the  other,  (the  Pentateuch  or  the  old) 
was  meekly  offered  to  every  man  that  would  and  could,  to  amend 
it,  if  there  were  any  fault."  Thus  repeating  to  Henry  the  precise 
language  of  our  Translator,  though  now  so  denounced  by  name. 

Even  the  Lord  Chancellor  More  was  not  spared.  "And  take 
heed  whose  counsels  your  Grace  doth  take  in  this  matter.  For 
there  be  some  that  for  fear  of  losing  their  worldly  worship  and 
honor,  will  not  leave  their  opinion  ;  which  rashly,  and  that  to 
please  men  withal,  by  whom  they  had  great  promotion,  they  took 
upon  them  to  defend  by  writing,  so  that  now  they  think  that  all 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  131 

their  felicity,  which  they  put  in  this  hfe,  should  be  maned,  and 
their  wisdom  not  so  greatly  regarded,  if  tliat  which  they  have  so 
slanderously  oppressed  should  be  now  put  forth  and  allowed. 

"  Wherefore  the^  be  sore  drowned  in  worldly  wisdom,  that  think 
it  against  their  worship  to  acknowledge  their  ignorance :  whom  I 
pray  God  that  your  Grace  may  espy,  and  take  heed  of  their 
worldly  wisdom,  which  is  foolishness  before  God  :  that  you  may 
do  that  which  God  commandeth,  and  not  that  which  seemeth 
good  in  your  own  sight,  without  the  Word  of  God :  that  your 
Grace  may  be  found  acceptable  in  his  sight,  and  one  of  the  menv- 
hers  of  His  Church ;  and  according  to  the  office  that  he  hath 
called  your  Grace  unto,  that  you  maybe  found  a  faithful  minister 
of  his  gifts,  and  not  a  defender  of  his  fait  J t ;  for  He  loill  not  have  it 
defended  by  man,  or  7nanJs  power,  but  by  His  Word  oidy,  by  the 
which  He  hath  evermore  defended  it ;  and  that  by  a  way  far  above 
man's  power  or  reason,  as  all  the  stories  of  the  Bible  make  mention. 

"Wherefore,  gracious  King,  remember  yourself.  Have  pity 
upon  your  soul,  and  think  that  the  day  is  even  at  hand  when  you 
shall  give  account  of  your  office,  and  of  the  blood  that  hath 
been  shed  by  your  sword.  In  the  which  day,  that  your  Grace 
may  stand  steadfastly,  and  be  not  ashamed,  but  be  clear  and 
ready  in  your  reckoning,  and  to  have,  as  they  say,  your  quietus 
est  sealed  with  the  blood  of  our  Saviour  Christ,  which  only  serveth 
at  that  day,  is  my  daily  prayer  to  Him  that  suffered  death  for  our 
sins,  which  also  prayeth  to  his  Father  for  grace  for  us  continually. 
To  whom  be  all  honor  and  praise  forever,  Amen.  The  Spirit 
of  God  preserve  your  Grace.  Anno  Domini  1530,  Imo.  die 
Decembris." 

Certainly  no  monarch  was  ever  more  pointedly  addressed,  or 
more  seasonably  and  faithfully  warned.  It  seems,  therefore,  un- 
accountable that  Latimer  should  have  ever  been  supposed  to  assent 
to  such  proceedings,  merely  because  his  name  was  mentioned  as 
being  present.  The  calumny,  however,  no  doubt  unwittingly,  has 
been  bound  up,  even  with  the  reprint  of  Tyndale's  New  Testa- 
ment, in  our  own  day.  At  that  moment,  indeed,  the  Bishops 
might  think  it  fortunate  to  have  such  a  name  appended,  but  had 
they  foreseen  the  result,  it  had  never  been  there.  Meanwhile 
Latimer  had  done  what  he  could  to  damage  this  Royal  and  Pre- 
latical  Bull. 

To  return,  however,  to  these  Bishops  as  a  body  ;  having  in  May 
secured  their  object,  in  so  far  as  a  Royal  proclamation  could  go, 
it  seems  to  have  been  with  a  view  to  greater  effect,  that  a  second 
grand  and  more  public  hook-fire  was  then  determined.  The  first 
had  been  the  result  of  Wolsey's  "secret  search"  in  1526;  the 
present  was  the  consequence  of  the  negociation  at  Antwerp  last 
year.  Warham's  purchase  in  1527,  was  disposed  of,  or  consumed, 
without  show  ;  but  Tunstal  had  reserved  his  books  till  now.  Tyn- 
dale  by  name,  and  his  translation,  had  both  been  branded  by 
royal  authority,  and  the  Bishop,  no  doubt,  thought  it  a  fortunate 
moment  for  fulfilling  his  purpose.     "  I  intend,  surely,"  said  he  at 


132  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Antwerp,  "  to  destroy  them  all,  and  to  burn  them  at  Paul's  Cross." 
Accordingly,  says  Halle,  "  this  year  in  May,  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don" (formerly,  now  of  Durham)  "caused  all  his  New  Testaments 
which  he  had  bought,  with  many  other  books,  to  be  brought  into 
Paul's  Church  Yard,  in  London,  and  there  were  openly  burned." 
That  Tunstal  was  acting  for  Stokesly,  till  his  return  from  the 
Continent,  and  recording  Avhat  was  doing  in  the  diocese  till  then, 
is  evident  from  several  documents  at  the  close  of  his  Register. 

There  was,  however,  a  great  difference  between  the  effects  of 
this  burning,  and  that  in  the  year  1526.  Then  the  people,  gener- 
ally, were  not  aware  of  the  value  of  what  they  saw  consumed ; 
but  it  was  far  otherwise  now,  and  this  alone  is  a  proof  that  the 
cause  of  Divine  Truth,  which  the  Bishops  would  fain  have 
crushed,  was  making  decided  progress.  This  burning  "  had  such 
an  hateful  appearcuice  in  it,  being  generally  called  a  burning  of 
the  Word  of  God,  that  people  from  thence  concluded,  there  must 
be  a  visible  contrariety  between  that  book,  and  the  doctrines  of 
those  who  handled  it ;  by  which  both  their  prejudice  against  the 
clergy,  and  their  desire  of  reading  the  New  Testament  luas 
iticreased." 

In  corroboration  of  this  statement,  it  is  certain  that  neither  the 
purchase  at  Antwerp,  nor  the  burning  at  Paul's  Cross,  had  any 
effect  on  the  importations  into  this  country,  except  the' reverse  of 
what  was  intended  and  desired  by  the  enemy ;  and  before  long 
Tunstal  himself  was  fully  sensible  of  this.  "  Afterwards,"  says 
Halle,  "  when  more  New  Testaments  were  imprinted,  they  came 
thick  and  threefold  into  England,  the  Bishop  of  London,"  (now 
of  Durham,)  "  hearing  that  still  there  were  so  many,  sent  for 
Augustine  Packington.  and  said  to  him — '  Sir,  how  cometh  this, 
that  there  are  so  many  New  Testaments  abroad,  and  you  pro- 
mised and  assured  me  that  you  had  bought  all  T  Then,  said 
Packington — '  I  promise  you,  I  bought  all  than  then  was  to  be 
had ;  but  I  perceive  they  have  made  more  sijice,  and  it  will  never 
be  better,  as  long  as  they  have  the  letters  and  stamps  ;  therefore,  it 
were  best  for  your  Lordship  to  buy  the  stamps  too  !  and  then  you 
are  sure.'  The  Bishop  smiled  at  him,  and  said — '  Well,  Packing- 
ton,  well ;'  and  so  ended  the  matter." 

Put  while  Wolsey  was  descending  to  the  devouring  grave,  and 
the  Bishops,  with  the  King  at  their  head,  were  imagining  a  vain 
thing,  the  printing  press  was  as  busy  as  ever.  Another  edition  of 
Tyndale's  New  Testament  was  executed  this  year,  and  it  is  the 
more  worthy  of  notice,  that  there  appears  to  have  been  a  positive 
connection  between  him  and  it. 

It  has,  indeed,  been  often  stated,  that  with  the  money  received 
from  Tunstal,  Tyndale  reprinted  the  New  Testament,  and  Ham- 
burgh has  also  been  mentioned  as  the  place  where  one  dition 
was  printed.  Tyndale  had,  as  we  have  seen,  gone  to  Hamburgh, 
and  there  is  no  evidence  to  be  found  of  his  having  returned  to 
Antwerp  during  the  whole  of  this  year.  But  whether  it  was 
executed  in  Hamburgh  or  elsewhere,  of  his  having  now  printed  an 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  133 

edition,  though  he  had  no  time  as  yet  to  revise  the  version,  there 
can  be  httle  or  no  doubt.  Foxe,  and  Strype,  and  Tanner,  ex- 
pressly assign  this  edition  to  Tyndale,  tlie  last  stating  Marburg 
as  the  place  of  printing.  But  there  are  corroborating  circum- 
stances as  to  the  book  itself.  It  is  not  till  the  close  of  this  year,  or 
rather  the  following  spring,  that  we  hear  of  Tyndale  having  a 
hr'other,  and  resident  in  London  ;  and  if  the  records  of  the  Star 
Chamber  are  to  be  received  as  evidence,  it  is  there  distinctly  stated, 
that  he  "sent  the  Testaments,  and  divers  other  books,  to  his 
brother,  John  Tyndale,  a  merchant  in  London."  This  impression, 
too,  has  been  pronounced  to  be  more  correct  than  the  Antwerp 
editions,  at  least  so  said  the  late  Bishop  Tomline  :  and  when  we 
come  to  John's  apprehension  and  appearance  before  Sir  Thomas 
More,  as  well  as  the  importations  by  Richard  Bayfield,  little  doubt 
will  remain  as  to  this  reprint  coming  from  the  original  translator, 
although  he  had  not  found  leisure  as  yet  to  improve  the  trans- 
lation. 

About  the  end  of  this  year  an  incident  occurred,  which  may 
seem  unaccountable,  as  out  of  keeping  with  the  usual  current  of 
events ;  were  it  not  that  the  capricious  temper  of  the  monarch  ad- 
mitted both  of  words  and  actions,  directly  at  variance  with  each 
other.  Mr.  Fyshe,  the  author  of  "  the  Supplication  of  Beggars," 
we  found  had  been  in  London  in  the  summer  of  1-526,  as  well  as 
in  1528 ;  and,  according  to  his  wife's  representation,  in  Foxe,  "he 
had  been  absent  now  the  space  of  two  years  and  a-half."  His 
tract,  as  we  have  seen,  had  interested  Henry,  when  first  he  saw  it 
in  1526 ;  and  this  excellent  woman  having  gained  access  to  the 
King,  he  engaged  that  her  husband  should  "come  and  go  safe, 
without  peril,  and  that  no  man  should  do  him  harm,"  if  she  brought 
him  to  the  royal  presence.  Emboldened  by  the  King's  words,  she 
went  and  brought  him.  His  Majesty  conversed  with  him,  it  is 
said,  for  above  three  hours,  and,  in  the  end,  desired  him  to  take 
his  wife  home,  for  she  had  taken  great  pains  for  him.  Fyshe  had 
fled  formerly  for  fear  of  the  Cardinal,  and  now  he  replied — "  he 
durst  not  so  do,  for  fear  of  Sir  Thomas  More  the  Chancellor,  and 
Stokesly  the  Bishop  of  London."  The  King,  taking  the  signet 
from  his  finger,  recommended  him  to  the  Lord  Chancellor,  charg- 
ing him  not  to  molest  him.  More  received  the  signet  as  a  suffi- 
cient safeguard,  of  course,  but  inquired  if  he  had  any  discharge 
for  his  wife  7  She  had  displeased  the  friars^  by  not  allowing 
them  to  say  their  Gospels  in  Latin  in  her  house,  as  they  did  in 
others,  and  insisted  that  they  should  say  them  in  English.  Next 
morning,  More  actually  sent  his  man  for  her,  but  her  young 
daughter  being  sick  of  the  plague,  prevented  his  approach,  as  well 
as  any  farther  molestation.  Within  six  months  after  this.  Mr. 
Fyshe  himself  died  of  the  same  disease,  and  was  interred  in  St. 
Dunstan's,  the  very  same  church  where  Tyndale  had  been  acciis- 
toTned  to  preach  in  1523.  The  Chancellor,  in  his  loose  and  men- 
dacious style,  represented  him  as  recanting  before  he  died,  of  which 
there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence.     His  widow  was  afterwards 


134  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

married  to  a  gentleman  of  the  same  profession  as  her  first  husband, 
Mr.  Baynham,  of  whom  we  shall  hear  before  long. 


SECTION    VIII. 

FORMIDABLE  OPPOSITION PURSUIT  AFTER  TTNDALE  BY  THE  KING  AND  CRUMWELL 

STILL  IN  VAIN — TYNDALe's    ANSWER    TO  SIR    T.  MORE — EPISTLE  OF  JOHN    EX- 
FOUNDED — JONAH,  WITH  A  PROLOGUE CRITICAL  STATE  OF  ENGLAND RENEWED 

PERSECUTION BROTHER    OF    TYNDALE BILNEY BAYFIELD — MANY  BOOKS    IM- 
PORTING— CONSTANTYNE  CAUGHT — -ESCAPES PERSECUTION  ABROAD — POWERFUL 

REMONSTRANCE  FROM  ANTWERP  WITH  CRUMWELL,  INCLUDING  THE  KING  AND  THE 
LORD  CHANCELLOR. 

The  principal  feature  of  the  present  year  was  that  of  determined 
opposition  to  Divine  truth,  abroad  as  well  as  at  home  ;  for  although 
one  man  had  been  raised  up  by  God  to  lead  on  the  faithful,  un- 
questionably it  was  truth  alone  which  occasioned  all  the  uproar, 
not  the  opinions  of  men.  And  as  to  our  native  land  especially, 
if  we  should  still  farther  discriminate,  it  was  through  the  Book  of 
God,  in  our  native  language,  that  Divine  truth  now  penetrated 
into  the  heart  of  this  country. 

Last  yeai*had  witnessed  the  Royal  denunciation  of  our  Trans- 
lator by  name,  as  well  as  all  that  he  had  then  published ;  but- 
since  then,  by  his  "  Practice  of  Prelates,"  he  had  advanced  one 
step  farther  in  combating  the  darkness  and  superstition  which 
covered  the  land.  That  tract  has  been  read  by  men  of  every 
grade,  from  the  palace  itself,  down  to  the  hamlet ;  by  citizens  of 
London,  and  husbandmen  in  Essex,  in  Suffolk,  and  elsewhere. 
Here  he  had  not  only  implored,  but  warned  the  King  to  beware 
of  persecution,  and  faithfully  gave  his  judicious  opinion  with  re- 
gard to  the  divorce  ;  that  miserable  question  still  in  discussion 
throughout  Europe.  By  this  year,  however,  Henry  had  nearly  got 
this  question  framed,  according  to  his  own  liking,  and  as  he  was 
soon  to  bring  it  before  Parhament,  he  must  have  felt  incensed  by 
Tyndale's  reference  to  its  proceedings,  not  to  say  that  the  next 
would  lie  open  to  a  second  review.  Besides,  Sir  Thomas  More  had 
but  lately  come  into  office,  and  he,  with  the  Bishops,  had  cordially 
concurred  in  advising  persecution,  having  secured  the  royal  name 
to  sanction  and  enforce  their  measures.  The  safety  of  Tyndale, 
therefore,  was  now  in  far  greater  hazard,  than  it  ever  had  been  in 
the  days  of  the  Cardinal.  Wolsey  had  been  roused  from  his  lair, 
chiefly  by  tlie  Satyre  of  Roye,  and  his  chase  of  the  prey  had 
ended  with  his  own  downfall ;  but  the  truth  and  good  sense  con- 
tained in  Tyndale's  last  production,  was  like  a  spur  by  far  too 
sharp  for  the  passions  and  the  pride  of  such  a  man  as  Henry  the 
Eighth.  His  anxiety  to  seize  the  man,  or  allure  him  into  the 
kingdom,  will  be  found  to  harmonize  with  the  growing  ferocity  of 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  135 

his  character.  Tyndale's  escape,  during-  this  year,  must  have  il- 
lustrated the  tender  care  of  a  gracious  Providence  ;  but  the  mys- 
tery now  is,  how  he  had  contrived  to  make  sucli  progress  at  the 
press.  Yet  once  engaged,  he  had  determined  not  only  to  main- 
tain his  ground,  but  advance  in  the  prosecution  of  his  great  enter- 
prise. This  year  was,  therefore,  distinguished  by  the  appearance 
of  not  fewer  than  three  distinct  pieces.  His  answer  to  Sir  Thomas 
More's  Dialogue  ;  his  Exposition  of  the  First  Epistle  of  John  ; 
and  his  translation  of  the  Prophet  Jonah,  with  a  long  preface  or 
prologue. 

The  annoyance  and  persecution  of  Tyndale  personally,  however, 
preceded  the  appearance  of  any  of  these  pieces,  and  it  is  due  to 
their  contents  that  this  should  first  be  noticed.  Denunciation  of 
the  Scriptures,  and  of  all  that  he  had  published,  woidd  now  no 
longer  suffice.  The  King  was  incensed,  and  before  the  summer 
of  this  year,  would  have  dealt  with  anything  of  Tyndale's  as  Je- 
hoiakim,  did  of  old  with  Jeremiah's  roll.  The  Priests  of  the  day 
also,  as  in  the  case  of  another  ancient  Prophet,  had  thought  of  the 
man,  if  not  said, — "  the  land  is  not  able  to  bear  all  his  words."  The 
strong  arm  of  power  must  be  stretched  out  to  reach  him  if  possible, 
and,  no  doubt,  there  were  not  a  few  who  imagined,  that  his  days 
were  now  numbered.  Amidst  all  other  affairs,  the  apprehension 
of  Tyndale  at  this  period,  held  a  place  in  point  of  importance, 
whicli  has  never  before  been  fully  explained.  It  would  certainly 
be  too  severe,  to  ascribe  all  the  measures  adopted  to  Henry  alone, 
even  though  he  should  appear  most  conspicuous,  and  engaged  in 
eager  pursuit,  through  the  instrumentaUty  of  three,  if  not  four, 
individuals;  for  still  the  head  and  hand  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  and 
the  hearts  of  the  Bishops,  sanctioned  all ;  but  it  will  be  far  more 
melancholy,  if  Crumwell,  so  lately  come  into  power,  should  appear 
to  be  a  most  willing  agent,  and  even  Cranmer,  for  many  a  day, 
nay,  throughout  the  whole  of  Tyndale's  lifetime,  evince  no  sym- 
pathy whatever  ! 

The  Government  persecution  of  our  Translator,  which  had  now 
commenced,  lends  a  peculiar  emphasis  to  every  page  he  had  al- 
ready emitted,  but  moie  especially  to  the  publications  of  the  pres- 
ent year. 

In  December  last,  the  aunt  of  Charles,  Lady  Margaret,  or  Re- 
gent of  the  Low  Countries,  had  died,  and  the  Emperor  had  nomi- 
nated his  sister,  Mary,  Queen  of  Hungary,  to  succeed.  She,  how- 
ever, did  not  assume  the  reins  of  government  until  October  of  this 
year.  Whether  this  interregnum  was  deemed  favora])le  to  the  ap- 
prehension of  Tyndale,  is  not  distinctly  expressed ;  but  certainly 
no  time  was  lost  in  taking  advantage  of  it ;  and  it  was  during 
this  season  that  he  was  next  so  keenly  pursued.  Hackett,  who  is 
already  well  known  to  the  reader,  returned  to  England  after  Lady 
Margaret's  decease,  bearing  a  letter,  dated  3d  January,  1531,  from 
the  Emperor  to  Henry  ;  but  he  was  sent  abroad  again  that  same 
year,  and  had  an  audience  in  June,  at  Ghent,  with  Mary,  the  new 
Regent.     Most  gladly  would  he  have  apprehended  the  Translator 


136  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  the  books  he  had  so  repeatedly  burned  ;  but,  independently  of 
him,  or  immediately  after  the  death  of  Margaret,  if  not  before,  it 
had  been  resolved  to  send  two  accredited  Envoys  to  the  Low 
Countries,  one  of  whom,  if  not  both,  were  charged  with  special  in- 
structions in  reference  to  Tyndale.  The  first,  Mr.  Stephen 
Vaughan,  was  much  employed  in  commercial  and  pecuniary  nego- 
ciations,  down  to  as  late  a  period  as  1546.  The  second  was 
Thomas  Wriothsley,  uncle  to  the  first  Earl  of  Southampton,  after- 
wards Lord  Chancellor,  and  the  second  Earl.  The  first,  by  far 
the  most  candid  of  the  two,  was  stationed  at  Barrow  and  Antwerp, 
and  the  second,  a  uniform  enemy  of  the  truth,  repaired  to  Brussels. 
The  draught  of  their  credentials  afterwards,  upon  Lady  Mary's 
appearance,  and  as  corrected  by  Henry's  oivn  hand,  is  now  in  the 
Museum. 

So  early  as  the  22d  of  January,  Vaughan  writes  to  Crumwell ; 
and,  on  the  26th,  we  have  his  first  letter  to  the  King  himself, 
which  discloses  how  much  in  earnest  his  Majesty  had  been,  to  lay 
hold  on  this  eminent  man,  or  get  him  within  his  grasp. 

This  letter  he  accompanies  with  another,  in  which  he  thus 
speaks  of  Tyndale : 

"  It  is  unlikely  to  get  Tyndall  into  England,  when  he  daily 
heareth  so  many  things  from  thence  which  feareth  him.  After 
his  book,  answering  my  Lord  Chancellor's  book,  be  put  forth,  I 
think  he  will  write  no  more  !  The  man  is  of  a  greater  knowledge 
than  the  King^s  Highness  doth  take  him  for  ^  xohich  well  appear- 
eth  by  his  tvorks.      Would  God  he  were  in  England." 

Vaughan's  impression  was  tliat  various  individuals  vvere  now 
out  in  pursuit,  and  had  been  commissioned  to  seize  the  same  man, 
or  entice  him  into  England.  Tyndale  also  had  replied  to  Vaughan, 
though  still  he  could  not  find  him  out.  In  the  meanwhile,  chanc- 
ing to  meet  with  a  part  of  the  intended  answer  to  Sir  Thomas 
More,  in  manuscript,  he  innnediately  informs  Crumwell,  and 
actually  sits  down  to  copy  it  out  for  the  King.  February  and 
March  had  passed  away,  when  at  last,  and  most  unexpectedly, 
Tyndale  himself  gave  him  the  benefit  of  a  personal  interview. 

Vaughan's  predecessor,  Hackett,  would  have  apprehended  Tyn- 
dale immediately,  and  would  have  consigned  him  to  his  native 
land,  without  a  sigh,  not  as  a  heretic  only,  but  as  a  traitor.  Hack- 
ett, however,  had  been  providentially  removed  from  Antwerp,  and 
Vaughan  will  turn  out  to  be  a  man  of  a  very  dififerent  stamp ; 
though  certainly  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  aware  that  he 
was  acting  with  too  mnch  temper  and  candor,  to  secure  the  ap- 
probation of  his  fiery  and  impetuous  sovereign.  But  be  this  as  it 
may,  in  his  next  letter,  very  soon  after  this,  Vaughan  had  made 
mention  of  John  Fryth  also,  wishing  to  know  from  his  Majesty 
what  was  his  pleasure  in  regard  to  him,  if  he  should  happen  to 
meet  with  him. 

Crumwell  writes  to  Vaughan  a  crafty  epistle,  suggesting  means 
by  which  Tyndale  might  be  brought  within  reach  of  the  secular 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  137 

arm.  But  Tyndale  would  not  be  deceived  by  any  of  the  profes- 
sions of  kindness  which  were  made  by  these  subtle  foes. 

He  proceeds  with  vigor  in  his  work.  His  offer  to  Henry  of  "  a 
hare  text  of  the  Sacred  Volume,^''  as  a  "sine  qua  non,"  was  all- 
important  ;  only  that  text  must  be  a  genuine  and  intelligible  one, 
otherwise,  Tyndale  was  to  pursue  his  own  path.  But  although 
we  cannot  follow  our  Translator  to  the  exact  place  of  his  retreat, 
we  now  come  with  far  greater  advantage,  to  whatever  he  may 
publish.  He  had  a  character  to  maintain,  which  was  still  most 
shamefully  traduced,  and  traduced  alike  by  his  opponent  in  con- 
troversy, by  Master  Crumwell,  and  the  King.  The  Scriptures  he 
had  translated,  besides  the  cause  of  God  and  iiis  truth,  which  he 
had  so  promoted  in  England,  alike  required  him  to  speak  out. 

Sir  Thomas  More  had  employed  sarcasnr  and  sophistry  through- 
out three  hundred  folio  pages,  chiefly  against  Tyndale  and  his 
translation.  But  why  such  a  laborious  and  wordy  production,  if 
manifest  error,  and  only  one  solitary  heretic  were  all  the  host  to  be 
devoured  ?  Yet  thus  unwisely  did  Sir  Thomas  proclaim  the  power 
of  his  opponent ;  while  one  page  after  another  only  proved,  that 
he  was  contending  for  victory,  and  not  for  truth. 

The  translation  of  the  New  Testament  into  the  vernacular 
tongue  was,  however,  the  great  eye-sore  to  Sir  Thomas,  though 
what  he  styled  the  wickedness  of  Tyndale's  other  productions, 
was  plentifully  denounced.  Tunstal  had  boasted  of  his  having 
found  two  thousand  errata,  and  More  had  spoken  of  a  thousand 
texts  by  tale,  as  being  erroneous,  but  now  they  are  all  reduced  to 
the  general  rendering  of  about  six  words.  Tyndale  had  translated 
ecclesia  into  Congregation,  and  not  church, — he  used  elder,  and 
not  priest, — knowledge  or  acknowledge,  and  not  confession, — re- 
pentance, and  not  penance, — favor,  and  not  grace, — love,  and  not 
charity.  These  were  his  mighty  offences,  and  no  wonder  that 
More  at  least  professed  to  be  shocked  and  offended,  for  certainly 
these  simple  and  faithful  renderings,  once  read  in  their  connec- 
tion, shook  to  its  very  foundations  that  fabric  which  the  Chancel- 
lor had  strained  all  his  powers  to  defend.  We  have  said  professed, 
as  there  is  so  much  evidence  that  Sir  Thomas  was  still  a  free- 
thinker to  his  dying  hour.  In  reply,  Tyndale  appealed  to  the 
Greek  original,  and  to  More's  acquaintance  with  the  language, 
befoie  himself,  and  completely  triumphed. 

Before  leaving  this  controversy  for  the  present — one  which  inter- 
ested and  agitated  so  deeply  at  the  time,  and  the  effects  of  which 
remain  to  the  present  hovu" — it  may  be  remarked,  that,  independ- 
ently of  his  sound  reasoning,  there  was  in  Tyndale's  style  and 
manner,  a  solemnity,  of  which  the  Lord  Chancellor  was  more 
than  half  afraid,  and  which  he  knew  neither  how  to  manage  or 
evade.  This  grave  style  of  writing  sometimes  referred  to  himself, 
sometimes  to  the  translation,  and  at  others,  to  the  parties  in  oppo- 
sition. 

In  reference  to  himself.  More  having  said — "When  Tyndale 
was  apposed  of  his  doctrine,  ere  he  went  over  sea,  he  said  and 


138  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

sware  he  meant  no  harm."  To  this  Tyndale  replies — "He  sware 
not,  neither  was  there  any  man  that  required  an  oath  of  him  ;  but 
he  now  sweareth  by  Him,  whom  he  trusteth  to  be  saved  by,  that  he 
never  meant,  or  yet  meaneth  any  other  harm,  than  to  suffer  all 
that  God  hath  prepared  to  be  laid  on  his  back,  for  to  bring  his 
bretliren  unto  the  light  of  our  Saviour  Jesus  ;  which  the  Pope, 
through  falsehood,  and  corrupting  such  poets  as  ye  are,  leadeth  in 
the  darkness  of  death." 

Referring  to  the  subject  of  translations  in  the  mother  tongue,  so 
hardly  driven  was  the  Chancellor,  that  he  had  the  weakness  to 
insinuate  that  there  were  ancient  translations,  (Saxon  or  English,) 
which  it  was  not  unlawful  to  read  ! 

"As  for  other  old  ones,"  he  had  said,  "  that  were  before  Wick- 
liffe's  days^  resnain  lawful,  and  be  in  soine  follcs  hands  had  and 
read." — "  What,"  replies  Tyndale,  "  may  not  M.  More  say  by 
authority  of  his  poetry?  There  is  a  lawful  translation  that  no 
man  knoweth  !  which  is  as  much  as  no  lawful  translation.  Why 
might  not  the  Bishops  shew  which  were  the  lawful  translation, 
and  let  it  be  ininted  l  Nay,  if  that  might  have  been  obtained  of 
them  with  large  money,  it  had  been  printed,  ye  may  be  sure,  long 
ere  this.  But,  sir,  answer  me  hereunto — How  happeneth  it  that 
ye  defenders  translate  not  one  yourselves,  to  cease  the  murmur  of 
the  people,  and  put  to  your  own  glosses,  to  prevent  heretics?  Ye 
would,  no  doubt,  have  done  it  long  since,  if  ye  could  have  made 
your  glosses  agree  with  the  text  in  every  place.  And  what  can 
you  say  to  this,  how  that,  besides  they  have  done  their  best  to  dis- 
annul all  translating  by  Parliament,  they  have  disputed,  before 
the  King^s  Grace,  that  it  is  perilous,  and  not  meet,  and  so  con- 
cluded that  it  shall  not  be,  under  a  pretence  of  deferring  it  for 
years — cohere  M.  More  loas  their  special  orator,  to  feign  lies  for 
their  purpose.^^ 

And  as  for  all  the  parties  now  in  opposition — "  Mark,"  says 
Tyndale  to  his  reader,  at  the  outset — "  Mark,  whether  it  were 
ever  truer  than  now  ;  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  Pilate,  Herod, 
Caiaphas,  and  Annas,  are  gathered  together  against  God  and 
Christ :  but  yet,  I  trust,  in  vain ;  and  he  that  brake  the  counsel 
of  Ahitophel,  shall  scatter  theirs.  Mark,  whether  it  be  not  true, 
in  the  highest  degree,  that  for  the  sin  of  the  people,  hypocrites 
shall  reign  over  them.  Wherefore,  it  is  time  to  awake,  and  to 
see,  every  man  with  his  own  eyes,  and  to  judge,  if  we  will  not  be 
judged  of  Christ  when  he  cometh.  And  remember,  that  he  which 
is  warned,  hath  none  excuse,  if  he  take  no  heed.  Herewith,  fare- 
well in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  whose  Spirit  be  thy  guide  and  doc- 
trine, and  the  light  to  judge  withal." 

But  even  this  answer  was  not  sufficient  in  Tyndale's  apprehen- 
sion. He  regarded  Sir  Thomas  as  the  official  attorney  in  their 
spiritual  court ;  and  as  he  had  put  forth,  after  this  Dialogue,  an- 
other thing  in  folio,  entitled,  "the  SuppHcation  of  Souls,"  &c.,  by 
way  of  reply  to  the  notable  tract  of  Fyshe — -"  the  Supplication  of 
Beggars,"  it  nuist  not  be  allowed  to  pass,  although  Tyndale  did 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  139 

not  choose  to  name  Sir  Thomas.  It  was  this  piece  which  led  him 
to  designate  More  as  "  the  Proctor  of  Purgatory,"  elsewhere ;  and 
as  he  had  resolved  to  print  an  exposition  of  the  first  Epistle  of 
John,  he  there,  without  any  controversial  form,  met,  most  judi- 
ciously, even  more  than  had  been  advanced  by  the  Lord  Chancel- 
lor, in  relation  to  purgatory  and  the  worship  of  saints,  image  wor- 
ship, and  other  evils ;  explaining  to  the  people  how  they  might 
detect  false  teachers. 

From  these  two  consecutive  publications,  one  is  at  no  loss  to  ascer- 
tain what  were  Tyndale's  sentiments  on  two  important  points : 
the  existing  state  of  literature  among  the  priests,  and  the  condition 
of  those  who  at  least  professed  to  be  Christians. 

But  to  crown  all  in  the  year  1531,  nothing  could  possibly  have 
been  more  seasonable  or  appropriate,  than  "  Jonah  /'  that  book  of 
sacred  writ,  which  Tyndale  now  printed  for  his  country.  The 
critical  position  of  England,  and  the  situation  of  the  Translator 
himself,  sufficiently  account  for  its  appearance,  at  this  moment- 
Tyndale  was  now  getting  fast  into  the  heat  of  the  battle.  The 
Bishops  of  England,  as  a  body,  with  Tunstal  the  ablest  of  them 
all,  were  against  him ;  the  Lord  Chancellor,  as  a  man  and  as  a 
licensed  writer,  was  against  him,  nay,  the  wrath  of  the  King,  as 
"  the  roaring  of  a  Lion,"  was  against  him.  On  high  principle, 
for  the  sake  of  Divine  truth  alone,  he  had  to  encounter  an  entire 
people  in  the  persons  of  its  rulers ;  nor  was  he  slow  to  advance. 
The  book  of  Jonah  spoke  alike  to  the  peasant  and  the  prince.  It 
contained  the  memorable  example  of  a  great  King  bowing  before 
the  majesty  of  the  Voice  of  God.  "  The  people  of  Nineveh  be- 
lieved God — from  the  greatest  of  them,  even  to  the  least  of  them  ;" 
and  this  was  precisely  what  Tyndale  longed  for  the  people  of 
England  to  do ;  and  would  their  haughty  and  licentious  monarch 
have  now  only  risen  from  his  throne,  and  laid  aside  his  robes,  like 
the  King  of  Nineveh,  and  urged  his  subjects  "  to  cry  mightily  to 
God,"  saying,  "  let  them  turn  every  one  from  his  evil  way,  and 
from  the  violence  that  is  m  their  hands,^'' — nothing  could  have 
filled  the  Translator  with  higher  delight.  The  Ninevites  "  re- 
pented at  the  preaching  of  Jonas,"  but  for  more  than  five  years, 
the  New  Testament  had  been  in  England,  and  even  Scotland, 
and  "  a  greater  than  Jonas  was  there."  Tyndale  besides,  to 
evince  the  ardor  of  his  mind,  had  prefixed  a  long  prologue  to  the 
book, — an  admirable  production,  and  peculiarly  adapted  for  the 
moment. 

But  now,  and  notwithstanding  all,  as  it  is  well  known,  neither 
Henry  nor  his  advisers  were  to  be  moved  from  their  course.  It 
was,  as  we  shall  find,  a  year  of  most  savage  cruelty,  though  Tyn- 
dale was  now  "  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men,  having  not  shunned 
to  declare  to  them  the  whole  counsel  of  God." 

Parliament  opened  on  the  6th  of  January,  and  the  Convocation 
assembled  the  next  day.  The  moment,  therefore,  had  now  come, 
when  Henry  could  send  Crumwell,  with  his  own  signet,  to  the 
Convocation.     "  Crumwxll,  coming  boldly  into  the  clergy  house, 


140  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

and  there  placing  himself  among  the  Bishops,  began  to  make  hig 
oration — -Declaring  unto  them  the  authority  of  a  King,  and  the 
office  of  subjects ; — and  especially  the  obedience  of  Bishops  and 
Churchmen  under  public  laws,  necessarily  provided  for  the  profit 
and  quiet  of  the  Commonwealth :  which  laws,  notwithstanding, 
they  had  all  transgressed,  and  highly  offended  in  derogation  of  the 
King's  royal  estate,  falling  under  the  law  of  Premunire^ — in  that 
they  not  only  had  consented  to  the  power  legantine  of  the  Car- 
dinal, but  also  in  that  they  had  also  all  sworn  to  the  Pope,  con- 
trary to  the  fealty  of  their  Sovereign  Lord  the  King, — and  there- 
fore had  forfeited  to  the  King  all  their  goods  and  chattels,  lands, 
possessions,  and  whatsoever  livings  they  had  !"  The  Bishops  re- 
monstrated, of  course,  but  it  was  all  in  vain  ;  only,  as  they  desired 
a  respite,  they  were  allowed  time  to  consider  what  they  should,  or 
rather  must,  do.  Thus  the  precedent  of  Wolsey,  in  sacrificing  all 
that  he  liad,  proved  like  a  mill-stone  round  the  neck  of  every  man 
who  had  been  under  him  !  He  had,  in  past  days,  been  the  idol, 
the  boast,  and  glory  of  his  order ;  but  what  would  they  not,  or 
did  they  not,  say  of  him  now?  Still,  whatever  might  have  been 
the  principles  or  opinions  of  these  men,  the  reader  must  be  fidly 
aware,  from  what  has  been  already  stated,  that  nothing  could  be 
more  harsh  or  inconsistent,  nay  unjust,  if  not  illegal,  on  the  part 
of  Henry,  than  the  entire  proceeding,  even  although  it  had  ended 
here  :  but  here,  neither  the  King  nor  Crumwell  intended  it  should 
end.  Meanwhile,  the  southern  province,  or  that  of  Canterbury, 
agreed  to  offer  the  King  not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand 
pounds,  or  £20,000  annuall}^  for  five  years  to  come.  The  northern 
province,  or  that  of  York,  some  time  after,  compounded  for  eigh- 
teen thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty  pounds. 

If  we  were  to  believe  Crumwell,  when  writing  to  the  Conti- 
nent, in  April,  soon  after  the  Convocation  of  this  year  had  ad- 
journed, as  far  as  the  King  was  concerned,  he  could  not  now  ap- 
pear, except  as  clothed  in  the  white  robes  of  innocence  and  peace. 
When  trying  to  entice  Tyndale  into  England,  as  into  a  sanctuary, 
he  had  talked  of  "the  most  gracious  benignity" — "the  piteous 
regard  naturaV — "the  mercy  and  grace"  of  that  "most  virtuous 
and  benign  Prince  and  Governor,"  Henry  the  Eighth  !  Let  the 
events  immediately  preceding  and  following  such  language,  now 
be  observed. 

The  Convocation  having  not  only  yielded  so  far  to  Henry's  am- 
bition, but  given  him  the  promise  of  a  sura  equal  to  above  £350,000 
annually,  for  five  years  to  come  ;  perhaps  he  thought  that,  by  way 
of  courtesy  in  return,  he  must  comply  with  the  wishes  of  this 
body ;  but  be  this  as  it  may,  we  shall  presently  find  the  Clergy 
and  the  Star  Chamber  in  perfect  harmony.  It  was  the  triumph- 
ant reign  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  for  the  one  party,  and  of  Stokesly 
Bishop  of  London,  for  the  other. 

Immediately  after  agreeing  to  the  preamble  of  the  Bill  of  Sub- 
sidy, or  in  the  50th  Session  of  the  Convocation,  inquiry  had  com- 
menced, at  Stokesly's  motion,  into  the  opinions  of  Latimer,  Bil- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  141 

ney  and  Crome  ;  and  by  the  69th  Session  Warham  was  examin- 
ing John  Lcmihert  before  two  notaries.  In  the  intermediate  space 
finding  no  living  victim,  the  very  bones  of  the  dead  did  not  escape 
them ;  but  emulating  the  example  of  1428,  when  they  dug  up 
the  bones  of  Wickliffe,  they  pronounced  judgment  on  the  deceased 
William  Tracy,  Esq.,  of  Todington,  because  in  his  last  will  he 
had  committed  his  departing  Spirit  to  God,  through  Jesus  Christ 
alone,  and  left  no  part  of  his  property  to  the  priests,  to  pray  for  his 
soul. 

It  was  while  these  transactions  were  going  on.  Sir  Thomas 
More  and  Mr.  Brian  Tuke  introduced  the  business  of  Henry's  di- 
vorce before  Parliament,  by  laying  before  it  the  sentence  of  cer- 
tain Universities,  and  the  opinions  of  individuals,  amounting  to  a 
hundred,  in  its  favor,  soon  after  which  the  House  was  prorogued, 
and  the  Convocation  also  dissolved,  to  the  month  of  October. 

But  before  then,  two  of  the  earliest  victims  of  the  present  year 
had  been  apprehended  and  punished ;  and  just  as  if  the  entire 
honor  of  this  arduous  contest  must  redound  to  the  praise  of  our 
first  Translator,  these  were  no  other  than  his  own  younger  brother, 
John,  and  a  devoted  friend,  Thomas  Patmore,  both  merchants  in 
London.  They  appear  to  have  enjoyed  the  double  honor  of  pass- 
ing through  the  hands  of  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Stokesly,  or  the 
Star  Chamber,  and  the  Bishop's  Court. 

With  regard  to  the  first  court,  the  following  statement  is  from 
Foxe's  manuscript,  which  seems  fully  to  ratify  the  idea  that  Tyn- 
dale  had  reprinted  his  Nev/  Testament  in  1530. 

"  There  were  soon  after  the  coming  over  of  the  New  Testa- 
ments in  English,  translated  by  William  Tyndale,  which  he  sent 
to  his  brother,  John  Tyndale,  a  merchant,  apprehended,  the  said 
John  Tyndale,  and  Thomas  Patmore,  a  merchant,  and  a  young 
man  that  dwelt  about  London  Bridge,  by  the  Bishop  of  London, 
and  brought  before  Sir  Thomas  More,  being  the  Chancellor,  and 
by  him  committed  to  ward.  After  they  were  brought  forth  before 
the  Lords  in  the  Star  Chamber,  and  there  were  charged  with  the 
receiving  of  Tyndale's  Testaments,  and  divers  other  books,  and 
delivering  and  scattering  the  same  abroad  in  divers  places  in  the 
city  of  London,  which  they  confessed,  and  therefore  had  judgment 
— That  they  should  be  sent  to  the  Counter  of  London,  and  there 
to  remain  until  the  next  market-day,  and  then  each  of  them  to 
be  set  upon  a  horse,  and  their  faces  to  the  horse's  tail,  and  to  have 
papers  upon  their  heads,  and  upon  their  outward  apparel,  that  is 
to  say,  upon  their  gowns  or  cloaks,  to  be  tacked  or  pinned  thick 
with  the  said  New  Testaments  and  other  books.  And  at  the 
Standard  in  Chepe  (Cheapside)  should  be  made  a  great  fire,  where- 
iiito  every  of  them  (the  three)  should  throw  their  said  books ;  and, 
farther,  to  abide  such  fines,  to  be  paid  to  the  King,  as  should  be 
assessed  upon  them  ;  which  penance  they  observed."  Foxe  then 
adds — "  this  is  extant,  to  be  seen  in  the  records  of  the  Star  Cham- 
ber." 

At  this  period  it  was  not  unusual  for  More,  when  he  suspected 


142  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

his  victims  might  be  condemned  for  anything  else,  to  dehver  them 
over,  by  an  indenture,  into  the  paw  of  the  Bishop  of  London,  but 
at  all  events,  both  these  worthy  men  now  fell  into  Stokesly's 
hands.  Tyndale  was  punished  by  him  "  for  sending  Jive  marks 
to  his  brother  William  Tyndale  beyond  tiie  sea,  and  for  receiving 
and  keeping  with  him,  certain  letters  from  his  brother !"  As  for 
Patmore,  Avho  was  charged  with  saying  "  that  the  trnth  of  Scrip- 
ture hath  been  kept  from  us  a  long  time,  and  hath  not  appeared 
till  now,"  &c. — "  he  had  long  hold  with  the  Bishop.  First,  he 
would  not  sware — then  he  would  appeal  to  the  King ;  but  all 
would  not  serve.  He  was  so  wrapt  in  the  Bishop's  nets,  that  he 
could  not  get  out ;  but  at  last  he  was  forced  to  abjure,  and  was 
fined  to  the  King,  an  hundred  pounds." 

In  the  month  of  May,  a  second  edition  of  Sir  Thomas  More's 
"  Dialogue"  was  published ;  and  now,  during  the  rest  of  the  year, 
persecution  became  general.  Stokesl}^  and  the  Lord  Chancellor, 
in  London ;  Warham,  and  Fisher,  and  Longland,  elsewhere,  were 
all  busy ;  and  by  the  month  of  xA-ugust,  it  seemed  as  if  Henry 
and  his  advisers  had  stepped  into  blood,  and  would  have  struck 
down  any  man  who  presumed  to  question  or  oppose  their  meas- 
ures. We  might  repeat  the  sad  tale  of  many,  but  select  only  a 
few  cases  as  being  peculiarly  characteristic  of  the  times.  The 
particulars  are  at  once  humiliating  and  painful.  We  liave  to 
read  them  also  amidst  the  fires  that  were  now  kindled  in  England; 
though,  amidst  all  the  lurid  glare,  it  is  easy  to  perceive  the  rapid 
and  decided  progress  of  truth,  or  the  glorious  extent  of  that  cause, 
for  which  Tyndale  only  lived,  and  at  last  died. 

The  first  victim  to  the  flames  was  Bilney.  For  though  he  had 
fallen,  and,  in  his  own  apprehension,  past  redemption,  to  him  was 
given  the  honor  of  leading  the  way  in  England  at  this  period,  of 
resistance  "  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin."  If  we  except  the 
case  of  John  Hitton,  of  which  we  know  little,  he  was  the  first 
burnt,  after  the  burning  of  the  Scriptures  for  more  than  five  years 
past.  How  long  he  had  remained  in  prison  after  his  abjuration, 
cannot  distinctly  be  ascertained ;  but  after  his  release  and  return 
to  Cambridge,  he  was  in  the  deepest  distress  of  mind  for  a  long 
season.  His  agony  of  mind  was  so  great,  that  Latimer  affirms, 
"  his  friends  dared  not  suffer  him  to  be  alone,  day  or  night.  They 
comforted  him  as  they  could,  but  no  comforts  would  serve  !  And 
as  for  the  comfortable  places  of  Scripture,  to  bring  them  to  him, 
was  as  though  a  man  should  run  him  through  the  heart  with  a 
sword  !"  It  was  Tunstal  who  had  been  the  tempter,  and  tlie  in- 
strumental cause  of  all  this  mental  anguish.  At  last,  however, 
his  conscience  Avas  quieted  only  by  the  same  blood  of  atonement, 
which  at  first  had  given  him  such  peace  and  joy.  And  ere  long, 
determined  no  more  to  dissemble  or  conceal  the  truth,  he  took 
farewell  of  his  friends  at  Trinity  Hall,  Cambridge,  saying  that  he 
must  now  go  up  to  Jerusalem.  He  then  went  into  Norfolk, 
preaching  first  from  house  to  house,  and  then  in  the  open  fields. 
Making  no  secret  of  his  former  abjuration,  he  warned  all  to  be- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  143 

ware  of  following  his  example.  He  appears  then  to  have  gone 
down  through  Essex,  and  not  improbably  visited  London  itself,  as 
the  "  Jerusalem"  he  had  referred  to ;  for  at  one  period,  six  weeks 
before  his  apprehension,  we  find  him  as  near  to  it  as  Greenwich. 
There  he  committed  four  of  Tyndale's  New  Testaments,  with  a 
budget  of  books,  to  a  faithfid  friend,  Laurence  Staple,  who  con- 
veyed them  to  Cambridge,  and  was  afterwards  called  to  sharp  acr- 
count  for  so  doing.  But  at  last  Bilney  proceeded  to  Norwich 
itself;  and  having  given  a  New  Testament  of  Tyndale's,  and  his 
book  on  "  Obedience,"  to  a  convert  residing  there,  he  was  soon 
apprehended  by.  authority  of  the  old  Bishop.  He  immediately 
sent  up  to  Sir  Thomas  More  for  a  writ ;  and  if  it  be  correct,  as 
generally  stated,  it  must  have  been  with  his  wonted  hilarity  that 
he  replied — "  Go  your  ways,  and  burn  him  first,  and  then  after- 
wards come  to  me  for  a  bill  at  my  hand."  At  all  events,  Bilney 
was  soon  condemned  to  die  at  the  stake,  and  delivered  to  the 
Sheriffs ;  one  of  whom  was  no  other  than  Thomas  Necton^  the 
brother  of  Robert,  already  mentioned  as  a  great  distributor  of 
Books.  From  dread  of  the  Chancellor  and  the  Friars,  Necton 
officially  was  obliged  to  receive  him ;  when  he  implored  Bilney's 
forgiveness,  and  was  not  present  at  his  death.  The  night  before 
his  execution,  the  dying  martyr,  quite  composed,  resigned,  and 
even  cheerful,  among  other  passages  of  Scripture,  dwelt  much  on 
this  one — "  Fear  not.  ;  for  I  have  redeemed  tliee^  I  have  called 
thee  by  tJiij  name,  thou,  art  mine.  When  thou  passest  through 
the  waters,  I  will  he  with  tJtee  :  and  through  tlte  rivers,  they  shall 
not  overflow  thee:  when  thou  walkest  through  the  fire,  thoushalt 
not  be  burnt  ;  neither  shall  the  fame  kindle  upon  thee.''''  It  was 
not  that  Bilney  expected  any  other  than  mental  support,  or  that 
he  superstitiously  anticipated  exemption  from  pain;  but  "a  pain 
for  the  time,"  said  he,  "  whereon,  notwithstanding,  followeth  joy 
unspeakable."  At  the  stake,  he  closed  his  devotions  with  the  be- 
ginning of  the  143d  Psalm  ;  and  the  second  verse — "  Enter  not 
into  judgment  vnth  thy  servant,  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  flesh 
living  he  justified'^ — he  repeated,  in  deep  meditation,  three  times. 
He  had  been  led  through  the  Bishop's  gate  to  this  spot,  called  the 
Lollard's  pit,  and  there  expired  in  the  flames,  on  Saturday  morn- 
ing, the  19th  of  August,  amidst  the  most  cruel  enemies,  and  not 
a  few  decided  friends. 

If  the  reader  is  not  aware  of  the  fact,  he  will  be  gratified  in 
knowing  that  the  identical  copy  of  the  Latin  Bible  once  belonging 
to  Thomas  Bilney  is  still  in  existence.  At  least  it  is  said  to  be  in 
one  of  the  libraries  at  Cambridge.  Many  annotations  are  inscribed 
upon  its  pages  with  his  own  hand ;  and  it  is  certainly  an  interest- 
ing circumstance  that  the  passage  in  Isaiah,  already  quoted,  which 
consoled  the  owner  of  the  book  when  in  prospect  of  the  flames,  is 
particularly  distinguished  with  a  pen,  in  the  margin.  The  words 
if  not  so  marked  with  his  own  hand,  must  have  been  by  others  at 
the  time,  for  they  received  the  words  as  the  legacy  of  a  martyr ; 


144  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

they  had  them  fairly  written  on  tables  or  in  books,  and  derived 
comfort  from  them  till  their  dying  day. 

Mr.  Richard  Bai/fielcVs  history  cannot  fail  to  gratify  the  reader, 
as  among  the  very  hazardous,  yet  innumerable  instances  of  the 
importation  of  books,  he  occupied  a  conspicuous  place.  Blest 
himself,  at  a  very  early  period,  with  a  copy  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testament,  he  labored  for  a  considerable  time  to  bring  them  into 
the  country,  along  with  other  valuable  books  ;  and  now,  when  ex- 
amined by  Stokesly,  with  what  view  he  had  done  all  this,  he  at 
once  replied — "  To  the  intent  that  the  Gospel  of  Christ  might  be 
set  forward,  and  God  the  more  glorified  in  this  realm  among 
Christian  people." 

The  year  and  place  of  Bayfield's  birth  cannot  be  ascertained, 
but  by  his  own  confession  he  entered  the  monastery  of  St.  Ed- 
mondsbury  as  a  monk  in  1514,  and  took  orders  as  a  priest  in  1518. 
After  the  return  of  Dr.  Barnes  from  Louvain  to  Cambridge,  in 
1523,  he  used  to  visit  a  Dr.  Ruffam,  then  in  that  monastery,  who 
had  been  one  of  his  fellow- students  abroad,  and  Bayfield,  being 
chamberlain  of  the  house,  became  interested  with  the  conversation 
of  the  visitor.  From  him  he  ere  long  received  a  copy  of  the  New 
Testament  in  Latin,  but  two  citizens  of  London,  Maxwell  and 
Stacy,  who  were  zealous  for  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
went  round  the  country,  with  this  in  view,  presented  him  with 
Tyndale's  English  New  Testament.  From  the  subsequent  history 
of  his  life,  it  is  evident  that  this  must  have  been  one  of  the  earliest 
copies  given  away  in  the  country  parts.  After  being  at  Cambridge 
with  Barnes,  he  seems  to  have  not  returned  to  his  abbey,  but  pro- 
ceeding to  his  friends.  Maxwell  and  Stacy,  in  London,  he  remained 
there  in  concealment  for  a  short  time  in  the  close  of  1526.  At 
this  early  period,  as  appears  by  Foxe,  lie  was  a  suspected  person. 
It  is  true  he  talks,  in  a  vague  way,  of  Bayfield  suffering  imprison- 
ment and  cruel  treatment  for  two  years  and  nine  montlis,  but  this 
was  merely  an  anticipation,  or  rather  loose  summing  up  of  all  his 
trials.  At  all  events,  he  fixes  the  period  of  his  first  escape  beyond 
sea ;  Dr.  Barnes  being  then  in  the  Fleet  for  God's  Word,  which 
continued  till  August  1526 ;  though  Bayfield  remained,  in  fact, 
two  months  longer. 

On  his  first  going  abroad,  Foxe  says,  "  this  Bayfield  mightily 
prospered  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  was  beneficial  to  Master 
Tyndale  and  Mr.  Fryth,  for  he  brought  substance  with  him,  and 
was  their  own  hand.,  and  sold  all  their  works,  both  in  France  and 
England."  This  is  a  general  description  of  Bayfield's  life  and 
services,  during  at  least  four  different  voyages  to  the  Continent, 
within  the  last  five  years.  His  first  return  to  England  w^as  some- 
time in  the  year  1.527.  It  had  so  happened  that  in  October  1526,  just 
before  leaving  England,  he  met,  in  Lombard  Street,  with  three 
parsons  of  his  own  standing,  Edmund  Pierson,  James  Smith,  and 
Miles  Garnet,  when  some  conversation  ensued,  by  no  means  pleas- 
ant to  their  ears,  but  sufficiently  explicit  as  to  Bayfield's  sentiments. 
Having  therefore  now  returned,  it  must  have  been  but  a  very  short 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  145 

time  before  Pierson  detected  him,  as  by  tlie  13tli  of  September 
1527,  we  find  his  accusation  against  Bayfield  recorded  at  full  length 
in  Foxe's  history. 

Once  brought  before  Tunstal,  in  1528,  he  was  enjoined  for  pen- 
ance "to  go  before  the  cross  in  procession,  in  the  Parish  Church 
of  St.  Bot^olph's  Billingsgate,  and  to  appear  before  the  Bishop 
again  on  the  25th  of  April,"  1529.  The  first  part  he  fulfilled,  but 
not  the  latter.  He  had  gone  to  the  Continent,  but  what  may  seem 
strange,  he  did  appear,  and  presented  himself  before  Tunstal  on 
the  20th  of  June  :  and  it  was  still  more  so,  if  he  then  had  brought 
over  with  him  any  books  of  the  "new  learning."  However, 
there  being  no  fresh  witnesses  against  him,  the  Bishop  merely  pro- 
nounced upon  him  sentence  of  banishment  from  the  city  and  dio- 
cese of  London.  But  in  the  face  of  this,  as  Bayfield  entertained 
no  reverence  for  their  ecclesiastical  authority,  he  went  on  more  de- 
termined than  before.  In  May  or  June  1530,  he  arrived  at  Col- 
chester, with  a  cargo  of  books,  which  were  all  successfully  sold  or 
circulated :  an  importation  specially  to  be  noted,  as  it  was  imme- 
diately after  tlie  "  burning"  at  St.  Paul's,  if  not  at  the  moment ; 
immediately  after  the  Royal  proclamation  had  been  framed, 
which  Latimer  so  reprobated ;  and  it  is  one  among  other  proofs  of 
books  then  coming  thick  and  threefold  into  England,  to  the  an- 
noyance of  Tunstal.  Abroad  once  more,  Bayfield  returned  with 
a  second  importation  in  November,  but  landing  at  St.  Catharine's, 
the  whole  parcel  fell,  as  a  coveted  morsel,  into  the  hands  of  Sir 
Thomas  More.  Nothing  daunted,  and  at  the  very  season  when 
Vaughan  and  Crumwell  were  trying  to  inveigle  Tyndale  into 
England,  Bayfield  had  another  cargo  upon  English  ground.  These 
he  landed  safely  in  Norfolk,  about  the  beginning  of  April,  and  not 
being  detected,  they  were  of  course  circulated  far  and  wide,  to  the 
farther  vexation  of  the  poor,  infirm,  and  literally  blind  Bishop  of 
Norwich,  as  well  as  his  brethren.  But  at  last,  in  the  fall  of  this 
year,  coming  to  his  old  friend  Mr.  Smith  in  Bucklersbury,  the  fre- 
quent receiver  of  his  books,  he  was  betrayed  ;  and  being  traced  to 
his  book-binder's  in  Mark  Lane,  he  was  first  committed  to  the  Lol- 
lard's Tower,  where,  and  afterwards  in  the  Bishop's  coal-house,  he 
was  most  barbarously  treated.  Being  now,  however,  steadfast  in 
faith,  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  die  ;  and  though  tortured  to  ac- 
cuse others  who  had  bought  his  books,  and  three  times  in  the  con- 
sistory of  St.  Paul's  put  to  his  trial,  as  to  whetherhe  would  abjure, 
he  remained  unmoveable.  From  such  men  as  now  bore  sway,  he 
could  expect  no  mercy,  and  he  received  none ;  indeed,  Stokesly 
displayed  all  the  ferocity  of  his  character,  and  behaved  in  the  most 
brutal  manner.  Being  condemned,  actually  upon  a  Lord's-day, 
the  19th  of  November  ;  on  Monday,  when  he  came  to  be  degraded, 
as  they  phrased  it,  not  satisfied  with  the  mere  ceremony,  Stokesly 
with  a  blow  of  his  crosier,  struck  with  such  violence  on  the  breast 
of  Bayfield,  that,  falling  backward,  his  skull  was  almost  fractured, 
and  he  swooned  away  !  When  once  he  recovered  himself,  the 
good  man  "  thanked  God  that  he  was  (not  degraded  but)  dehvered 

10 


146  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

from  the  malignant  Church  of  Antichrist,  and  that  he  was  come 
into  the  sincere  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  mihtant  here  on  earth ; 
and  I  trust  anon,"  said  he,  "  to  be  in  heaven  with  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  Church  triumphant  forever."  Nor  was  he  mistaken, 
for  that  day  he  was  in  paradise.  After  this  outrageous  con- 
duct, he  was  led  forth  to  Newgate,  and  in  about  an  hour  after- 
wards committed  to  the  flames.  He  remained  alive  for  so  long  as 
half  an  hour,  but  continued  in  prayer  to  the  end  without  moving  ! 

How  many  persons,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  had  been,  or 
were  now  engaged  in  the  importation  of  books,  it  is  impossible 
to  say ;  but  if  we  take  this  one  valuable  agent  as  an  index,  and 
refer  merely  to  his  last  successful  adventure,  it  will  be  evident, 
that  amidst  all  the  fury  of  opponents,  a  tide  had  set  in,  which  it 
was  beyond  the  power  of  man  to  stem. 

According  to  the  list  of  books  exhibited  against  Bayfield,  at  the 
head  of  the  whole,  in  point  of  number,  we  have  William  Tyndale. 
This  zealous  importer  had  brought  this  year — The  five  books  of 
Moses,  in  distinct  tracts  or  volumes — The  New  Testament,  includ- 
ing the  prologue  to  the  Romans — The  parable  respecting  Mam- 
mon— The  obedience  of  a  Christian  Man — The  Practice  of  Prelates, 
and  even  The  Answer  to  More ;  or  ten  difierent  publications  in  all. 
There  was  also  one  of  Fryth's  on  Purgatory.  We  give  the  principal 
names  of  the  authors,  with  the  number  of  publications  by  each. 

By  Tyndale  there  were  at  least  ten^  all  in  English,  and  in 
Latin  we  find 

By  Luther,     .     .     5  By  CEcolampadius.  4  By  Pomeranus,  3 

—  Melancthon,      5  —  F.  Lambert,    .     4  —  Capito,      .     2 

—  Bucer,      .      .     5  —  Brentius,     .     .     4  —  Zuinglius,      1 

Besides  eight  others  by  various  authors — and  the  Sum  of  Scrip- 
ture— The  Primer — The  Psalter — The  A.  B.  C.  against  tlie 
Clergy — and  The  Dialogue  between  a  Gentleman  and  a  Plough- 
man. There  were,  in  short, ^/y-^eve/i  distinct  publications — "of 
all  which  books,"  Bayfield  is  charged  with  having  brought  "  a 
great  number  into  this  realm  of  England." 

On  the  3rd  of  December,  or  only  a  fortnight  after  having  tor- 
tured and  murdered  this  excellent  man,  Stokesly  proceeded  to  the 
denunciation  of  books.  "  The  first  Sunday  of  Advent,"  says  the 
manuscript,  "  in  the  j^ear  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  xxxi.,  these  books  following  were  openly  at  PauFs  Cross,  by 
the  authority  of  my  Lord  of  London,  under  authentical  seal,  by 
the  Doctor  that  day  preached,  prohibited  and  straitly  commanded 
of  no  manner  of  man  to  be  used,  under  pain  of  suspension,  and 
a  greater  pain,  as  more  largely  appeareth  in  foresaid  authorit}-." 
This  list  of  books  is  valuable,  as  verifying  the  present  history. 
We  therefore  give  it  verbatim,  only  arranging  the  books  under 
their  respective  authors.     No  Latin  works  are  mentioned. 

By  Tyndale. — The  New  Testament  in  English,  with  an  intro- 
duction to  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans — The  first  book  of  Moses 
called  Genesis — A  prologue  in  the  iid  book  of  Moses  called  Exodus 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  147 

— A  prolog'ue  in  the  tliiid  book  of  Moses  called  Leviticus — A  pro- 
logue in  the  iiijtb  book  of  Moses  called  Numeri — A  prologue  in 
the  vth  book  of  Moses  called  Deuteronomye — The  Parable  of  the 
Wicked  Mammon — The  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man — An 
Exposition  into  the  viiih  chapter  to  the  Corinthians — ^The  Matri- 
mony of  Tyndale — Tiie  Practice  of  Prelates — An  Answer  of  Tyn- 
dale  toSir  Thomas  More's Dialogue,  in  English^ — Jonas,  in  English. 

By  Fryth. — The  Revelation  of  Antichrist — A  Disputation  of 
Purgatory. 

By  Fyshe. — The  Supplication  of  Beggars— The  Sum  of 
Scripture. 

By  Roye. — The  Disputation  betwixt  the  Father  and  the  Son — 
The  Burying  of  the  Mass,  in  English,  in  rhyme — A  book  against 
the  Seven  Sacraments. 

A.  B.  C.  against  the  Clergy — Ortulus  Anime,  in  English — A 
book  against  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury — A  book  of  Thorpe  or 
of  John  Oldcastle — The  Primer  in  English — The  Psalter  in  Eng- 
lish, by  Joye — A  Dialogue  between  the  Gentleman  and  the 
Ploughman.  N.  B.  All  English,  for  they  formed  the  heavy 
artillery. 

In  the  course  of  only  eight  or  ten  days  after  this  interdict,  both 
Stokesly  and  More  were  busy  with  another  martyr,  John  Tewks- 
bury,  who,  in  1529,  on  being  examined  before  Tunstal,  answered 
well,  but  getting  entangled  by  his  sophistry,  abjured.  Moved  now 
by  the  noble  example  of  Bayfield,  he  resolved  to  confess  the  truth 
at  all  hazards.  On  Saturday  the  16th  of  December,  Stokesly 
being  down  at  Chelsea,  condemned  him  on  the  spot,  in  the  house 
of  the  Chancellor,  and  they  delivered  him  to  the  sheriffs.  Stokesly 
had  been  consecrated  or  installed  Lord  Bishop  of  London  on  the 
20th  of  December  last;  and  so  whether  it  was  to  give  the  anni- 
versary some  further  celebrity,  or  as  an  appropriate  memorial  of 
the  day — yet  so  it  was — the  sheriffs  delivered  this  worthy  man  to 
the  stake,  and  he  perished  in  the  flames  at  Smithfield,  on  St. 
Thomas'  Eve,  the  20th  of  December  ! 

Before  concluding  this  first  year  of  Henry's  supremacy,  among 
the  men  apprehended,  we  must  on  no  account  omit  George  Con- 
stantyne,  were  it  only  on  account  of  the  consequences.  We  first 
heard  of  him  in  1528,  when  the  examination  of  Robert  Necton 
occasioned  his  flight.  Since  that  time  he  had  been  in  Brabant, 
and  having  been  originally  bred  a  surgeon,  he  had  there,  by  his 
own  account,  practiced  as  such.  At  the  same  time,  he  evidently 
had  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  importation  of  books,  and  com- 
ing over  himself  this  year,  had,  as  well  as  Bayfield,  brought  books 
with  him  ;  but  he  was  not  possessed  of  similar  fortitude,  nor  was 
he  ever,  like  him,  to  wear  the  crown  of  martyrdom. 

Falling  into  the  hands  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  he  appears  evi- 
dently (by  More's  own  expressions  in  the  preface  to  his  next  folio 
against  Tyndale,  to  have  been,  in  some  degree,  smitten  with  the 
man  and  his  shrewdness.  He  must  have  conversed  with  him  fre- 
quently, and  at  great  length,  as  will  appear  presently,      i 


148  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

"After  divers  communications,  amongst  other  things,  Master 
More  asked  of  him,  saying — '  Constantyne  !  I  would  have  thee  be 
plain  with  me  in  one  thing  that  I  will  ask  ;  and  I  jjromise  thee, 
I  will  shew  thee  favor  in  «ZZ  other  things  whereof  thou  art  accused. 
There  is  beyond  the  sea,  Tyndale,  Joye,  and  a  great  many  of 
you  :  I  know  they  cannot  live  without  help.  There  are  some 
that  help  them,  and  succor  them  with  money  ;  and  thou,  being 
one  of  them,  hadst  thy  part  thereof,  and,  therefore,  knowest  from 
whence  it  came.  I  pray  thee  tell  me  who  be  they  that  help  them 
thus  ?' — 'My  Lord,'  quoth  Constantyne,  'I  will  tell  you  truly  :  it 
is  the  Bishop  of  London  that  hath  holpen  us  ;  for  he  hath  be- 
stowed among  us  a  great  deal  of  money  upon  New  Testaments, 
to  burn  them  ;  and  that  hath  been,  and  yet  is,  our  only  succor 
and  comfort.' — '  Now,  by  my  troth,'  quoth  More,  '  I  think  even  the 
same  ;  for  so  much  I  told  the  Bishop  before  he  went  about  it.'  " 

The  communications  of  Constantyne  at  this  moment,  there  is 
now  no  doubt  had  excited  great  attention.  Crumwell  will  be  seen, 
presently,  to  ground  \\\s  foreign  correspondence  upon  them  ;  and, 
by  the  man's  own  account  in  1539,  the  King  himself  had  con- 
versed particularly  with  him.  "His  Majesty  reasoned  with  me 
himself  almost  nine  years  ago," — and  Constantyne  then  presumed 
to  form  his  own  opinion  of  the  depth  of  the  King's  learning.  But 
More  was  the  chief  cross-examinator,  and  Constantyne,  very 
harshly  treated,  was  now  at  the  lowest  point  of  degradation 
throughout  his  varied  life. 

Sir  Thomas,  by  his  olhcial  severity,  at  last  constrained  the  man, 
through  fear,  to  affirm  much  more  than  he  could  have  substan- 
tiated, respecting  people  abroad,  including  even  Mr.  Vaughan, 
the  English  Envoy,  himself;  and  as  these  forced  confessions  came 
out,  they  soon  found  their  way  across  the  sea,  and  greatly  alarmed 
the  Envoy,  who  wrote  to  Crumwell  exculpating  himself.  But  not 
long  afterward,  and,  to  the  no  small  mortification  of  our  Lord 
Chancellor,  Constantyne  contrived  to  escape  from  his  iron  chain, 
and  sailing  for  the  Continent,  he  arrived  in  safety  at  Antwerp,  on 
the  6th  of  December. 

Vaughan,  by  this  time,  was  effectually  roused,  and  wrote  a  letter 
to  Crumwell,  in  which  he  denies  having  any  sympathy  with  the 
Lutherans  or  the  Tyndalians,  but  begs  to  assure  his  Majesty,  "  that 
he  will  ivith  no  jjolicy,  nor  ivith  no  threatenings  of  tortures  and 
punishments  take  away  the  opinions  of  his  people^  till  his  Grace 
shall  fatherly  and  lovingly  reform  the  clergy  of  his  realm.  For 
there  springeth  the  opinion.  From  thence,  riseth  the  grudge  of 
his  people.     Out  of  that.,  men  take  and  find  occasions  to  complain." 

Constantyne  again  went  on,  importing  books  :  but  it  will  be  re- 
membered that  we  have  given  these  instances  merely  as  a  charac- 
teristic specimen  of  this  sad  year.  "  For  why  stand  I  here,"  says 
Foxe  in  one  place,  "numbering  the  sand?"  And  again, — "So 
great  was  the  trouble  of  those  times,  that  it  would  overcharge  any 
story  to  recite  the  names  of  all  them,  which  during  those  bitter 
days,  before  the  coming  in  of  Queen  Anne,  either  were  driven  out 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  149 

of  the  realm,  or  were  cast  out  from  their  goods  and  houses,  or 
brought  to  open  shame  by  abjuration.  Ye^,  nevertheless,  so 
■mightily  the  j^ower  of  God's  gospel  did  ivork  in  the  hearts  of  good 
men,  that  the  number  of  them  did  nothing  lessen  for  all  this  vio- 
lence and  policy  of  the  adversaries  ;  but  rather  increased  in  such 
sort,  as  our  story  almost  suffereth  not  to  recite  the  particular 
names  of  all  and  singular  such  as  then  groaned^  under  the  per- 
secution of  those  days^  But  still  besides  those  whose  names  are 
given,  there  must  have  been  many  who  were  never  detected.  By 
these  furious  proceedings,  the  deep  interest  abroad,  not  one  whit 
diminished,  was  increased,  and  in  more  places  than  one,  for  of 
course  the  parties  molested,  fled  to  dilFerent  ports. 


SECTION    IX 


TYNDALE  S   PROGRESS EXPOSITION  IN  MATTHEW" — HIS  SENTIMENTS  UNDER  PERSE- 
CUTION  THE    KING    NOT  APPEASED RENEWED  PURSUIT  OF  TYNDALE NOW   BY 

SIR    THOMAS   ELYOT STILL    IN   VAIN STATE  OF  ENGLAND PARLIAMENT THE 

BISHOPS  FINED THE  KING's  AFFAIRS PERSECUTION  GOES  ON BAINHAM LATI- 
MER  MORE    AGAINST    TYNDALE FRYTH    ARRIVES   IN    ENGLAND IN   PERIL IN 

THE  TOWER "WRITING  THERE  IN  DEFENCE  OF  THE  TRUTH,  AND  ADDRESSING  THE 

CHRISTIANS  IN  ENGLAND. 

Already  Tyndale  liad  given  the  New  Testament,  the  Penta- 
teuch, and  the  Prophet  Jonah,  to  his  native  land.  Our  Lord's 
Sermon  on  the  Mount,  in  the  gospel  by  Matthew,  now  engaged 
his  attention,  as  demanding  to  be  expounded,  owing  to  the  errors 
which  still  reigned  triumphant ;  and  his  exposition  first  came  out 
sometime  this  year.  In  this  fundamental  portion  of  the  Sacred 
Volume,  he  represents  the  Saviour  as  "  opening  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,"  which  the  enemies  "  had  shut  up,  that  other  men  should 
not  enter." 

"  He  restoreth  the  key  of  knowledge  which  they  had  taken 
away,"  having  also  "  broken  the  wards,  with  wresting  the  text  con- 
trary to  its  due  and  natural  course,  with  their  false  glosses.  He 
plucketh  away  from  the  face  of  Moses,  the  veil  which  the  Scribes 
and  Pharisees  had  spread  thereon,  that  no  man  might  perceive  the 
brightness  of  his  countenance.  He  weedeth  out  the  thorns  and 
briars  of  their  pharisaical  glosses,  wherewith  they  had  stopped  up 
the  narrow  way  and  strait  gate,  that  few  could  find  them." 

Before  this,  we  have  had  occasion  to  observe  that  Tyndale  was 
almost  immediately  in  possession  of  whatever  was  transacted  in 
England  ;  more  especially  by  the  King,  and  his  obsequious  or  sub- 
dued Parliament ;  and,  of  course,  he  must  have  been  fully  aware 
of  their  doings  in  the  spring  of  last  year.  His  opinion  of  the  change 
for  which  Henry  and  Crumwell  had  been  so  eager,  may  be  inferred 
from  various  passages  now  put  forth.     Already  he  had  shown  him- 


150  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

self  a  most  loyal  subject,  and  an  ardent  admirer  of  good  g-overn- 
ment ;  in  desiring,  above  all  things,  that  his  King  and  country 
should  be  rescued  from  spiritual  tliraldom  :  but  in  desiring  this,  he 
was  no  less  ardent  in  drawing  the  line  of  distinction  between  the 
iDorld  and  the  Church.  As  to  the  latter,  he  longed  for  its  restora- 
tion to  its  original  spirituality,  and  simple  grandeur  ;  and  as  to  his 
much-loved  native  land,  that  the  throne  should  be  established  on 
a  safe  and  righteous  basis. 

Wiien  he  comes  to  expound  the  last  clause  of  the  Lord's  prayer, 
he  says — • 

"  Finally,  no  King,  Lord,  Master,  or  whatever  ruler  he  be,  hath 
absolute  power  in  this  world,  nor  is  the  very  thing  which  her  is 
called,  for  then  they  cease  to  be  brethren,  neither  could  they  sin 
whatsoever  they  commanded.  But  now  their  authority  is  but  a 
limited  power." 

The  power  of  Tyndale's  writing  lay  in  his  drawing  from  the 
life,  and  his  discerning,  with  superior  judgment,  the  precise  mo- 
ment when  certain  truths  required  to  be  pressed  upon  the  notice 
of  his  country.  His  views,  v/hether  of  civil  government,  or  the 
Church  of  God,  were  far  above  his  age,  and  few  there  must  have 
been  who  could  then  understand  him. 

It  was  now  six  years  since  his  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment had  been  denounced  and  committed  to  the  flames ;  and  not 
less  than  four,  since  his  person  had  been  in  danger.  By  the  author- 
ities in  England,  from  the  year  1.528,  he  had  been  a  man  sought 
foi',  but  never  yet  seized.  His  pursuers  too,  seem  to  rise  in  point 
of  rank,  as  we  proceed.  The  first  was  Friar  West,  who,  but  for 
his  connnission  from  Wolsey,  had  remained  in  oblivion.  Hackett, 
most  gladly,  would  have  sent  Tyndale  to  England,  even  by  the 
foulest  means,  and,  according  to  his  own  logic,  as  a  traitor;  but 
he  could  never  find  him.  Yaughan  was  incapable  of  so  base  an 
action,  though  Tyndale  favored  him  with,  at  least,  two  interviews ; 
and  from  what  we  have  read,  it  may  safely  be  inferred,  that  he 
would  never  more  engage  in  hunting  after  heretics, — having,  ac- 
cording to  his  own  confession,  been  "so  beaten  with  his  own  labors." 
He  well  deserves,  however,  to  be  remembered  as  the  only  man  of 
the  age,  who  lifted  up  his  voice  against  the  extreme  folly  of  perse- 
cution for  opinion.  Henry  had  no  man  near  him  so  enlightened 
at  the  moment,  or  if  he  had,  not  one  who  dared  to  speak  out,  not 
even  Crumwell  himself;  for  though  so  pointedly  charged  by 
Vaughan,  it  may  be  presumed  that  he  never  had  shown  that  en- 
voy's letter,  or  reported  its  contents,  to  the  King. 

But  be  this  as  it  may,  Henry  was  not  appeased.  Tyndale  had 
gone  on  to  publish,  it  is  true,  and  besides  his  Answer  to  Sir  Thomas 
More,  his  translation  of  Jonah  was  now  in  England ;  but  his 
Majesty  was  no  admirer  of  the  King  of  Nineveh,  nor  were  his  min- 
isters like  the  nobles  of  that  great  city.  The  person  now  put  in 
commission,  and  by  the  King  himself,  to  pursue  the  best  of  his 
subjects,  was  no  other  than  the  well-known  Sir  Thomas  Elyot,  a 
literary  man,  author  of  "  The  Governor,"  and  other  publications 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  151 

Vaughan  had  been  patronized  by  Cnimwell,  yet  thought  for  him- 
self; but  Elyot  was  the  very  intimate,  if  not  bosom  friend  of  Sir 
Thomas  More,  as  well  as  a  favorite  of  the  King's,  so  that  no  zeal 
can  be  lacking  now,  even  if  Tyndale  should  not  be  apprehended. 
In  allihe  histories  yet  published,  Elyot  is  first  mentioned  as  sent 
by  Henr}'  tlie  VIII.  to  Rome,  about  h;s  divorce  in  1532  ;  but  he 
was  on  the  Continent  last  year.  He  Vv^as  with  the  Emperor  in 
November  at  Tournay,  and  had  then  been  abroad  some  time. 
Vaughan  had  met  him  there;  and  on  the  9lh  or  19tli  of  Decem- 
ber, 1531,  lie  writes  to  Crumwell : — 

"  Maister  Ellyot,  the  King's  Ambassador,  this  day  sent  me  a 
letter  from  Tournay,  with  another  enclosed  to  you,  wherein  I  think 
he  desiretli  you  to  be  a  solicitor  to  the  King's  Majesty  and  to  his 
honourable  council  for  him,  that  he  may  from  time  to  time  have 
answer  of  his  letters,  and  be  made  thereby  more  able  to  do  the 
King  honour  in  these  parts.  It  is  not  v/ell  done  that, he  should  be 
so  long  without  letters."  ,    .,  . ,  • 

Tlie  Emperor,  leaving  the  Low  Countries  in  the  beginning  of 
January  this  year,  directed  his  journey  towards  Ratisbon,  in  order 
to  hold  a  diet  there.  Taking  Mentz  on  his  way,  he  had  not 
arrived  till  February  or  the  beginning  of  March,  but  to  this  city 
Elyot  followed  him.  Whether  his  correspondence  had  been  still 
neglected,  as  both  Henry  and  Crumwell  were  absorbed  in  Parlia- 
mentary affairs  at  home,  does  not  appear,  but  the  ambassador  had 
been  anxious  to  revisit  England.  This  desire,  however,  could 
not  be  gratified,  and  on  the  i4th  of  March,  we  have  the  following 
letter,  dated  from  (Regensburgh)  Ratisbon,  addressed  to  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  the  successor  of  Wolsey,  as  Prime  Minister  of  Eng- 
land, and  as  determined  an  enemy  as  tlie  Cardinal  ever  was. 

"  My  duty  remembered,  with  most  humble  thanks  unto  your 
Grace,  that  it  pleased  you  so  benevolently  to  remember  me  unto 
the  King's  Highness,  concerning  my  return  into  England.  Albeit 
the  King  willeth  me,  by  his  Grace's  letters,  to  remain  at  Brussels, 
some  space  of  time, /or  tJte  apprehension  of  Tyndale,  which  some- 
what minisheth  my  hope  of  soon  return ;  considering  that  like  as 
he  is  in  wit  moveable,  semblably  so  is  his  person  uncertain  to  come 
by.  And,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive,  hearing  of  the  King's  diligence 
in  the  apprehension  of  him,  he  withdraweth  him  into  such  places 
where  he  thinketh  to  be  farthest  out  of  danger.  In  me  there  shall 
lack  none  endeavour.  Finall}'',  as  I  am  all  the  King's,  except  my 
soul,  so  shall  I  endure  all  that  shall  be  his  pleasure,  employing  my 
poor  life  gladly,  in  that  Avhich  may  be  to  his  honour,  or  wealth  of 
his  realm. 

"  Pleaseth  it  your  Grace,  according  as  I  have  written  to  the 
King's  Highness,  the  Emperor  being  yet  sore  grieved  with  a  fall 
from  his  horse,  keepeth  himself  so  close,  that  Mr.  Cranmer  and  I 
can  have  none  access  to  his  Majesty,  which  almost  grieveth  me 
as  much  as  the  Emperor's  fall  grieveth  him." 

Every  one  who  has  paid  an}^  attention  to  these  times,  cannot 
fail  to  be  excited  by  the  mention  of  Elyot's  companion  and  asso- 


152  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

ciate,  and  iriore  especially  as  this  is  the  earliest  distinct  notice  of 
Cranmer  when  abroad,  which  appears  on  the  face  of  these  manu- 
scripts. He  had  been  at  Rome  for  some  time  in  1530,  but  returned 
to  England  in  1531,  where  we  find  him  at  Hampton  Court  in  June, 
and  in  close  attendance  upon  his  Majesty  there.  As  l)usy  as  ever 
in  Henry's  one  affair,  from  thence,  on  the  13th  of  that  month,  he 
dates  a  long  letter  to  Lady  Anne's  father,  the  Earl  of  Wiltshire, 
criticising  the  book  of  Cardinal  Pole,  on  tliis  business ;  and  as  he 
remaiaecl  at  home  till  January,  he  could  not  fail  to  be  intimately 
acquainted  with  all  the  sad  occurrences  of  last  year.  In  that  very 
period  the  fatal  fires  had  been  kindled,  and  were  blazing  in  Eng- 
land. Then  the  martyrdoms  of  Bilney,  or  Bayfield,  and  of  Tewks- 
bury,  had  taken  place  ;  there  were  the  grievous  cross-examinations 
and  cruelties  of  More  and  of  Stokesly  ;  and  the  pubhc  denuncia- 
tion, by  the  latter,  of  Tyndale's  writings,  in  December  ;  and  yet 
here  is  Cranmer,  associated  as  ambassador  and  fellow-traveller 
with  the  man  who  has  been  charged,  by  their  King,  to  seize  the 
Author !  But  still  it  were  nothing  short  of  an  injury  done  to  pos- 
terity, to  represent  any  man,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  as  inter- 
ested in  a  cause  before  he  really  was,  even  so  far  as  to  evince 
sympathy  for  the  cruelty  and  death  endured  in  it ;  and  the  truth 
of  history  does  not  furnish  us  with  even  a  vestige  of  such  interest 
or  feeling  in  Cranmer,  for  some  time  to  come.  One  eminent  ser- 
vice in  relation  to  the  Scriptures,  he  will  perform  for  his  country, 
which  will  come  before  us,  in  its  proper  place,  five  years  hence ; 
but  at  this  momentous  period,  let  the  men  who  bore  the  brunt  of 
this  never-to-be-forgotten  contest ;  the  men  Avho  died  with  their 
face  to  the  foe — 

"  Who  neither  fear' J  the  darkest  hour, 
Nor  trembled  at  the  tempter's  power ;"' 

let  them  enjoy  the  place  to  which  they  alone  are  entitled  ;  an  emi- 
nence unapproached  by  others,  w^iether  from  shame  or  fear,  from 
worldly  policy  or  criminal  ignorance.  No  unbiassed  writer  can  now 
wittingly  confound  Tyndale  and  Fryth  with  any  other  men,  wdio 
in  the  days  of  peril,  persecution,  and  universal  obloquy,  either  dared 
not,  or  could  not,  speak  one  word  ;  nor  will  he  allow  their  charac- 
ters to  be  obscured  by  any,  who  never  came  forth  till  after  the  bat- 
tle of  eleven  years'  duration  was  fought  and  won.  Since  the  year 
1526,  Divine  truth,  like  concealed  leaven,  had  been  in  vigorous 
operation,  enlightening,  saving,  and  sanctifying  the  souls  of  men ; 
but  the  Translator,  after  his  long  unaided  warfare,  had  washed 
his  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb,  before 
that  Cranmer  had  ever  once  expressed  his  approbation  of  the  trans- 
lation. It  will  not  be  till  in  a  moment  of  surprise,  and  after  find- 
ing himself  in  a  dilemma,  that  he  will  speak  out.  But  even  this 
will  not  occur  till  five  years  more  have  passed  away. 

It  was  on  the  24th  of  January  this  year  that  Cranmer  had  re- 
ceived his  credentials  as  ambassador  to  the  Court  of  the  Emperor, 
when  he  immediately  left  England,  and  must  have  overtaken 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  153 

Elyot  somewhere  on  the  Rhine.  The  letter,  from  which  we  have 
aheady  quoted,  narrates  their  progress  towards  RatisboiL 

For  about  six  months  Cranmer  continued  to  reside  chiefly  at 
Nuremberg,  and  Elyot  at  Ratisbon.  In  prospect  of  the  Turkish 
invasion,  Charles  was  now  in  treaty  with  the  German  Protestant 
Princes  to  secure  their  co-operation  against  the  common  enemy  of 
Europe,  who  proudl}^  insisted  that  no  man  should  be  called  Empe- 
ror except  himself  These  negociations  commencing  in  April  ter- 
minated on  the  23d  of  July  at  Ratisbon,  on  which  day  Elyot  wrote 
again  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk. 

This  letter,  however,  conveyed  no  very  welcome  news  to  Henry 
at  least ;  though  the  Princes  (seven  in  number,  and  tw^enty-four 
Cities,)  regarded  it  a;p  the  first  religious  peace  in  Germany.  None 
were  now  to  be  molested  on  account  of  opinions  till  the  meeting 
of  a  General  Council ;  all  judicial  processes  relating  to  religion 
were  to  be  suspended,  and  all  law  suits  for  the  restoration  of 
Church  property  w^ere  null  and  void — concessions  w^hicli  were 
published  throughout  Germany,  by  imperial  proclamation.  These 
were  measures,  too,  in  perfect  accordance  wnth  those  which  Vaug- 
han  had  urged  upon  Henry  the  Eighth,  through  Crumwell;  yet 
so  bent  was  our  English  Monarch  upon  his  favorite  project,  and 
the  gratification  of  his  own  will,  that  even  the  prospect  of  such 
relief  to  tliousands  of  the  best  minds  in  Europe,  had  no  charms 
for  him  ;  and  Cranmer  had  been  engaged  to  employ  all  his  skill 
in  jireventing  such  enjoyment !  He  had  been  "  instructed  to 
make  a  secret  visit  to  the  court  of  Saxony,  to  deliver  letters  both 
to  the  Elector  and  the  other  Princes  who  had  joined  the  Protest- 
ant league,  and  to  assure  them,  by  conversation  also,  of  his  Sove- 
reign's friendship.  Henry  was  disposed,  like  the  French  King,  to 
foment  between  these  confederates  and  the  Emperor  any  ill  hu- 
mor. It  was  his  project  of  revenge  for  the  Imperial  opposition  to 
the  divorce  ;  but  it  had  no  important  result.  The  pacification  of 
Nuremberg  indeed  was  effected  within  a  few  days  after  this  effort 
to  impede  it,  and  Cranmer  had  to  relate  to  his  Sovereign,  instead 
of  dissention,  the  principal  terms  of  that  memorable  treaty." 

How  long  before  the  14th  of  March,  Elyot  had  been  charged 
with  his  commission  from  the  King  to  seize  Tyndale,  does  not 
appear  ;  but  as  he  chose  to  say,  that  he  w^as  "  all  the  King's  ex- 
cept his  soul"  from  the  first  moment  he  must  have  been  on  the 
look  out ;  and  as  he  had  been  moving  from  place  to  place  for  about 
two  months  before  he  arrived  at  Ratisbon,  he  could  then  speak 
from  some  experience  of  Tyndale  "withdrawing"  himself,  "  as  far 
as  he  could  perceive."  Now,  however,  he  was  far  distant  from 
Brussels,  and  there  he  must  remain.  Providentially,  for  Tyndale 
at  least,  he  was  detained  month  after  month ;  and  if  Cranmer 
failed  in  his  "  secret  visit,"  so  did  Elyot  as  to  his  "  conmiission" 
from  the  King.  A  storm  was  gathering  in  the  East  which  occa- 
sioned every  monarch  in  Europe  to  pause  and  think  ;  it  was  the 
invasion  of  Solyman,  the  grand  Turk,  with  an  army  of  three 
hundred  thousand  men.     Elyot's  letters,  therefore,  were  now  full 


154  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  little  or  nothing  else,  if  we  may  judge  by  his  very  long  epistle 
to  Norfolk  on  the  11th  of  Augnst.  And  thus  was  he  diverted  from 
a  pursuit  which  must  have  forever  disgi'aced  his  memory,  if  it  had 
ended  in  the  apprehension  of  England's  greatest  benefactor.  Tyn- 
dale  has  yet  four  years  to  live. 

Sir  Thomas  More  and  Stokesly  still  went  on  as  the  most  emi- 
nent and  busy  persecutors  of  the  Truth.  In  December  last,  a 
gentleman  of  liis  own  profession  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the 
Chancellor — Mr.  James  Bainham,  the  son  of  Sir  Alexander  Bain- 
ham,  a  knight  of  Gloucestershire,  who  had  married  the  widow  of 
Mr.  Fyshe,  already  noticed.  He  had  been  seized  by  the  Sergeant- 
at-arms,  and  carried  out  of  the  Middle  Temple  down  to  More's 
own  house  at  Clielsea.  This  was  another  victim  to  console  him 
for  the  recent  escape  of  George  Constantyne.  Imagining  that 
there  must  have  been  others  of  the  profession  who  had  imbibed 
the  same  opinions,  the  Chancellor  particularly  degraded  himself 
by  his  cruelty  to  this  excellent  man  ;  for  after  being  shamefully 
handled  under  his  own  roof,  if  not  also  in  his  own  garden,  he  was 
afterwards  conveyed  to  the  Tower,  and  there,  in  his  presence,  tor- 
tured by  the  rack  till  he  was  lamed.  He  would,  however,  neither 
accuse  any  gentlemen  of  his  acquaintance  in  the  Temple,  nor 
disclose  where  his  books  lay  concealed.  His  worthy  partner  in 
life  also,  no  more  able  to  see  the  face  of  Henry,  and  who  might 
have  been  repulsed  though  she  had,  now  fell  into  trouble.  Deny- 
ing the  books  to  be  at  her  husband's  house,  she  was  thrown  into 
Fleet  Prison,  and  their  goods  conliscated.  After  all  this  torment, 
Bainham  was  handed  over  to  Stokesly  ;  and  being  urged  to  con- 
fess (he  truth,  he  said — -"That  he  had  had  'the  New  Testament 
translated  into  the  English  tongue  by  Tyndale,'  (till)  within  this 
month,  and  thought  he  ofTended  not  God,  in  using  and  keeping  the 
same,  notwithstanding  that  he  knew  the  King's  proclamation  to 
the  contrary,  and  that  it  was  prohibited  in  the  name  of  the  Church, 
at  Paul's  Cross  ;  but  for  all  that,  he  thought  the  Word  of  God  had 
not  forbid  it.  Confessing,  moreover,  that  he  had  in  his  keeping, 
(till)  within  this  month,  these  books — The  Wicked  Mammon,— 
the  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man, — the  Practice  of  Prelates, — 
the  Answer  of  Tyndale  to  Thomas  More's  Dialogue, — the  Book 
of  Fryth  against  Purgatory, — the  Epistle  of  George  Gee,  ahas 
Gierke. — Adding,  that  in  all  these  books  he  never  saw  any  errors  ; 
and  if  there  were  any  such  in  them,  then,  if  they  were  corrected, 
it  w^ere  good  that  the  people  had  the  said  books.  And  as  concern- 
ing the  New  Testament  hi  English,  he  thought  it  utterli/  good, 
and  that  the  people  should  have  it,  as  it  is." 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  it  is  to  be  lamented  that  Bainham 
began  to  waver  in  a  state  of  doubtful  perplexity,  between  life  and 
death ;  so  that,  after  two  months'  confinement,  he  read  his  abju- 
ration, was  fined  twenty  pounds  (equal  to  c€300  now)  to  the  King, 
and  being  released  on  the  17tli  of  February,  was  dismissed  home. 
He  was,  however,  scarcely  a  month  at  large  before  he  lamented 
his  conduct  most  bitterly. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  155 

In  the  early  part  of  this  year,  there  was  another  instance  of 
cruehy,  too  notable  to  pass  unnoticed,  although  it  did  not  termi- 
nate latally.  This  referred  to  no  other  than  Hugh  Latimer,  and 
Stokesly  was  the  prime  mover.  He  had  summoned  Latimer  to 
appear  before  him,  but  he  contemned  the  message,  referring  to  the 
Bishop  of  Salis!3ury  as  his  ordinary.  Stokesly  then  apphed  to 
Warham,  and  Latimer  was  summoned  to  appear  before  hhn  on 
the  29 ih  of  January.  According  to  Latimer's  own  statement,  the 
case  was  remitted  to  five  or  six  Bishops,  and  he  appeared  before 
them  thrice  every  week.  Firm  and  resolute  for  some  time,  he 
refused  to  subscribe  the  articles  they  presented.  For  this  he  was 
declared  contumacious,  and  aftewarcls  cxconnnunicated.  In  order, 
ho^yever,  to  bring  him  to  some  submission,  it  was  resolved  to  take 
q^' the  sentence,  if  he  would  sign  two  of  the  articles,  namely,  one 
respecting  the  observation  of  Lent,  and  another  concerning  the 
crucifix  and  the  lawfulness  and  profit  of  images  in  Churches,  for 
the  worship  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  Saints  ! 

He  subscribed  the  two  articles  already  mentioned,  and  a  further 
hearing  was  appointed.  Unwilling  to  let  him  go,  when  the  day 
arrived  a  new  complaint  was  produced,  respecting  a  letter  he  had 
Avritten  to  one  Greenwood  of  Cambridge,  upon  which  Latimer  ap- 
pealed to  the  King  as  head  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  was 
ultimately  restored  to  his  functions. 

If  the  laborious  Lord  Chancellor  had  been  busy  in  persecuting 
his  fellow-subjects  at  home,  he  had  been  no  less  so  with  his  pen, 
in  opposition  to  Tyndale  abroad.  His  friend,  Sir  Thomas  Elyot, 
might  be  "doing  his  best  endeavor"  to  seize  the  man,  but  More 
was  determined  to  overwhelm  and  expose  him  as  a  writer  and 
translator.  His  huge  publication  being  now,  in  part,  ready,  must 
be  put  forth.  The  first  three  books  of  it,  with  a  long  preface, 
printed  b}^  the  son  of  his  brother-in-law,  Rastell,  appeared  with 
this  title,  "  The  confutation  of  Tyndale's  answer,  made  by  Sir 
Thomas  More,  knight,  Lord  Chancellor  of  England — cum  privi- 
legio."  He  had  six  books  more  to  come,  although  the  present /oZfo 
extended  to  363  pages,  thirty-seven  of  which  filled  his  preface  ! 
This,  it  will  be  observed,  was  printed  before  he  had  resigned  the 
seals,  in  May ;  so  that,  between  cross-examinations  of  worthy 
men,  on  the  one  hand,  and  proof-sheets  against  Tyndale  on  the 
other,  he  must  have  been  engrossed  indeed. 

In  the  meanwhile,  another  opponent  had  started  up,  and  fretted 
him  not  a  little.  Fryth's  puljlication  had  arrived,  and  was  now 
greedily  read  in  England,  and  the  Chancellor  undertook  to  dispose 
of  him. 

But  it  would  have  been  prudent  in  Sir  Thomas,  to  have  let 
Fryth  alone,  as  the  interference  only  exposed  him,  in  the  end,  to 
a  double  defeat.  Even  Tyndale  was  younger  than  himself,  and 
he  was  more  than  his  match  ;  but  John  Fryth  was  only  twenty- 
eight  years  of  age,  when  his  book  was  published,  last  year.  Be- 
sides, the  Chancellor  had  crowed  by  far  too  soon,  as  he  had  then 
no  idea  that  in  a  few  months  after,  Fryth  himself  would  come 


156 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


over,  and  not  only  confront  him  upon  English  ground,  though 
writing  from  a  dungeon,  but  overcome  in  argument  the  Bishops 
assembled,  with  Cranmer  at  their  head. 

Fryth  proceeded  to  London,  and  there  saw  those  friends  of  truth 
to  whom  Bainham  had  first  made  his  confession,  a  few  months 
before.  The  danger,  however,  was  extreme — but  there  was  to  be 
no  more  anything  bordering  upon  abjuration — no  more  halting  be- 
tween two  opinions,  or  between  life  and  death — in  Fryth's  case. 
He  had  come  to  read  a  lesson  to  the  Martyrs  of  England,  and 
he  read  it  nobly,  by  his  tongue,  nay,  by  his  pen,  and  finally  by  the 
flames.  It  was  altogether  a  sight  which  had  never  been  seen  in 
England  since  the  days  in  which  he  himself  had  been  reading  the 
first  imported  Testament,  or  was  immured  in  the  dungeon  at  Ox- 
ford. Yet  though  of  so  decided  a  character,  that  he  afterwards 
astonished  both  friends  and  foes,  Fryth  still  accounted  it  his  im- 
perative duty  to  avoid  apprehension  if  he  could  ;  and,  according  to 
the  Divine  commandment,  first  fled  from  place  to  place,  rather 
than  his  enemies  should  be  involved  in  the  guilt  of  blood.  He 
changed  his  raiment  and  place  of  abode  again  and  again,  but  could 
not  remain  long  anywhere,  even  among  friends.  Sir  Thomas 
More  had  now  heard  of  his  being  in  England,  and  "  beset,"  says 
Foxe,  "all  the  ways  and  havens,  yea,  and  promised  great  rewards, 
if  any  man  could  bring  any  tidings  of  him." 

While,  however,  he  was  yet  at  large,  there  was  a  Christian 
brother,  of  whom  Fryth  says,  "  for  his  commendable  conversation, 
and  sober  behavior,  he  might  better  be  a  bishop,  than  many  that 
wear  mitres,  if  the  rule  of  St.  Paul  were  regarded  in  tiieir  election." 
He  had  applied  to  Fryth  for  his  opinions  respecting  the  Lord's 
Supper,  and  after  complying  with  his  earnest  request,  "he  desired 
me,"  he  adds,  "  to  entitle  the  sum  of  my  words,  and  write  them 
for  him,  because  they  seemed  over  long  to  be  well  retained  in 
memory.  This  was  done  with  no  intention  of  its  being  read, 
except  by  select  or  choice  friends,  who  had  already  received  the 
truth ;  for  they  knew  the  spiritual  and  necessary  eating  and 
drinking  of  his  body  and  blood,  which  is  received  but  with  the 
ears  and  faith,  and  only  needed  instruction  in  the  outward  eating  ; 
which  thing,"  adds  Fryth,  "  I  only  declared."  By  this  time,  More 
especially,  if  not  Stokesly,  had  various  spies  on  the  lookout  in 
London  ;  base  men,  who  insinuated  themselves  among  the  best 
of  the  city.  Two  of  these  are  named— one  Withers,  and  William 
Holt,  the  foreman  of  Mr.  Malte,  tailor  to  the  King.  The  latter 
was  the  guilty  man,  who  betrayed  confidence.  Having  seen  the 
manuscript  of  Fryth,  he  begged  a  perusal  of  it,  and  once  obtained, 
he  carried  it  forthwith  to  the  Chancellor.  But  two  other  copies 
were  conveyed  to  him  by  similar  men,  which  gave  Fryth  occasion 
to  warn  his  friends,  from  the  Tower,  afterwards. 

Sir  Thomas  More,  however,  as  if  conscious  of  his  incompetence 
to  answer  -'the  young  man,"  for  so  he  generally  called  him,  had 
now  become  more  cautious,  though  it  was  only  a  few  months  since 
his  vaunting  preface  was  abroad.     This  must  have  been  the  more 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  157 

mortifying-,  when  Frytli  let  out  the  secret ;  for  referring  to  his 
manuscript,  he  tells  us, — 

"  Mr.  More,  which  of  late  hath  busied  himself  to  meddle  in  all 
such  matters,  (of  what  zeal  I  will  not  define,)  hath  sore  labored  to 
confute  it ;  but  some  men  think  that  he  is  ashamed  of  his  part, 
and  for  that  cause  dot]i  so  diligently  suppress  the  wo7'k  ivhich  he 
pj-infed  ;  for  I  myself  saw  the  work  in  print,  in  my  Lord  of  Win- 
chester's house,  upon  St.  Stephen's  day  last  past,  (2(3th  Dec.  1.532.) 
But  neither  I,  neither  all  the  friends  I  could  make,  might  attain 
any  copy,  but  only  one  written  copy,  which,  as  it  seemed,  was 
drawn  out  in  great  haste.  Notwithstanding,  I  cannot  well  judge 
lohat  the  cause  should  be  that  his  book  is  kept  so  secret ;  but  this 
I  am  right  sure  of,  that  he  never  touched  the  foundation  that  my 
treatise  was  builded  upon.  And,  therefore,  since  my  foundation 
standeth  so  sure  and  invincible — I  will  thereupon  build  a  little 
more." 

From  this  passage  it  is  evident  that  Frytli  was  not  only  in  safe 
keeping,  and  under  examination  by  this  month  of  December,  but 
that  More  had  replied  to  his  manuscript,  and  in  print,  and  there- 
fore he  must  have  been  in  England  for  some  months.  He  had 
been  apprehended,  says  Foxe,  at  a  place  called  Milton  Shore,  in 
Essex,  where  he  had  gone  with  a  view  to  embark  for  the  Conti- 
nent, and  after  that  had  been  committed  to  the  Tower. 

But  with  regard  to  that  great  cause  for  which  Fryth  was  now 
in  prison,  and  Tyndale  had  pursued  for  years,  there  was  no  possi- 
bility of  stopping  its  onward  progress.  The  importation  of  the 
Scriptures,  as  well  as  other  books,  went  on.  A  tide  had  set  in 
which  no  vigilance,  no  power  upon  earth,  could  either  stop  or  turn 
aside. 

We  have  alluded  to  a  Congregation  meeting  in  London,  but 
there  were  groups,  in  secret,  throughout  different  counties.  John 
Fryth  had  seen  those  in  London,  and  then  proceeded  from  place 
to  place,  before  he  was  to  address  them  all  from  his  prison.  He 
had  worshipped  God  along  with  them,  and  expounded  the  Sacred 
Volume  they  held  so  dear  ;  and  what  was  his  deliberate  opinion 
of  those  people,  whom  the  Chancellor  and  the  Bishops  so  de- 
famed ?  Here  it  is  in  a  Letter  addressed  to  them,  "  whilst  he  was 
prisoner  in  the  Tower  of  London,  for  the  Word  of  God^anno 
1532." 

"  It  cannot  be  expressed,  dearly  beloved  in  the  Lord,  what  joy 
and  comfort  it  is  to  my  heart,  to  perceive  how  the  Word  of  God 
hath  wrought,  and  continually  worketh  among  you  ;  so  that  I 
find  )io  small  number  walking  in  the  ways  of  the  Lord,  according  as 
he  gave  us  commandment,  willing  that  we  should  love  one  another 
as  he  loved  us.  Now  have  I  experience  of  the  faith  which  is  in 
you ;  and  can  testify  that  it  is  without  simulation  ;  that  ye  love, 
not  in  word  and  tongue  only,  but  in  work  and  verity. 

"  What  can  be  more  trial  of  a  faithful  heart,  than  to  adventure, 
not  only  to  aid  and  succor  by  the  means  of  others,  which  without 
danger  may  not  be  admitted  unto  us,  but  also  personally  to  visit 


158  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  poor  oppressed,  and  see  that  nothing  be  lacking  unto  them, 
but  that  they  have  both  ghostly  comfort,  and  bodily  sustenance, 
notwithstanding  the  strait  inhibition  and  terrible  onenacing  of 
these  worldly  rulers  ;  even  ready  to  abide  the  extrejne  jeopardies 
that  tyrants  can  imagine? 

"  This  is  an  evidence  tbat  you  have  prepared  yourselves  to  the 
cross  of  Christ :  Tliis  is  an  evidence  that  ye  have  cast  your  ac- 
counts, and  have  wlierev.'ith  to  finish  the  tower  which  )'e  have 
begun  to  build.  And  I  doubt  not  but  that  He,  which  hath  begun 
to  woriv  in  you,  shall,  for  his  glory,  accomplish  the  same,  even 
unto  the  coming  of  the  Lord,  which  sball  give  unto  every  man 
according  to  his  deeds.  And  albeit  God,  of  His  secret  judgments, 
for  a  time  keep  the  rod  from  some  of  them  that  ensue  his  steps  ; 
yet  let  them  surely  reckon  upon  it,  for  there  is  no  doubt  but  all 
which  v/ill  devoutly  live  in  Christ,  must  suffer  persecution  ;  for 
'  whom  tlie  Lord  loveth,  he  correcteth,  and  scourgeth  every  child 
that  he  receiveth  ;'  for  what  child  is  that  whom  the  Father  chas- 
tiseth  not?  '' 

"Of  these  things,  God  had  given  me  the  speculation  before ;  ■ 
and  now  it  hath  pleased  him  to  put  them  in  use  and  practice  upon 
me.  I  ever  thought,  and  yet  do  think,  that  to  walk  after  God's 
Word  would  cost  me  my  life,  at  one  time  or  another.  And  albeit 
that  the  King's  Grace  should  take  me  into  his  favor,  and  not  to 
suffer  the  bloody  Edomites  to  have  their  pleasures  upon  me  ;  yet 
will  I  not  think  that  I  am  escaped  :  but  that  God  hath  only  de- 
ferred it  for  a  season,  to  the  intent  that  I  should  work  somewhat 
that  he  hath  appointed  me  to  do,  and  so  to  use  me  unto  his  glory.' 

"  And  I  beseech  all  the  followers  of  Christ  to  arm  themselves 
with  the  same  supposition,  marking  themselves  with  the  sign  of 
the  cross,  not /"ro//i  the  cross,  as  the  superstitious  multitude  do,  biH 
rather  to  the  cross,  in  token  that  they  be  ever  ready,  willingly  to 
receive  the  cross  when  it  shall  please  God  to  lay  it  upon  them. 
The  day  that  it  cometh  not,  count  it  clear  won,  giving  thanks  to 
the  Lord  which  hath  kept  it  from  you  :  and  then  when  it  cometh, 
it  shall  nothing  dismay  you,  for  it  is  no  new  thing,  but  even  that 
which  ye  have  continually  looked  for. 

"  And  doubt  not  but  that  God,  which  is  faithful,  shall  not  suffer 
you  to  be  tempted  above  that  which  ye  are  able  to  bear,  but  shall 
ever  send  some  occasion,  by  the  which  ye  shall  stand  steadfast ;  for 
either  he  shall  blind  the  eyes  of  your  enemies,  and  diminish  their 
tyrannous  power,  or  else,  when  he  hath  suffered  them  to  do  their 
best,  and  that  the  dragon  hath  cast  a  whole  flood  of  waters  'after 
you.  He  shall  cause  even  the  very  earth  to  open  her  mouth  and 
swallow  them  up.  So  faithful  is  He,  and  careful  to  ease  us,  what 
time  the  vexation  should  be  too  heavy  for  us. 

"  He  shall  send  a  Joseph  before  you  against  ye  shall  come  into 
Egypt ;  yea,  he  shall  so  provide  for  you,  that  ye  shall  have  an 
hundred  fathers  for  one;  an /«wirfrec?  mothers  for  one;  an  hun- 
dred houses  for  one  ;  and  that  in  this  hfe,  as  1  have  proved  by 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  159 

EXPERIENCE  j  and  after  this  life,  everlasting  joy  with  Christ  our 
Saviour." 

Such  were  the  fruits  of  the  Sacred  Word,  printed  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  !  In  the  outset,  it  was  like  but  an  handful  of  corn,  sown 
in  a  most  unpromising  soil,  on  the  top  of  a  mountain,  yet  now  that 
one  of  the  sowers  has  come,  "  it  cannot  be  expressed  wliat  joy  and 
comfort  it  was  to  his  heart  to  perceive"  far  more  than  the  green 
blade  above  the  ground.  The  commendation  is  worthy  of  being 
written  in  letters  of  gold,  and  especially  that  closing  sentence. 

That  a  Christian  should  receive  a  hundred-fold  of  temporal 
good,  with  persecutions,  has  often  seemed  to  be  a  mystery,  and  the 
passage  has  so  perplexed  the  expositors  of  more  peaceful  times, 
that  they  have  felt  obliged  to  escape  to  the  supposition  of  celestial 
gratifications.  How  a  man  should  leave  one  house  and  find  a  hun- 
dred, in  the  days  when  mere  professors  are  loth  to  leave  anything 
for  Christ,  has  appeared  to  be  impossible  ;  although  the  Saviour 
expressly  confines  the  hundredfold  to  this  life.  But  the  exuberant 
love  and  hospitality  of  the  primitive  Christians,  vmtie  the  knot,  and 
explain  the  promise.  On  the  part  of  our  Redeemer,  it  was  indeed 
a  most  extraordinary  intimation  ;  informing  the  earliest  age,  not 
only  that  Christianity  should  gain  ground,  but  prevail  in  such 
power  over  its  believers  and  all  that  they  possessed  ;  and  it  re- 
mained for  John  Fryth  especially  to  come  over,  and  draw  out  the 
proof  that  primitive  Christianity  had  effectually  taken  root  in 
England.  All  the  behevers'  houses  had  been  open  to  entertain 
him,  and  there  was  he  treated  with  all  a  father's,  or  a  mother's,  a 
brother's  or  a  sister's  kindness.  Now  that  he  was  in  bonds,  he 
was  overcome  with  joy,  by  finding  that  such  was  their  concern 
for  him,  and  that  they  felt  his  private  or  personal  suffering  as  a 
general  calamity,  or  a  public  wrong. 

And  now  that  the  year  is  ended  what  can  be  said,  as  to  the  Old 
man  and  the  Young  ?  the  Chancellor  and  his  prisoner?  What 
else  than  that  "wisdom  excelleth  folly,  and  as  far  as  light  excel- 
leth  darkness  ;"  or  that  "  the  wise  man's  eyes  are  in  his  head,  and 
that  it  is  the  infatuated  only,  who  walk  on  in  darkness  ?" 

By  the  mercy  of  God,  however.  Sir  Thomas  More  must  now 
withdraw.  He  had  resigned  the  Great  Seal  in  May,  but  still  had 
acted  officially  till  towards  the  close  of  the  year ;  in  a  few  weeks 
hence  he  will  be  entirely  dismissed,  and  left  free,  and  at  leisure  to 
go  on  with  his  voluminous  controversy,  though  this  should  only 
be  to  his  final  overthrow. 


160  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


SECTION    X 


ONE    DISTINGUISHING    FEATURE    OF    TYNDALE  S    COURSE    AND    CHARACTER    AS    COM- 
PARED WITH  HIS  CONTEMPORARIES HIS  ANSWER  TO  SIR  T.  MORE HIS  LETTER 

TO  FRYTH    IN  PRISON STATE  OF    ENGLAND FRYTH's  VOICE    FROM    THE  TOWER 

STRANGE     CONDITION     OF    ENGLAND THE     KING     MARRIED CRANAIER's    PRO- 
CEDURE  GARDINER     ROUSED FRYTh's     EXAMINATION     BEFORE     THE     BISHOPS 

ASSEMBLED HIS    TRIUMPH    IN    ARGUMENT MARTYRDOM ENGLAND    AND    THE 

CONTINENT ONE    EFFECT    OF  FRYTH's    DEATH SIR    T.  MORE  WRITING   STILL 

ONE  POWERFUL  OPPONENT  AT  HOME MORE  AS  A    CONTROVERSIALIST HIS  PRO- 
DIGIOUS   EXERTIONS — OTHER    QUALITIES FINALLY    OVERCOME THE    PROSPECT 

BRIGHTENING. 

Before  recurring  to  Tyndale's  last  publication,  we  are  con- 
strained to  pause  for  a  few  moments,  and  observe  more  distinctly 
one  marked  or  distinguishing  feature  in  his  character.  His  one 
object  in  life,  was  to  gain  over  his  native  land  [o  the  faith  of  the 
Mediator.  The  foundation  of  all  his  hope  of  success,  rested  on 
the  word  of  God  itself  With  its  translation  into  English  he 
began,  and  labored  in  it  to  his  dying  day.  And  having  once  con- 
veyed the  New  Testament  to  England,  as  containing  truth  with- 
out any  mixture  of  error ;  he  might,  indeed  because  banished 
from  the  soil,  assail  the  love  of  the  world  or  covetousness,  in  those 
who  had  arrogated  to  themselves  the  title  of  "  the  Spirituality," 
in  his  parable  of  "  the  Wicked  Mammon ;"  he  might  lay  down 
the  law  of  "  Christian  Obedience,^''  but  built  on  that  faith  which 
he  had  already  explained  ;  might  expose  the  hypocritical  "  Prac- 
tice of  Prelates, ^^  who  had  sunk  his  country  into  immorality, 
licentiousness  and  debt ;  or  warn  the  whole  nation  by  Jonah  and 
his  prologue. 

And  never  was  triumph  more  complete,  than  that  of  Tyndale 
and  Fryth  over  Sir  Thomas  More  on  the  subject  of  the  Lord's 
Supper,  though  on  their  part  it  was  entirely  unprovoked.  Fryth, 
it  must  be  observed,  was  precisely  of  Tyndale's  opinion ;  that 
Repentance  and  Faith,  or  matters  of  essential  belief,  should  be 
first  propounded  and  settled,  previously  to  discussing  any  Christian 
ordinances  ;  that  the  former  were  to  be  testified  to  the  world  at 
large ;  the  latter,  settled  within  the  Church  itself:  that  the  mes- 
senger of  God  to  guilty  men,  was  to  preach  and  might  print  on 
the  former,  but  as  to  the  latter,  beware  of  the  printing-press.  The 
latter  were  to  be  "  reasoned  in  peace  and  at  leisure,"  among  be- 
lievers alone,  or  within  the  Church. 

Tyndale  had  heard  in  May  of  Fryth's  dangerous  condition  in 
the  Tower,  and  was  in  Antwerp  again  at  that  time.  Certainly 
he  had  not  sojourned  in  this  city  since  January,  where  he  must 
have  heard  much  sooner,  or  if  there  was  an  earlier  communica- 
tion from  him  to  England  it  is  irrecoverable.  His  whole  soul, 
however,  was  now  moved  with  intense  feeling,  and  he  poured  it 
forth  in  a  tender  and  final  epistle,  which  was  "  dehvered  to  Fryth 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  161 

in  the  Tower,"  and  must  have  proved  most  w^elcome  ;  although, 
ere  long-,  we  shall  find  that,  strengthened  by  the  power  and  grace 
of  his  Redeemer,  he  had  needed  no  human  counsel  to  die  with  all 
the  heroism  of  Stephen,  the  first  martyr  to  Christianity. 

Notwithstanding  King  Henry's  ardent  thirst  for  dominion  in  all 
things,  and  his  having  been  acknowledged  Head  of  the  Church 
of  England,  lie  still  found  that  he  was  not  able  to  make  an  Arch- 
bishop ;  at  least  such  a  one  as  the  Prelates,  and  even  the  people, 
would  at  once  acknowledge  ;  and  therefore  he  applies  to  Rome 
once  more.  This  he  must  have  done  pretty  early  in  January, 
since  the  Bulls  for  Cranjner  to  succeed  Warham  are  dated  from 
the  21st  of  February  to  the  2nd  of  March.  These  were  not  fewer 
than  eleven,  and  all  connected  with  this  one  appointment ;  the 
wonted  charge  for  which  had  been  15,000  florins,  or  £3375  ;  but, 
on  this  occasion,  it  is  said,  no  more  was  demanded  than  900 
ducats  !  or  £180  !  After  all  he  had  done  in  forwarding  his  Royal 
master's  design  as  to  his  divorce,  no  man  could  be  more  objection- 
able to  the  Pontiff  than  Cranmer  ;  so  that  this  compliance,  and 
at  so  low  a  rate,  must  have  been  with  some  view  to  retain  Henry  : 
though  assuredly  Clement  was  now  outwitted,  or  dreaming  in  for- 
getfulness  of  the  thunder  he  had  issued  on  the  23rd  of  December, 
forbidding  intercourse  with  Lady  Anne  Boleyn.  In  January, 
however,  lo  !  tliat  Bull  arrived,  when  his  Majesty,  highly  incensed, 
determined  at  once  to  put  an  end  to  the  long  debated  question. 
This  he  did  on  the  morning  of  St.  Paul's  day,  or  the  25th  of  Jan- 
uary, by  being  married  to  Lady  Anne  Boleyn,  Marchioness  of 
Pembroke,  and  daughter  to  the  Earl  of  Wiltshire.  The  ceremony 
was  performed  in  private,  by  Rowland  Lee,  one  of  the  Royal 
Chaplains,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Chester.  No  distinct  motive  has 
been  assigned  for  this  privacy  ;  but  it  is  very  easy  to  see  one  now, 
in  the  request  sent  to  Rome,  before  the  Pontiff's  indignation  was 
known.  In  the  game  now  playing,  few  things  could  be  more 
important,  at  this  moment,  to  Henry,  than  Cranmer's  elevation ; 
but  had  Clement  only  divined  what  his  Majesty  was  about,  cer- 
tainly no  such  Bulls  had  ever  reached  England.  However,  they 
did  arrive  safely — they  exactly  answered  Henry's  purpose  and 
intentions — and  were  the  last  for  which  he  ever  applied.  Cranmer 
was  not  present  at  this  marriage,  nor,  by  his  own  account,  was 
he  aware  of  it  for  about  a  fortnight. 

We  cannot  aflSrm  that  there  was  any  positive  connection 
between  the  marriage  of  Henry  to  Lady  Anne  Boleyn  and  the 
resignation  of  the  Chancellorship  by  More ;  but  still  it  is  very 
observable,  that  the  ne.vt  day,  or  January  26th,  Sir  Thomas 
Audley,  Lord  Keeper  of  the  Great  Seal,  delivered  it  the  King  ; 
when  his  Majesty,  retaining  it  only  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  re-deliv- 
ered it  to  him,  with  the  title  of  Lord  Chayicellor.  Thus,  though 
Sir  Thomas  More  had  resigned  the  Seals  in  May,  he  had  been 
acting  as  an  ofllicer  of  the  Crown  till  about  this  period.  We  have 
seen  him,  long  after  May,  active  in  the  pursuit  and  persecution  of 
Fryth ;  but  the  mace  being  gone,  he  must  now  wield  only  the 


162  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

pen.  It  was  the  solitary  instiument  left  him  to  cany  on  his  war- 
fare ;  and  with  this  he  continued  more  busy  than  ever,  throughout 
the  whole  of  this  year. 

This  new  appointment  is  Avorthy  of  notice  chiefly  on  one 
account.  An  immediate  relaxation  took  place  as  to  Fryth,  in  his 
imprisonment.  In  the  earlier  stage  of  his  confinement  here  was 
his  situation — "  I  am,  in  a  manner,  as  a  man  bound  to  a  post,  and 
cannot  so  well  bestow  me  in  my  play,  as  if  I  were  at  liberty  ;  for 
I  may  not  have  such  books  as  are  necessary  for  me  ;  neither  yet 
pen,  ink,  nor  paper,  but  only  secretly,  so  that  I  am  in  continual 
fear  both  of  the  Lieutenant  and  of  my  keeper,  lest  they  should 
espy  any  such  thing  by  me.  And,  therefore,  it  is  little  marvel 
though  the  work  be  imperfect ;  for  whenever  I  hear  the  keys  ring 
at  the  doors,  straight  all  must  be  conveyed  out  of  the  way — and 
then,  if  any  notable  thing  had  been  in  my  mind,  it  was  clean 
lost." 

But  now,  though  Sir  Thomas  Audley  was  as  much  disposed  to 
please  Hemy  as  any  of  the  time-servers  round  his  person,  he  felt 
and  acted  very  differently  frem  his  predecessor,  as  to  the  "  new 
learning  ;''^  and  Crumwell,  who  perhaps  had  profited  by  the  sound 
advice  of  Vaughan,  is  stated  to  have  been  disposed  to  show  favor  to 
the  prisoner.  In  short,  had  there  been  no  deep  and  too  successful 
intrigue  afterwards  employed,  Fryth  might  have  been  permitted  to 
depart  from  England.  But  still,  in  the  meanwhile,  there  was  a 
pause — -a  suspension  of  that  violence  and  severity,  which  had  run 
on  during  the  reign  of  the  last  Chancellor.  The  very  keeper  of 
Fryth  in  the  Tower  greatly  relaxed  ;  and,  "  upon  condition  of  his 
own  word  and  promise,  let  him  go  at  liberty  during  the  night, 
to  consult  with  good  men."  One  happy  result  of  all  this  was,  that 
Fryth  was  enabled  to  write  his  full  refutation  of  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, from  the  very  Tower  to  which  he  had  committed  him,  be- 
sides several  other  things,  afterwards  printed  in  his  works. 

Under  these  circumstances,  Fryth  was  not  idle,  nor  did  Sir 
Thomas  escape  with  impunity.  "For  though  More  wrote  with  as 
much  wit  and  eloquence  as  any  man  in  that  age  did,  and  Fryth 
wrote  plainly  without  any  art ;  yet  there  is  so  great  a  difference 
between  their  books,  that  whoever  compares  them,  will  clearl}^  per- 
ceive the  one  to  be  the  ingenious  defender  of  an  ill  cause,  and  the 
other  a  simple  assertor  of  truth."  The  palm  for  "  wit  and  elo- 
quence" has  been  at  once  assigned  to  Sir  Thomas,  upon  all  occa- 
sions ;  but  if  any  one  desires  to  see  the  "  eloquent  orator"  and  the 
"  simple  assertor  of  truth"  in  contrast,  he  has  only  to  consult  Fryth, 
who  certainly  does  him  justice,  by  quoting  the  eloquence,  verbatim, 
such  as  it  was,  before  he  confutes  it — 

"  Fryth,  the  young  man,  '  teacheth  in  a  few  leaves  shortly,  all  the 
poison  that  Wickliffe,  CEcolampadius,  Huskyn,  Tyndale,  and  Zuin- 
glius  have  taught  in  all  their  books  before,  concerning  the  blessed 
sacrament  of  the  altar  ;  not  only  affirming  it  to  be  very  bread  still, 
as  Luther  doth,  but  also,  as  these  otlier  beasts  do,  saith  it  is  noth- 
ing else.'' — These  dregs  hath  he  drunken  of  Wickliffe,  CEcolam- 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  163 

padius,  Tyndale  and  Zuinglius,  and  so  hath  all  that  he  aigueth 
here  before  ;  which  four,  what  manner  folk  they  be,  is  meetly  well 
perceived  and  known,  and  God  hath  in  part,  with  his  open  ven- 
geance, declared." 

To  this  Fryth  innnediately  gives  the  following  memorable  an- 
swer— 

"  I  do  neither  affirm  nor  deny  anything,  because  Luther  so  saith, 
but  because  the  Scripture  of  God  doth  so  conclude  and  determine, 
I  take  not  Luther  for  such  an  author  that  I  think  he  cannot  err  ; 
but  I  think  verily  that  he  both  may  err,  and  doth  err^  in  certain 
points,  although  not  in  such  as  concern  salvation  and  damnation ; 
for  in  these,  blessed  be  God  !  all  these,  whom  ye  call  heretics,  do 
agree  right  well.  And  likewise,  I  do  not  allow  this  thing,  because 
Wicklide,  fficolampadius,  Tyndale,  and  Zuinglius,  so  say,  but  be- 
cause I  see  them  in  that  place  more  purely  expound  the  Scripture, 
and  that  the  process  of  the  text  doth  more  favor  their  sentence. — ■ 
And  where  ye  say  that  it  is  '  meetly  well  known  what  manner  [of] 
folk  they  be,' " — After  vindicating  the  other  three  individually,  he 
adds,  as  to  his  dearest  friend  upon  earth  : — 

"And  Tyndale,  I  trust,  liveth,  well  content  with  such  a  poor 
Apostle's  life,  as  God  gave  his  Son  Christ,  and  his  faithful  minis- 
ters in  this  world,  which  is  not  sure  of  so  many  niites  as  ye  be 
yearly  of  pounds;  although  1  am  sure  that,  for  his  learning  and 
judgment  in  Scripture,  he  were  more  worthy  to  be  promoted  than 
all  the  Bishops  in  England.  I  received  a  letter  from  him,  which 
was  written  since  Christmas,  wherein,  among  other  matters,  he 
writeth  thus — '  I  call  God  to  record,  &.C.'  Judge,  Christian  reader, 
whether  these  words  be  not  spoken  of  a  faithful,  clear,  innocent 
heart.  And  as  for  his  behaviour,  it  is  such,  that  I  am  sure  no  man 
can  reprove  him  of  any  sin  ;  howbeit,  no  man  is  innocent  before 
God,  which  beholdeth  the  heart." 

Thus,  the  one  in  exile,  and  the  other  in  prison,  testify  to  the 
blameless  integrity  of  each  other ;  though  no  two  men  were  so 
despised  and  respected,  so  hated  and  beloved,  in  the  age  in  which 
they  lived. 

Ten  days  had  not  elapsed  after  Queen  Anne's  coronation,  be- 
fore Cranmer,  in  servile  obedience  to  his  royal  Master,  nmst  pro- 
ceed with  a  widely  different  scene.  The  martyrdom  of  Fryth  has 
never  been  sufficiently  marked  in  English  histor}',  as  there  are 
several  points  of  distinction  between  it  and  any  preceding  act  of 
cruelty,  in  Henry's  reign.  In  1530,  it  is  true,  lie  had  fully  author- 
ized a  fiery  persecution,  but  to  this  measure  he  had  been  strongly 
advised  by  the  last  Lord  Chancellor ;  and  the  cruelties  ensuing 
had  never  commenced  with  him,  nor  had  he  yet  personally  sanc- 
tioned the  last  sentence  of  the  law.  Bilney  and  Bayfield,  Tewks- 
bury  and  Bennet,  had  been  first  seized  and  examined  by  the  Bish- 
ops, and  then  put  to  death  without  any  writ  from  his  Majesty. 
The  statute  of  Henry  IV.,  and  the  warrant  of  Sir  Thomas  More, 
had  been  regarded  as  sufficient,  and  Henry  only  did  not  interpose. 
But  Sir  Thomas  had  now  retired,  and  Chancellor  Audley  was  not 


164  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

a  persecutor.  The  examination  of  Fryth  was  Henry's  own  deed, 
and  though  the  blood  of  the  innocent  was  ah-eady  upon  him,  so 
far  as  explained,  he  now  first  degraded  himself  personally  to  the 
rank  of  a  Murderer. 

The  importance  attached  to  this  reckless  proceeding  may  be 
seen,  in  the  eminence  of  the  parties  expressly  appointed  by  the 
King  to  examine  Fryth.  These  were  Cranmer,  Gardiner,  and 
Stokesly,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  or  Henry's 
own  brother-in-law,  and  the  Earl  of  Wiltshire.  The  story  alto- 
gether, is  one  of  the  most  affecting,  and  graphic  in  the  history  of 
the  times. 

"  Fryth's  long  confinement  in  the  Tower,  without  examination, 
was  so  heinously  taken  of  the  King,  that  now  my  Lord  of  Canter- 
bury, with  other  Bishops  and  other  learned  men,  were  at  once  ap- 
pointed to  examine  him.  And  for  that  there  should  be  no  con- 
course of  citizens  at  tire  said  examination  :  my  Lord  of  Canter- 
bury removed  to  Croydon,  unto  whom  resorted  the  rest  of  the  com- 
missioners. Now,  before  the  day  of  examination  appointed,  my 
Lord  of  Canterbury  sent  one  of  his  gentlemen  and  one  of  his  por- 
ters, whose  name  was  Perlebean,  a  Welshman  born,  to  fetch  John 
Fryth  from  the  Tower  to  Croydon.  This  gentleman  had  both  my 
Lord's  letters,  and  the  King^s  ring,  unto  my  Lord  Fitzwilliams, 
(first  Earl  of  Southampton)  constable  of  the  Tower,  (then  living 
in  Cannon  Row,  at  Westminster,  in  extreme  anguish  and  pain 
from  a  disorder,)  for  the  delivery  of  the  prisoner.  Fitzwilliams, 
more  passionate  than  patient,  understanding  for  what  purpose  my 
Lord's  gentleman  was  come,  damned  and  cursed  Fryth  and  other 
heretics,  saying — 'Take  this  my  ring  unto  the  Lieutenant  of  the 
Tower,  and  receive  your  man,  your  heretic,  with  you,  and  I  am 
glad  that  I  am  rid  of  him.' 

"  When  Fryth  was  delivered  to  my  Lord  of  Canterbury's  gen- 
tleman, they  twain,  with  Perlebean,  sitting  in  a  wherry,  and  row- 
ing towards  Lambeth  :  the  said  gentleman,  much  lamenting  in  his 
mind  the  infelicity  of  the  said  Fryth,  began  in  this  wise  to  exhort 
him — 'To  consider  in  what  estate  he  was,  a  man  altogether  cast 
away  in  this  world,  if  he  did  not  look  wisely  to  himself  And  yet, 
though  his  cause  was  never  so  dangerous,  he  might  somewhat,  in 
relenting  to  authority,  and  so  giving  place  for  a  time,  both  help 
himself  out  of  trouble,  and  when  opportunity  and  occasion  should 
serve,  prefer  his  cause,  which  he  then  went  about  to  defend  :  de- 
claring farther,  that  he  had  many  well-willers  and  friends,  which 
would  stand  on  his  side,  so  far  forth  as  possible  they  then  were 
able,  and  durst  do:  Adding  hereunto,  that  it  were  great  pity,  that 
he,  being  of  such  singular  knowledge  both  in  the  Latin  and  Greek  ; 
both  ready  and  ripe  in  all  kind  of  learning,  as  well  in  the  Script- 
vu'es,  as  in  the  ancient  doctors  ;  should  now  suddenly  suffer  all 
those  singular  gifts  to  perish  with  him,  witli  little  commodity  or 
profit  to  the  world,  and  less  comfort  to  his  wife  and  children.,  and 
others,  his  kinsfolk  and  friends.' — 'This  I  am  sure  of,'  quoth  the 
gentleman,  '  that  my  Lord  Crumwell,  and  my  Lord  of  Canterbury, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  165 

much  favoring  you,  and  knowing  you  to  be  an  eloquent  learned 
young  man,  and  now  towards  the  felicity  of  your  life,  young  in 
years,  old  in  knowledge,  and  of  great  forwardness  and  likelihood 
to  be  a  most  profitable  member  of  this  realm,  will  never  permit 
you  to  sustain  any  open  shame,  if  you  ivill  somewhat  he  adcised 
by  their  counsel.  On  the  other  side,  if  you  stand  stiff  to  your 
opinion,  it  is  not  possible  to  save  your  life.  For  hke  as  you  have 
good  friends,  so  have  you  mortal  foes  and  enemies.'  " 

Such  was  the  commencement  of  those  "  sweet  words,"  to  which 
Tyndale  had  alluded,  and  of  wiiich  he  had  given  such  solemn 
warning ;  but  there  was  no  occasion.  Fryth  felt  the  solemnity 
and  importance  of  his  position,  to  a  degree  such  as  no  man  in 
England  had  ever  yet  reached. 

" '  I  most  heartily  thank  you,'  quoth  Master  Fryth,  '  both  for 
your  good  will,  and  for  your  counsel,  by  the  which  I  well  perceive 
that  you  mean  well  unto  me.  Howbeit,  ray  cause  and  conscience 
is  such,  that  in  no  wise  I  may  not,  nor  cannot  for  any  worldly  re- 
spect, without  danger  of  damnation,  start  aside,  and  fly  from  the 
true  knowledge  and  doctrine  which  I  have  conceived  of  the  Supper 
of  the  Lord,  or  the  communion,  otherwise  called  the  sacrament  of 
the  altar :  for  if  it  be  my  chance  to  be  demanded  what  I  think  in 
that  behalf,  I  must  needs  say  my  knowledge  and  my  conscience,  as 
partly  I  have  written  therein  already,  though  I  should  presently 
lose  twenty  hves,  if  I  had  so  many.  And  this  you  shall  well  un- 
derstand, that  I  am  not  so  unfurnished,  either  of  Scripture  or 
ancient  doctors,  schoolmen  or  others,  for  my  defence  ;  so  that  if  I 
may  be  indifferently  (impartially)  heard,  I  am  sure  that  mine  ad- 
versaries cannot  justly  condemn  me,  or  mine  assertion,  but  that 
they  shall  condemn  with  me  St.  Augustine,  and  the  most  part  of 
the  old  writers  ;  yea,  the  very  Bishops  of  Rome  of  the  oldest  sort 
shall  also  say  for  me,  and  defend  my  cause.' 

'"Yea,  marry,'  quoth  the  gentleman,  'you  say  well,  if  you 
might  be  indifferently  heard.  But  I  much  doubt  thereof,  for  that 
our  Master,  Christ,  was  not  indifferently  hea^d ;  nor  should  be,  as 
I  think,  if  He  were  now  present  again  in  the  world,  specially  in 
this  your  opinion  ;  the  same  being  so  odious  in  the  world,  and  we 
so  far  off  from  the  true  knowledge  thereof.' 

" '  Well,  well,'  quoth  Fryth  then  unto  the  gentleman,  '  I  know 
very  well  that  this  doctrine  of  the  sacrament  of  the  altar,  which  I 
hold  and  have  opened  contrary  to  the  opinion  of  this  realm,  is 
very  hard  meat  to  be  digested,  both  of  the  clergy  and  laity  thereof. 
But  this  I  will  say  to  you  (taking  the  gentleman  by  the  hand,) 
that  if  you  live  but  twenty  years  more,  whatsoever  become  of  me, 
you  ■  shall  see  this  whole  realm  of  mine  opinion :  namely,  the 
whole  estate  of  the  same,  though  some  sort  of  men  particularly 
shall  not  be  fully  persuaded  therein  :  and  if  it  come  not  so  to  pass, 
then  account  me  the  vainest  man  that  ever  you  heard  speak  with 
tongue. 

" '  Besides  this,  you  say  that  my  death  w^ould  be  sorrowful  and 
uncomfortable  unto  my  friends.     I  grant,  that  for  a  small  time  it 


166  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

would  be  so ;  but  if  I  should  so  mollify,  qualify,  and  temper  my 
cause,  in  such  sort  as  to  deserve  only  to  be  kept  in  prison,  that 
would  not  only  be  a  much  longer  grief  unto  me,  but  also  to  my 
friends  would  breed  no  small  unquietness,  both  of  body  and  mind. 
And,  therefore,  all  things  well  and  rightly  pondered,  my  death  in 
this  cause  shall  be  better  unto  me  and  all  mine,  than  life  in  con- 
tinual bondage  and  penuries.  And  Almighty  God  knoweth  what 
He  hath  to  do  with  his  poor  servant,  Avhose  cause  I  now  defend, 
and  not  my  own  ;  from  the  which  I  assuredly  do  intend,  God  will- 
ing, never  to  start,  or  othenvise  to  give  j^lace,  so  long  as  God 
ivill  give  me  life.'' 

"  This  communication,  or  like  in  effect,  my  Lord  of  Canterbury's 
gentleman  and  Fryth  had,  coming  in  the  wherry  on  the  Thames, 
from  the  Tower  to  Lambeth. 

"  Now  when  they  were  landed,  after  some  repast  by  them  taken 
at  Lambeth,  tlie  gentleman,  the  porter,  and  Fryth  went  for- 
ward towards  Croydon,  (nearly  ten  miles)  on  foot.  This  gentle- 
man still  lamenting  with  himself  the  hard  and  cruel  destiny  of 
Fryth,  if  he  once  came  among  the  Bishops ;  and  now  also  per- 
ceiving the  exceeding  constancy  of  Fryth,  devised  with  himself 
some  way  or  means  to  convey  him  clean  out  of  their  hands ;  and 
therefore,  considering  that  there  were  no  more  persons  there,  to 
convey  the  prisoner,  but  the  porter  and  himself,  he  took  in  hand 
to  win  the  porter  to  his  purpose. 

"Said  the  gentleman  to  Perlebean,  (walking  by  themselves 
without  the  hearing  of  Fryth,)- -' You  have  heard  this  man  I  am 
sure,  and  noted  his  talk  since  he  came  from  the  Tower?' — -'Yea, 
that  I  have,  right  well,' quoth  the  porter, 'and  I  never  heard  so 
constant  a  man,  nor  so  eloquent  a  person.' — '  You  have  heard 
nothing,^  quoth  the  gentleman,  '  in  respect  of  both  his  knowledge 
and  eloquence  ;  if  he  might  liberally  (freely)  either  in  university 
or  pulpit  declare  his  learning.  You  would  then  much  more  mar- 
vel at  his  knowledge.  I  take  him  to  be  such  a  one  of  his  age  in 
all  kind  of  learning,  and  knowledge  of  tongues,  as  this  realm  never 
yet,  in  mine  opinion,  brought  forth.  And  yet  those  singular  gifts 
in  him,  are  no  more  considered  of  ojir  Bishops,  than  if  he  were  a 
very  dolt  or  an  idiot ;  yea,  they  abhor  him  as  a  devil  therefore, 
and  covet  utterly  to  extinguish  him  as  a  member  of  the  Devil, 
without  any  consideration  of  God's  special  gifts.' 

" '  Marry,'  quoth  the  porter,  '  if  there  were  nothing  else  in  him 
but  the  consideration  of  his  personage,  both  comely  and  amiable, 
and  of  natural  dispositions,  gentle,  meek,  and  humble,  it  were 
pity  he  should  be  cast  away.' 

'"Cast  away,'  quoth  the  gentleman,  'he  shall  be  sure  cast 
away,  if  we  once  bring  him  to  Croydon ;  and  surely,'  said  he, 
'  before  God  I  speak  it,  if  thou,  Perlebean,  were  of  my  mind  we 
would  never  bring  him  thither.' — '  Say  you  so  V  quoth  the  porter  : 
'  I  know  that  you  be  of  a  great  deal  more  credit  than  I  am  in  this 
matter;  and  therefore,  if  you  can  devise  honestly,  or  find  some 
reasonable  excuse,  whereby  we  may  let  him  go,  and  provide  for 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  16"^ 

himself,  I  will,  with  all  my  heart,  condescend  to  your  device.' — 'As 
for  that,'  quoth  the  gentleman,  'it  is  already  invented  how,  and 
which  ways,  he  shall  convey  himself,  without  any  great  danger  or 
displeasure  taken  towards  us,  as  the  matter  shall  be  handled.  You 
see,'  quoth  the  gentleman,  '  yonder  hill  before  us,  named  Bristow 
(Brixton)  Causeway,  (three  miles  from  London,)  there  are  great 
woods  on  both  sides  :  when  we  come  there,  we  will  permit  Fryth 
to  go  into  the  woods  on  the  left  hand  of  the  way,  whereby  he  may 
convey  himself  into  Kent  among  his  friends,  for  he  is  a  Kentish 
man  ;  and  when  he  is  gone,  we  will  linger  an  hour  or  two  about 
the  highway,  until  that  it  draws  towards  the  night.  Then,  in 
great  haste,  v.^e  will  approach  to  Streatham,  which  is  a  mile  and 
a  half  farther  on,  and  make  an  outcry  in  the  town,  that  our  pris- 
oner is  broken  from  us  into  the  woods  on  the  rigitt  hand,  towards 
Wandsworth,  so  that  we  shall  draw  as  many  as  we  may,  to  search 
the  country  that  way  for  our  prisoner,  declaring  that  we  followed 
above  a  mile  or  more,  and  at  length  lost  him  in  the  woods,  be- 
cause we  had  no  more  company  :  And  so  we  will,  rather  than  fail, 
lie  out  one  night  in  searching  for  him,  and  send  word  from  Streat- 
ham,  to  My  Lord  of  Canterbury  at  Croydon,  in  the  evening,  of  the 
prisoner's  escape,  and  to  what  coast  he  has  fled.  So  that  by  the 
morning,  if  he  have  any  good  luck  at  all,  he  will  so  provide  for 
himself  that  the  Bishops  shall  fail  of  their  purpose.' — '  I  assure 
you,' quoth  Perhbean,  'I  like  very  well  the  device  herein;  and 
therefore,  go  ye  to  Fryth,  and  declare  that  we  have  devised  for  his 
delivery,  for  now  we  are  almost  at  the  place.' 

"  When  my  Lord  of  Canterbury's  gentleman  came  nigh  the  hill, 
he  joined  himself  in  company  with  Fryth,  and  calling  him  by  his 
name  said — '  Now,  Master  Fryth,  let  us  twain  commune  together 
another  while.  You  must  consider  that  the  journey  which  I  have 
now  taken  in  hand  thus  in  bringing  you  unto  Croydon,  as  a  sheep 
to  the  slaughter,  so  grieveth  me,  and,  as  it  were,  overwhelmeth 
me  in  cares  and  sorrows,  that  I  little  mind  what  danger  I  fall  in, 
so  that  I  could  find  the  means  to  deliver  you  out  of  the  lion's 
mouth.  And  yet,  yonder  good  fellow  and  I  have  devised  a  means, 
whereby  you  may  both  easily  escape  from  this  great  and  immi- 
nent danger  at  hand,  and  we  also  be  rid  from  any  vehfement  sus- 
picion.' " 

One  cannot  conceive  of  any  gentleman  going  so  far  as  this, 
without  some  understanding  with  those  above  him,  or  good  secu- 
rity that  the  escape  would  be  winked  at.  '  Crumwell  and  Cranmer 
might  wish  that  Fryth  were  out  of  the  way,  but  the  man  first 
apprehended  by  More,  was,  as  a  Christian,  of  a  superior  grade  to 
any  who  had  yet  suffered.  He  could  be  no  party  to  falsehood,  of 
which  high  and  low  made  so  little  account ;  to  say  nothing  of 
his  now  regarding  himself  as  set  for  the  defence  of  the  truth. 

"  When  Fryth  had  dihgently  heard  all  the  matter  concerning 
his  delivery,  he  said  to  the  gentleman,  with  a  smiling  counte- 
nance— '  Is  this  the  effect  of  your  secret  consultation,  thus  long, 
between  you  twain  ?     Surely,  surely,  you  have  lost  a  great  deal 


168  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

more  labor  in  times  past,  and  so  are  you  like  to  do  this.  For  if 
you  should  both  leave  me  here,  and  go  to  Croydon,  declaring  to 
the  Bishops,  that  you  had  lost  Fryth  ;  I  would  surely  follow  as 
fast  after  as  I  might,  and  bring  them  news,  that  I  had  found  and 
brought  Fryth  again.  Do  you  think,'  said  he,  '  that  I  am  afraid 
to  declare  my  opinion  to  the  Bishops  of  England  in  a  manifest 
truth?' 

" '  You  are  a  foolish  man,'  quoth  the  gentleman,  '  thus  to  talk  ; 
as  though  your  reasoning  with  fhem  might  do  some  good.  But  I 
do  much  marvel  that  you  were  so  willing  to  fly  the  realm,  before 
you  Avere  taken ;  and  now  so  unwilling  to  save  j'ourself !' 

"  '  There  was,  and  is,  a  great  diversity  of  escaping,  between  the 
one  and  the  other,'  said  Fryth.  '  Before,  I  was  indeed  desirous  to 
escape,  because  I  was  not  attached,  but  at  liberty — which  liberty 
I  would  fain  have  enjoyed,  (for  the  maintenance  of  my  study  be- 
yond the  sea,  where  I  was  reader  in  the  Greek  tongue,)  according 
to  St.  Paul's  counsel.  Howbeit,  noio,  being  taken  by  the  higher 
powers,  and,  as  it  were,  by  Almighty  God's  permission  and  provi- 
dence, delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Bishops,  only  for  religion 
and  doctrine's  sake,  such  as  in  conscience,  and  under  pain  of  dam- 
nation I  am  bound  to  maintain  and  defend  :  If  I  should  now  start 
aside,  and  run  away — I  should  run  from  my  God,  and  from  the  tes- 
timony of  His  holy  Word — worthy  then  of  a  thousand  hells.  And, 
therefore,  I  most  heartily  thank  you  both,  for  your  good  will  to- 
ward me,  beseeching  you  to  bring  me  where  I  was  appointed  to 
be  brought,  for  else  /  ^vill  go  thither  all  alo}ie^  And  so  with  a 
cheerful  and  merry  countenance  lie  went  with  them,  spending  the 
time  with  pleasant  and  godly  communication,  until  they  came  to 
Croydon,  where  for  that  night  he  was  well  entertained  in  the 
Porter'' s  lodge. 

"  On  the  morrow  he  was  called  before  certain  Bishops  and  other 
learned  men,  sitting  in  commission  with  the  Lord  of  Canterbury, 
to  be  examined,  where  he  shewed  himself  passing  ready  and  ripe, 
in  answering  to  all  objections,  as  some  then  reported,  incredibly, 
and  contrary  to  all  men's  expectations.  His  allegations,  both  out 
of  Augustine  and  other  ancient  fathers  of  the  Church,  were  such, 
that  some  o'f  them  much  doubted  of  Augustine's  authority  in  that 
behalf:  insomuch  that  it  was  reported,  by  them  who  were  nigh 
and  about  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  that  when  they  had  fin- 
ished their  examination,  the  Archbishop,  conferring  with  Dr. 
Heath,  privately  between  themselves,  said — '  This  man  hath 
wonderfully  labored  in  this  matter,  and  yet,  in  mine  opinion,  he 
taketh  the  doctors  amiss.' — '  Well,  my  Lord,'  said  Dr.  Heath, 
'  there  is  no  man  who  can  do  away  his  authorities  from  Augus- 
tine.' He  then  began  to  repeat  them  again,  inferring  and  appl}'- 
ing  them  so  strongly,  that  my  Lord  said — -'  I  see  that  you,  with  a 
little  more  study,  will  easily  be  brought  to  Fryth's  opinion.' 

"  This  learned  young  man  being  thus  thoroughly  sifted  at  Croy- 
don, to  understand  what  he  could  say  and  do  in  his  cause,  there 
was  no  man  tvilling  to  prefer  him  to  answer  in  open  disputation." 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE,  169 

Here,  therefore,  a  pause,  of  several  days  ensued  ;  which  Cran- 
mer  himself  helps  us  to  explain.  What  we  have  already  nar- 
rated had  taken  place  between  the  10th  and  15th  of  June,  and 
before  the  17th,  Fryth  had  been  sent  back  to  London.  After 
his  examinations  were  over,  and  before  his  return  to  London, 
Cranmer  had  called  for  him  repeatedly,  and  tried  to  turn  him, 
but  in  vain,  and  the  Archbishop  must  now  speak  for  himself. 
On  the  17th  he  writes  a  long  letter  to  Archdeacon  Hawkins, 
his  successor,  as  ambassador,  at  the  Emperor's  court ;  in  which 
it  must  be  confessed  that  he  seems  far  more  elated  by  "  the 
gorgeous  and  sumptuous"  display  at  the  Queen's  coronation,  than 
depressed  by  the  tragedy,  in  which,  immediately  afterwards,  he 
had  also  played  his  part.  Of  the  former  he  gives  a  long  and 
minute  account;  descending  to  the  guns  fired — the  dresses  worn 
— the  order  of  cavalcade.  "  Now,  then,  on  Sunday,  (1st  June,) 
was  the  coronation,"  when  he,  with  six  Bishops  and  twelve  Ab- 
bots "  all  revestred  in  their  pontiticalibus,  with  their  crosses  and 
crosiers,  walked  in  procession  into  the  church  of  Westminster," 
where  "  I  did  put  the  crown  upon  her  head,  and  then  was  sung 
Te  DeumP  It  is  in  this  very  letter,  after  finishing  his  account, 
that  Fryth  is  introduced,  and  in  the  following  terms  : — - 

"Other  news  have  we  none  notable,  hut  that  one  Fryth,  w^iich 
was  in  the  Tower  in  prison,  was  appointed  by  the  King's  Grace 
to  be  examined  before  me,  my  Lord  of  London,  my  Lord  of  Win- 
chester, my  Lord  of  Suffolk,  my  Lord  Chancellor,  and  my  Lord 
of  Wiltshire — whose  opinion  was  so  notably  erroneous,  that  we 
could  not  despatch  him,  but  was  fain  to  leave  him  to  the  deter- 
mination of  his  ordinary,  which  is  [Stokeslt/]  the  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don. His  said  opinion  is  of  such  nature  that  he  thought  it  not 
necessary  to  be  believed  as  an  article  of  our  faith,  that  there  is 
the  very  corporal  presence  of  Christ  within  the  host  and  sacra- 
ment of  the  altar,  and  holdeth  of  this  point  most  after  tlie  opinion 
of  CEcolampadius.  And  surely  I  myself  sent  for  him  three  or  four 
times  to  persuade  him  to  leave  that  his  imagination,  but  for  all 
that  we  could  do  therein,  he  would  not  apply  to  any  counsel 
Notwitlistanding  now  he  is  at  a  final  end  with  all  examinations, 
for  my  Lord  of  London  hath  given  sentence  and  delivered  him  to 
the  secular  power,  where  he  looketh  every  day  to  go  unto  the  Jire. 
And  there  is  also  condemned  with  him,  one  Andrew  (Hewet.)  a 
tailor  of  London,  for  the  said  selfsame  opinion."  He  then  turns 
to  other  secular  affairs,  dating  his  letter,  "from  m}^  manor  of 
Croydon  the  17th  day  of  June." 

On  Friday,  the  20th  of  June,  Fryth  came  to  his  final  appear- 
ance, before  the  Bishops  of  London,  (Stokesly,)  Lincoln,  (Long- 
land.)  and  Winchester,  (Gardiner,)  in  St.  Paul's.  His  constancy, 
self-possession  and  Christian  fortitude  never  forsook  him  for  one 
moment ;  and  when  the  question  was  finally  put,  whether  he 
would  subscribe  his  answers,  he  took  up  the  pen,  and  with  his  own 
hand  wrote  these  words — "  Ego  Frithus  ita  sentio,  et  quemadmo- 


170  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

dum  sentio,  ita  dixi,  scripsi,  asservi  et  affirmavi,"  &c. — "  /,  Fryth, 
thus  do  think,  and  as  I  think;  so  have  I  said,  ivritten,  defended 
and  avowed,  and  in  my  books  have  pvhlisliedy 

Sentence  being  passed,  and  read  against  him,  by  Stokesly,  he 
was  handed  over  to  the  Mayor  and  Sheriffs.  By  them  he  was 
committed  to  Newgate,  and  put  into  a  dark  dungeon  under  the 
gate.  There,  laden  with  irons,  as  many  as  he  could  bear,  and 
his  neck  made  fast  to  a  post,  with  a  collar  of  iron,  he  could  neither 
stand  upright,  nor  stoop  down  !  Yet  even  here,  by  candle-light, 
for  no  other  came  into  the  place,  was  he  continually  engaged  in 
writing — the  letter  to  his  friends,  concerning  his  troubles,  which 
was  afterwards  printed  in  his  works,  being  his  first  effort. 

Such  was  the  power  of  Fryth's  example,  that  another  indi- 
vidual, Andrew  Hewet,  (also  betrayed  by  Holt,  the  miscreant  al- 
ready mentioned,)  who  had  been  first  examined  in  April,  and  was 
now  brought  up  again,  resolved  to  follow  his  steps.  The  Bishops 
used  many  persuasions  to  allure  him  from  the  truth,  but  in  vain. 
His  heart  was  one  with  Fryth's,  and  he  told  them  firmly,  that 
he  would  do  as  he  had  done.     He  was  therefore  condemned. 

And  now  at  the  last,  that  Henry  might  have  liis  full  share  of 
the  guilt  and  shame  of  such  a  martyrdom,  on  the  3d  of  July  it 
was  noted  to  him,  oliicially,  by  Stokesly,  sealed  with  his  own  seal, 
how  the  matter  stood,  but  there  was  no  reply,  and  therefore  full 
consent  !  Next  morning  Fryth  and  his  companion  were  led  forth 
to  Smithfield. 

Being  both  bound  to  the  stake,  "  there  was  present,"  says  Foxe, 
"one  Dr.  Cooke,  that  was  parson  of  the  Church  called  All-hal- 
lows, in  Honey-lane,  situate  in  the  midst  of  Cheapside."  The 
said  Cooke  made  open  exclamation,  and  admonished  the  people, 
that  they  should  in  no  wise  pray  for  them,  any  more  than  they 
would  for  a  dog.  At  these  words,  Fryth,  smiling,  prayed  the  Lord 
to  forgive  him  !  The  Doctor's  words,  however,  "  did  not  a  little 
move  the  people  to  anger,  and  not  without  cause.  The  wind  made 
his  death  somewhat  longer,  as  it  bore  away  the  flame  from  him  to 
his  fellow ;  but  Fryth's  mind  was  established  with  such  patience, 
that,  as  though  he  had  felt  no  pain,  he  seemed  rather  to  rejoice 
for  his  fellow  than  to  be  careful  for  himself!"  This  painful  event 
was  felt  and  lamented  far  and  near. 

So  early  as  the  17th  of  June,  Cranmer,  immediately  after  he 
had  informed  Hawkins  respecting  John  Fryth,  tells  him  that  the 
Duke  of  Norfolk,  the  Prime  Minister ;  Lord  Rochford,  the  brother 
of  Queen  Anne ;  Sir  Francis  Bryan,  Sir  A.  Brown,  with  Drs. 
Goodrich,  Aldrich,  and  Thirlby,  had  been  sent  as  ambassadors  to 
the  King  of  France — "  and,  as  I  suppose,  they  go  from  him  to  the 
Pope,"  to  Marseilles.  In  July,  Hawkins  obtained  one  conference 
with  the  Emperor,  but  he  remained  inflexible.  "The  matter  was 
none  of  his;" — but  "she,"  Q,ueen  Catharine,  "was  his  aunt,  and 
an  orphan.  He  must  see  for  her,  and  her  daughter  was  his 
cousin."     The  envoy,  therefore,  soon  after  returned  to  England. 

In  June,  probably  before  he  knew  all  that  had  occurred  in  Eng- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  171 

land,  the  Pontiff  was  eager  to  keep  both  Henry  and  the  Emperor 
satisfied,  if  possible,  but  tiie  latter  had  the  entire  control,  and  be- 
came lu'gent  ;  so  that,  b}-'  the  11th  of  July,  Clement  annulling  at 
once  the  judgment  given  by  Cranmer,  a  provisional  excommuni- 
cation of  Henry  was  issued,  unless  he  separated  from  his  new 
Queen  before  September,  or,  at  the  latest,  by  the  end  of  October, 
The  King  then  recalled  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  Lord  Rochford 
from  France,  and,  on  the  30th  of  the  same  month,  signed  an  ap- 
peal from  the  condemnation  of  the  Pope  to  a  General  Council. 
It  so  happened  that  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  a  bo}^  of  fifteen,  the 
second  son  of  Francis,  was  about  to  be  married  at  Marseille.^!,  to 
Catharine  de  Medici,  the  niece  of  Clement,  when  the  French  King 
and  the  Pontiff' were  to  meet  at  the  marriage.  The  resolute  Ste- 
phen Gardiner  was  instructed  to  be  present,  as  his  Sovereign's 
representative,  to  watch  proceedings ;  Sir  F.  Bryan,  and  Sir  J. 
Wallop  were  also  sent ;  but,  as  resolute  as  Gardiner,  and  more 
fierce  withal,  Edmimd  Bonner  was  there  also  as  ambassador.  In 
August,  Henry  had  forwarded  to  the  latter  his  appeal  to  a  general 
Council,  which  was  to  be  communicated  at  the  proper  time.  At 
the  commencement  of  this  meeting,  in  October,  the  Pontiff,  not 
being  with  Charles,  began  to  oscillate  once  more.  England  he 
would /a/y/.  have  retained,  by  any  means,  foul  or  fair;  and  so  he 
hinted  that  he  would  now  annul  the  first  marriage  of  Henry,  if  he 
would  only  send  a  proxy  thither.  Nay,  he  deliberately  confessed 
to  the  King  of  France,  that  he  thought  Henry's  marriage  with 
Catharine,  and  the  dispensation  granted  by  his  predecessor,  were 
both  null  and  void  in  law ;  but  then  he  was  governed  by  the  im- 
perial power,  which,  of  course,  he  actually  hated. 

When  November  came,  however,  Bonner  thought  it  was  now 
time  for  him  to  present  and  read  his  papers,  and  this  he  effected, 
to  the  no  small  annoyance  of  Clement.  The  subject  matter  was 
unwelcome,  and  the  manner  of  Bonner  so  peremptory  and  offen- 
sive, that  our  former  Bishop  of  Worcester,  the  Pontiff,  once  en- 
raged, threatened  to  throw  him  into  a  cauldron  of  melted  lead,  or 
to  burn  him  alive  !  It  was  time  for  Edmund  then  to  make  his 
escape,  or  withdraw  and  return  to  England. 

The  meeting  of  Francis  and  Clement,  in  its  effects,  was  a  most 
melancholy  one  for  France.  The  King,  it  is  true,  "there  com- 
pleted the  nuptials  between  his  own  son  and  the  Pontiff's  niece ;" 
but  there,  also,  "  he  made  that  secret  compact  with  him,  which, 
being  adopted  and  pursued  by  other  princes  in  his  own  country, 
and  elsewhere,  filled  the  most  enlightened  parts  of  Europe  with 
terror,  blood,  flames,  commotion,  and  misery,  for  above  a  century  !" 
Henry  was  abandoning  the  connection,  but  "  unhappily  for  his 
kingdom,  Francis  plunged  into  it  more  deeply  than  ever — an  event 
the  more  extraordinary,  that,  before  this  time,  he  had  talked  of 
curtailing  the  Pontiff's  power  in  his  dominions,  and  even  of  reced- 
ing from  it,  and  had  for  some  time  permitted  his  beloved  sister, 
(the  Queen  of  Navarre,)  and  her  religious  friends,  to  enjoy  and 
diffuse  their  opinions.     This  miserable  and  infatuated  change  of 


172 


HISTORY    OF    THE    KNGLISH    BIBLE. 


conduct  made  his  country,  for  several  generations,  a  region  of 
mourning,  battle,  and  death." 

With  regard  to  that  war  of  opinion,  now  effectually  kindled  in 
England,  which  burst  forth  so  decidedly  in  February  1526,  and 
continued  without  intermission,  it  was  more  than  ever  on  the  ad- 
vance ;  but  it  has  now  become  more  necessary  to  discrimi/iafe,  if 
we  are  to  keep  pace  with  the  actual  state  of  the  country.  The 
positive  progress  of  Divine  truth,  must  on  no  account  be  confounded 
with  certain  opinions  debated,  and  movements  settled,  whether  in 
Parliament  or  the  Convocation.  In  England  were  two  distinct 
parties,  with  views  and  intentions  as  distinct  as  heaven  and  earth, 
or  as  Divine  truth  is  from  mere  political  expediency.  The  former 
was,  properly  speaking,  the  cause  of  God  ;  the  latter  party,  though 
overruled  by  Him,  involved  chiefly  the  passions  and  feelings  of  but 
one  man,  or  the  Monarch,  with  his  obsequious  advisers.  The 
former  cause,  apparently  without  one  powerful  friend  on  earth, 
was  certainly,  as  yet,  witiiout  a  visible  leader  in  England.  Not- 
withstanding both  fire  and  fury,  the  rage  of  Henry,  and  the  vain 
imaginations  of  his  prelates,  that  cause  had  been  feeling  its  way, 
silentl}'^  but  effectually,  in  a  thousand  directions  ;  and  the  parties 
benefited  were  scattered  among  the  people,  as  "  a  dew  from  Jeho- 
vah, which  tarrieth  not  for  man,  nor  waiteth  for  the  sons  of  men." 
With  regard  to  other  men,  in  all  the  discussions  between  the  Pon- 
tiff and  ilenry,  on  the  one  hand,  and'  between  the  latter  with  his 
Parliaments  or  Convocations,  on  the  other,  though  religion  was 
verbally  connected  with  them,  all  hated,  and  all  as  yet  had  ecpially 
persecuted,  the  Truth.  Yet  feeble  and  unprotected  as  the  cause 
of  God  might  seem,  it  was  essentially  the  cause  of  all  that  hap- 
pened. All  the  other  movements  were  but  the  ground-swell ;  so 
that  while  human  passions  and  worldly  interests  were  in  agita- 
tion, the  Almighty  looked  down  from  heaven,  and  in  the  things 
wherein  they  dealt  proudly  or  cruelly,  He  was  above  them.  In 
short,  if  the  names  of  men  are  to  be  mentioned,  the  cause  of  Tyn- 
dale  and  Fryth  was  that  of  England's  best  hope,  and  the  most 
untoward  events  were  overruled  to  advance  it. 

The  martyrdom  of  Fryth  was  the  climax  of  those  on  English 
ground,  and  it  was  the  more  deeply  lamented  as  involving  the 
death  of  the  dearest  friend  and  assistant  of  Tyndale  himself  Yet 
was  it  fit  that  lie  should  occupy  such  a  place  in  this  noble  warfare. 
The  effect  was  felt  in  Parliament,  and  at  its  first  sitting,  on  the 
simple  petition  of  a  poor  prisoner,  the  subject  was  taken  up ;  not, 
indeed,  by  the  Lords  or  Bishops  ;  not  by  the  King,  but  by  that 
instrument  of  national  good,  corrupt  and  servile  though  it  was — 
the  House  of  Commons.  It  was  then,  as  we  shall  see,  that  here- 
tics were  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Bishops,  and  then  that  no 
man  was  to  be,  as  many  had  been,  immured  in  a  dungeon,  on 
suspicion  of  heresy.  Even  now  the  Scriptures  were  let  alone,  at 
least  not  burnt ;  nor  was  any  one  confined  or  burnt,  for  reading 
or  believing  them.     It  was  not  a  little  remarkable,  nor  should  it 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  173 

now  be  forgotten,  that  such  a  season  succeeded  the  martyrdom  of 
Fryth. 

Although  from  June  1533  the  storm  was  beginning  to  subside, 
opposition  to  the  truth  was  by  no  means  at  an  end.  On  the  con- 
trary, so  far  as  the  pe;i  and  the  press  were  concerned,  the  present 
year  stands  most  of  all  conspicuous.  We  have  noticed  the  slight 
inaccuracy  of  supposing  tliat  Sir  Thomas  More  retired  to  a  life  of 
study  and  retirement,  when  he  resigned  the  Great  Seal  in  May 
last,  as  for  seven  months  afterwards  he  continued  active  as  a  per- 
secutor. Even  then,  he  had  been  writing ;  but  it  was  during  this 
year  especially,  that  he  put  forth  all  his  strength,  and  must  have 
been  busy,  night  and  day,  with  little  or  nothing  else  than  his  great 
controvers3^  Had  "  abundance  of  words"  been  only  reckoned  a 
mark  of  greatness.  Sir  Thomas  must  have  seemed  a  giant  in  liter- 
ature ;  but  now,  the  amount  of  his  exertions  in  this  warfare,  can 
only  be  placed  among  its  most  melancholy  curiosities. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  first  part  of  his  "  Confutation  of 
Tyndale,"  so  called,  consisting  of  383  folio  pages  ;  and  now  came 
the  remainder,  or  five  books,  of  573  pages  more,  or  936  in  all ! 
Of  these  ponderous  volumes,  150  pages  were  against  Barnes,  and 
786  in  opposition  to  Tyndale  ! 

An  important  diversion  from  Tyndale  personally,  now  ensued : 
his  cause  was  gathering  strengtii.  Of  these  two  huge  publications, 
the  last  had  scarcely  come  fron  the  press,  when  there  sprung  up 
another  v/riter,  and  upon  English  ground,  who  disturbed  the  self- 
complacency  of  Sir  Thomas  not  a  little.  He  was  of  the  Chancel- 
lor's own  profession,  though,  in  other  respects,  a  very  different 
man.  An  Oxford  scholar,  he  had  entered  the  Inner  Temple,  had 
long  been  eminent  as  a  counsellor ;  and.  as  a  man,  highly  esteemed. 
A  Christian,  too,  he  was  a  great  admirer  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  as 
appeared  by  his  habitual  use  of  it.  "  Every  night,  after  his  busi- 
ness was  past,  he  read  a  chapter  of  the  Bible  to  those  that  be- 
longed to  his  house,  and  the  substance  thereof  he  expounded  to 
them."  It  was  natural  for  such  a  man  to  take  a  deep  interest  in 
the  times.  This  year,  therefore,  he  published  anonymously  "  The 
Pacifier,  or  the  Division  between  the  Spirituality  and  the  Tempo- 
rality," printed  by  Berthelet.  It  was  distinguished  for  its  temper- 
ate language,  and  formed  a  perfect  contrast  to  the  controversial 
style  of  Sir  Thomas.  He  was,  therefore,  the  more  censured  for 
the  violence  of  his  writing,  as  well  as  his  tedious  verbosity.  The 
anonymous  writer  was  held  up  to  him  as  a  pattern.  Excited  once 
more,  he  must  connnence  again ;  but  he  ran  on  to  580  pages  duo- 
decimo, entitled,  "  The  Apology  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  after  he  had 
given  over  the  office  of  Lord  Chancellor  of  England."  Here  he 
very  candidly  gives  us  the  popular  feeling  against  himself,  for  after 
all  his  toil,  his  Confutation  was  not  read  !  So  far  fi'om  the  high- 
sounding  term  "  Confutation,"  the  author  has  now  come  down  to 
an  Apology. 

The  retired  Chancellor's  tone  was  now,  for  a  short  season,  more 
subdued ;    though  whenever  he  touched  on  the  Spirituality,  so 


174  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

called,  his  irritability  returns.  Referring  to  Tyudale  and  others, 
he  says — "  as  for  wit  and  learning,  I  nowliere  say  that  any  of 
them  have  none''' — but  now  this  new  writer,  h^  his  matter  and 
manner  combined,  greatly  puzzled  him.  He  could  not  believe  so 
good  a  man  could  be  an  enemy  to  the  Spirituality,  and  yet  "  he 
says  nothing  good  of  them."  Faults,  and  these  alone,  are  speci- 
fied, so  that  he  must  be  surrounded  by  some  "  wily  shrews,  who 
have  filled  his  ear  with  such  statements."  Still,  to  the  manner 
of  this  writer,  he  must  concede  the  superiority,  though  he  could 
not  imitate  it.  "  The  pacifier  can  yet  use  his  words  in  a  fair 
manner,  and  speak  to  each  man  gently.  I  cannot  say  but  that 
is  very  true.  Howbeit.  every  one  hath  not  like  wit,  nor  like  in- 
vention in  writing;  for  he  findeth  many  ways  of  calling  evil  mat- 
ter in  good  words,  which  I  have  never  thought  upon,  but  am  a 
simple  plain  body,  much  like  the  Macedonians." 

This  anonymous  writer  was  Christopher  Saintgernian.  It 
is  by  no  means  improbable  that  he  came  forward  this  year, 
not  only  from  principle,  but  from  feelings  of  friendship,  if  not  of 
kindred.  His  mother's  name  originally  was  Anne  Tyudale  ;  he 
being  the  son  of  Sir  Henry  Saintgerman,  a  knight  of  Warwick- 
shire, by  Anne,  the  daughter  of  Thomas  Tyndale,  Esq.  AVe 
have  not  been  able  to  trace  the  relationship,  but  his  mother  maj' 
have  been,  in  some  remote  degree,  related  to  our  Translator. 

By  the  month  of  August,  at  the  latest,  Tyndale's  defence  of 
Fryth  against  More,  and  Fryth's  letter  to  him,  which  he  had 
penned  in  the  Tower,  had  arrived  in  print  from  abroad.  The  re- 
tired Chancellor  then  put  forth  his  reply  to  Fryth,  such  as  it  was  : 
which,  though  in  print  since  December  last,  he  had  kept  back,  he 
says,  "  more  than  a  year ;"  and  then  he  fell  upon  Tyndale,  but 
for  the  last  time.  The  brief  and  unexceptionable  treatise  of  Tyn- 
dale, entitled,  "  The  Supper  of  the  Lord,"  &c.,  from  which  we 
have  already  quoted,  was  an  octavo  tract  of  about  GO  pages.  Sir 
Thomas,  in  his  usual  style,  replied,  in  the  same  size,  to  the  tune 
of  282  pages,  besides  his  preface  !  It  was  printed,  he  tells  us, 
"  and  many  of  them  gone  before  Christmas."  Tiiis  was  a  final 
efibrt,  and  every  way  worthy  of  the  close  of  such  a  stormy  tem- 
pest. It  is  painful  to  quote  his  language ;  but,  without  noticing 
it,  no  just  or  adequate  idea  can  be  formed  of  the  battle  which  was 
fought  for  the  truth  of  God,  and  the  emancipation  of  the  human 
mind  ;  nor,  consequently,  of  the  obligations  of  tliis  country  to  the 
man  who,  for  England's  lasting  benefit,  triumphed,  and  then  went 
on  with  liis  work. 

Whether  there  had  been  another  edition  of  Tyndale's  New  Tes- 
tament, since  his  reprint  of  1530,  we  have  not  been  able  to  ascer- 
tain. Owing  to  his  residence  in  Antwerp  itself,  and  the  promise 
of  his  revising  the  translation,  the  printers  were  probably  restrained. 
By  this  time,  however,  there  were  the  tokens  of  increasing  demand, 
perhaps  not  altogether  unconnected  with  the  reigning  Q,ueen  of 
England  ;  but,  from  whatever  cause,  the  prospect  of  a  large  and 
ready  sale  will  prove  by  far  too  strong  for  these  Antwerp  printers 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  175 

to  remain  still.  Let  the  market  be  never  so  inviting,  among  all 
the  English  printers,  of  coarse,  not  one  dared  to  move  ;  but  to 
these  foreign  workmen,  George  Joye  represents  himself  as  saying, 
■ — "If  Tyndale  amend  it  (the  translation)  with  so  great  diligence 
as  he  promiseth,  yours  will  never  be  sold." — "  Yes,"  they  replied, 
"  for  if  he  print  two  thousand,  and  we  as  many,  what  is  so  little 
a  niunher  for  all  England?  And  we  will  sell  ours  better  cheap, 
and  therefore  we  doubt  not  of  the  sale." 

Thus,  notwithstanding  the  mart3a-dom  of  Frytli  in  June,  nay, 
all  that  the  Bishops  had  yet  done  to  terrify  the  people  at  home,  or 
the  King  and  his  ministers  to  prevent  importation  of  books  from 
abroad ;  notwithstanding  all  that  Sir  Thomas  More  had  written  and 
published  ;  and  though  there  was  yet  no  symptom  of  any  favor- 
able regard,  on  the  part  of  even  one  official  man  in  all  England ; 
it  becomes  evident  that  there  Avas  to  be  no  wisdom,  nor  counsel, 
nor  might,  which  should  be  able  to  resist  a  tide  which  had  now 
set  in  with  greater  power  than  ever. 


SECTION    XI. 

TYNDALE  ALL  ALONE  AFTER    FRYTH's    DEATH GENESIS,  SECOND    EDITION FRESH 

ISSUE  OF   THE  PENTATEUCH SURREPTITIOUS    EDITION  OF  THE    NEW  TESTAMENT 

BY  JOYE THE  CORRECTED  AND  IMPROVED  EDITION  BY  TYNDALE JOYE's  INTER- 
FERENCE EXPLAINED STATE  OF  ENGLAND PARLIAMENT  ASSEMBLED SEPA- 
RATION FROM    ROME CONSTRUCTIVE    TREASON THE    PONTIFf's    SUPREMACY  AT 

AN    END DIVINE    TRUTH    IN     PROGRESS HARMAN     IN     LONDON RESTORED     TO 

FAVOR  BY  THE  QUEEN GLANCE  AT  THE  PAST  AND  PRESENT THE  NEW  TESTA- 
MENT IMPORTING  IN  SEVERAL  EDITIONS,  IN  FORCIBLE  CONTRAST  WITH  THE  IDLE 
DREAMS  OF   THE   CONVOCATION. 

In  returning  to  Tyndale  at  the  commencement  of  this  year,  it 
is  impossible  to  do  so  without  feelings  of  sympathy.  By  a  cruel 
death,  and  in  the  prime  of  life,  on  the  4tli  of  July,  he  had  been 
bereft  of  that  companion  who  was  dearer  to  him  than  anv  man 
living.  That  stroke  must  have  been  deeply  felt  still,  and  long 
would  the  feeling  of  bereavement  return  upon  him,  more  es- 
pecially when  he  sat  down  to  his  beloved  employment.  He  had, 
indeed,  toiled  in  this  hazardous  undertaking  before  Fryth  can\e  to 
him  from  England,  but  having  for  years  enjoyed  his  company  and 
aid,  as  well  as  so  highly  prized  them  both,  it  must  have  demanded 
no  inferior  degree  of  Christian  submission  and  fortitude,  now  to 
plough  through  the  deep  all  alone.  Tyndale  actually  had  no  man 
hke-minded,  and  the  place  of  Fryth  was  never  to  be  supplied. 
We  by  no  means  forget  another  valuable  agent,  John  Roger,  into 
whose  hands  came  all  that  Tyndale  had  translated ;  and  who 
proved  so  admirable  a  posthumous  friend. 

But  still,  in  the  death  of  Fryth,  there  were  alleviating  circum- 
stances, as  there  always  have  been  in  the  afflictions  of  the  faith- 


176  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

fill.  Such  a  glorious  exit  was  well  fitted  to  prepare  Tyndale  for 
his  own,  and  to  render  it  so  much  the  easier,  nay,  welcome  when 
it  arrived.  We  have  seen  how  intensely  anxious  he  was  for  the 
character  of  his  friend,  and  in  this  he  might  now  well  exult.  That 
young  man  had  fought  a  good  fight,  had  finished  his  appointed 
course ;  and  above  all,  had  preserved  his  fidelity.  He  had  come 
home  from  beyond  sea,  and  shown  to  all  England,  how  a  martyr 
for  the  truth  of  God  ought  to  die,  if  he  must.  Nothing  remained 
for  him  but  the  Christian's  great  metropolis,  the  heavenly  Jerusa- 
lem, the  palace  of  the  Great  King  ;  into  which  he  had  entered,  no 
doubt,  with  joy  upon  every  side.  In  him  there  had  been  no  mis- 
giving, not  a  single  word  of  hesitation,  no  shift  or  evasion,  no  halt- 
ing between  two  opinions,  no  love  of  life,  no  fear  of  death.  His 
crown  of  martyrdom  was,  unquestionably,  by  far  the  brightest 
which  had  yet  been  won  upon  English  ground,  ever  since  this  war 
of  opinion  had  commenced.  As  Stephen  of  old  had  fallen  asleep 
amidst  the  shower  of  stones  at  Jerusalem ;  so  Fryth,  also  praying 
for  his  enemies,  had  done  the  same,  in  the  midst  of  the  fiames  at 
London.  But,  besides  all  this,  there  were  the  noted  effects,  the 
impression  his  Christian  heroism  had  produced,  and  the  season 
that  almost  immediately  ensued.  The  sky  had  begun  to  clear 
over  England  for  a  little  season,  and  this  was  quite  sufficient  to 
convey  fresh  vigor  to  our  Translator.  It  was  this  year,  therefore, 
that  there  appeared  a  second  impression  of  Genesis,  and  an  im- 
proved, because  a  revised  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  both  of 
which  now  deserve  notice. 

That  it  was  the  fixed  and  unalterable  intention  of  Tyndale  to 
print  an  edition  of  the  entire  sacred  text,  there  can  be  no  question. 
He  had  already  commenced  with  "  the  first  book  of  Moses  called 
Genesis,"  newly  corrected  and  amended  by  W.  T.,  mdxxxiii. 
His  initials  were  now,  of  course,  perfectly  sufficient  to  point  out 
the  author  ;  and  thus,  in  the  very  teeth  of  a  tempest  of  more  than 
eight  years'  standing,  he  modestly  intimated  liis  firm  determina- 
tion to  proceed  as  he  had  begun.  Of  the  four  other  books  of  the 
Pentateuch,  copies  being  still  on  hand,  these  five  being  frequently 
bound  up  together,  form  what  has  frequently  been  styled  the 
second  edition  of  the  Pentateuch. 

By  other  local  circumstances  in  Antwerp  itself,  however,  T)ni- 
dale  was  now  imperatively  called  away  to  the  revision  and  im- 
provement of  his  New  Testament :  and  these  circumstajices,  hith- 
erto but  very  imperfectly  understood,  deserve  as  well  as  demand 
some  explanation.  Although  Tyndale  himself  was  somewhat 
annoyed  by  them,  an  ardent  and  growing  desire  in  England  for 
his  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  formed  the  sole  cause  of  all  that 
took  place.  The  printers  and  George  Joye  had  conferred  on  this 
subject  very  cautiously,  unknown  to  Tyndale,  and  as  Joye  was 
now  in  Antwerp,  it  is  necessary  to  glance  at  his  previous  history. 

George  Joye,  alias  Gee,  alias  Clarke,  a  native  of  Bedfordshire,  a 
Scholar  and  Fellow  of  Peter-House,  Cambridge,  had  fled  from 
persecution  in  1527,  and  resided  at  Strasburg,  till  he  came  to 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  177 

Barrow,  early  in  1532.  By  his  then  printing  two  specimen  leaves, 
in  folio,  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  aiming  after  an  edition  of  the 
Bible  for  the  English  market.  Before  this  he  had  been  translat- 
ing from  the  Latin^  as  he  was  competent  for  nothing  more,  and 
since  1530  he  had  put  forth  three  such  translations.  Tyndale 
having  been  necessarily  engrossed  elsewhere,  with  his  tract  in 
reply  to  Sir  Thomas  More,  and  on  behalf  of  Fryth  in  prison, 
relating  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  Joye  came  into  closer  conference 
with  the  printers  at  Antwerp.  He  then  engaged  in  correcting, 
after  his  own  opinion,  from  the  Vulgate,  an  edition  of  Tyndale's 
New  Testament,  now  passing  through  the  press.  Christopher 
Endhoven  being  now  dead,  the  business  was  carried  on  by  his 
widow.  This,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  press  at  which  the 
first  surreptitious  edition  had  been  executed  ;  and  the  progress  of 
the  present  one  had  been  very  carefully  kept  secret  from  Tyndale, 
even  after  his  return  to  Antwerp.  This  volume,  in  16mo,  with  a 
title  in  rubrics,  which  was  finished  at  press  in  August  1534,  is 
now  exceedingly  rare. 

Collation.  "  The  New  Testament  as  it  was  written  and  caused 
to  be  written  by  them  which  hearde  yt,  whom  also  our  Saueoure 
Christ  Jesus  commanded  that  they  shulde  preach  it  unto  al  crea- 
tures."^ — ^Title,  at  the  back  of  which  is  an  "almanacke  for  xviii. 
yeres."  The  signatures  run  a  to  z.  A  to  H.  Then  the  Epistles 
of  the  Apostle  St.  Paul,  on  sign  Aai,  and  extend  to  Ccc.  At 
the  end  of  the  Revelation  is  this  Colophon — "  Here  endeth  the 
Newe  Testament,  diligently  ouersene  and  corrected,  and  printed 
now  agayn  at  Antwerpe  by  me  Widowe  of  Chrystoflel  of  End- 
houe,  in  the  yere  of  oure  Lorde  mccccc.  and  xxxiiii  in  August." 

Meanwhile,  Tyndale  was  very  busily  occupied  in  revising  and 
improving  the  translation  of  his  New  Testament,  and  in  three 
months  only  after  this,  it  was  ready  for  circulation.  But  before 
saying  more  of  the  book,  or  of  Joye's  interference,  we  first  present 
a  brief  collation. 

*'  The  Newe  Testament  dylygently  corrected  and  compared 
with  the  Greek  by  Willyam  Tindale,  and  fyneshed  in  the  yere  of 
our  Lorde  God  a  md  and  xxxiiij.  in  the  moneth  of  November." 
This  title  is  within  a  wood  border,  at  the  botom  of  which  is  a 
blank  shield.  "W.  T.  to  the  Christen  reader,"  17  pages.  "A 
prologe  into  the  iiii  Evangelystes,"  4  pages.  "  Willyam  Tindale. 
yet  once  more,  to  the  Christen  reader,"  9  pages.  Then  a  second 
title — "  The  Newe  Testament,  imprinted  at  Antwerp  by  Marten 
Emperowr,  Anno  MDXxxiiij."  Matthew  begins  on  folio  ii.  ;  Reve- 
lation on  ccclv. ;  and  afterwards  follow  "  The  Epistles  taken  out 
of  the  Old  Testament,"  running  on  to  folio  cccc.  A  table  of  the 
Epistles  and  Gospels  for  Sundays,  16  pages — with  '•  some  things 
added  to  fill  up  tlie  lelTe  with  all,"  5  pages.  The  signatures  run 
in  eights,  and  a  full  page  has  33  lines.  It  has  wood-cuts  in  the 
Revelations,  and  some  small  ones  at  the  beginning  of  the  Gospels, 
and  several  of  the  Epistles. 

The  second  address  of  Tyndale  to  the  Christian  Reader  forms 

12 


178  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

a  caveat  with  reference  to  Joye's  interference  ;  and  there  can  be 
Uttle  doubt  that  the  first  title  with  his  name  inserted  in  full,  and 
as  having  compared  the  Sacred  Text  once  more  with  the  Greek, 
was  owing  to  the  same  cause.  The  occurrence,  which  could  not 
fail  to  be  felt  at  the  moment,  is  to  be  valued  now  thus  far,  that  it 
gave  occasion  for  Tyndale  to  speak  out,  and  discover  whether  he 
had  not  all  along  translated  from  the  original^  and  was  laudably 
jealous  over  the  precise  terms  of  his  translation.  When  he  alludes 
to  Joye,  it  is  in  the  language  of  a  scholar,  who  could  not  but 
regard  him  as  rash  and  incompetent ;  and,  in  point  of  fact,  he  soon 
discovered  himself  to  be  a  man  of  very  inferior  calibre,  whether  in 
regard  to  learning  or  sound  judgment.  Placed  in  such  critical 
circumstances  as  Tyndale  had  been  for  years,  while  every  ivord 
of  his  translation  had  been  so  carefully  scanned,  and  a  contro- 
versy was  actually  in  dependence  at  the  moment  with  the  Lord 
Chancellor  of  England,  with  regard  to  certain  terms,  there  was 
certainly  no  trivial  occasion  both  for  alarm  and  offence.  The 
important  word  "  Resurrection,^''  Joye  had  very  strangely  altered 
to  "  the  life  after  this  ;"  and  in  reference  to  the  book  generally, 
"  I  wot  not,"  says  Tyndale,  "  what  other  changes,  for  I  have  not 
yet  read  it  over."  This  word,  an  all-important  one,  was  especially 
so  at  that  season,  and  occasioned  Tyndale  solemnly  to  profess  his 
faith  in  the  resurrection  from  the  dead  ;  having  observed  that  the 
word  was  not  so  rendered  as  Joye  had  done,  "  neither  by  him,  nor 
by  any  other  translator  in  any  language."  But  the  alterations 
were  far  from  being  confined  to  a  single  word.  In  one  place, 
indeed,  Joye  speaks  as  if  he  had  mended  only  "  a  few  certain 
doubtful  and  dark  places,"  but  the  truth  comes  out  when  he  adds, 
"  I  say  I  have  made  many  changes."  This  becomes  manifest, 
from  his  very  simple  explanation  of  what  had  been  his  procedure. 

"  For  as  for  me,  I  had  notJiing  to  do  with  the  printing  thereof, 
but  corrected  tlieir  copy  only,  (and,  most  probably,  one  of  the 
spurious  editions,)  as  where  I  found  a  word  falsely  printed,  I 
mended  it ;  and  when  I  came  to  some  dark  sentence,  that  no 
reason  could  be  gathered  of  them,  whether  it  was  by  the  igno- 
rance of  the  first  translator,  or  of  the  printer,  I  had  the  Latin  text 
by  me,  and  made  k  plain! !  And  gave  many  words  their  j^i/re 
and  native  signification  !" 

The  better  way,  however,  will  be,  to  let  Joye  speak  for  himself; 
though  the  "  Apology  made  by  him  to  satisfye,  if  it  may  be,  W. 
Tyndale,"  &c.,  dated  the  28th  of  February,  (1535,)  in  itself  a  con- 
temptible production,  became  peculiarly  offensive,  from  its  being 
put  forth  after  our  Translator  had  been  actually  aud  at  last 
apprehended,  and  in  prison  !  But  still  let  us  hear  him.  By  his 
own  confession  he  had  '•  made  many  changes,"  though  there 
was  one  of  which  he  was  not  a  little  vain,  and  this  will  serve 
sufficiently  for  illustration.  Tyndale's  corrected  New  Testament 
was  now  out,  and  gone  to  England,  but  says  Joye,^ — 

"  Ere  he  (Tyndale)  came  to  one  place  of  the  Testament  to  be 
last  corrected,  I  told  his  scribe,  that  there  was  a  place  in  the  begin- 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  179 

ning  of  the  vith  chapter  of  the  Acts,  somewhat  darkly  translated 
at  first,  and  that  Iliad  niended  it  in  my  correction,  and  bade  him 
shew  it  Tyndale  to  mend  it  also.  But  yet,  because  /found  the 
fault,  and  had  corrected  it  before,  Tyndale  had  lever  to  let  it  stand, 
as  he  did /or  all  my  warning,  still  darkly  in  his  new  correction, 
whereof  the  reader  might  take  a  wrong  sense,  than  to  have 
mended  it.  Which  place,  whether  it  standeth  now  clearer  and 
truer,  in  7ny  correction  than  in  his,  let  the  ZearwecZ  judge  !" 

That  the  learned,  therefore,  may  judge,  we  must,  on  no  account 
withhold  this  clearer  and  truer  passage.     It  was  this — 

"  In  those  dayes,  the  nombre  of  the  disciples  grewe  there  arose 
a  grudge  amonge  the  grekes  agaynste  the  ebrues,  because  theyr 
pore  nedy  were  neglege  in  the  dayly  almose  dealinge  !" 

To  say  nothing  of  one  word  left  out,  of  course  Tyndale  had 
not  substituted  poor  needy  for  "  widows,"  nor  ahnsdealing  for 
"  ministration ;"  but  such  officious  intermeddhng  with  a  living 
author's  work  crowned  by  such  an  Apology,  and  put  forth  at  such 
a  time,  could  not  fail  to  be  deepl}^  offensive  to  many,  as  the  event 
proved.  The  fact  was,  that  Joye,  in  his  ignorance,  was  contribu- 
ting to  the  corruption  of  the  Sacred  Text;  and,  in  one  sense,  to  a 
greater  degree  than  the  Antwerp  printers,  who,  though  they  had 
erred  occasionally,  as  foreigners  to  the  language,  still  rose  quite 
above  the  specimens  which  Joye  had  before  furnished  from  Stras- 
burg.  Not  a  little  conceited  of  his  powers,  he  had  been  dabbling 
with  the  translation,  and  with  the  Vulgate  only  before  Isiai,  as  he 
said,  to  make  it  plain  !  Now,  the  whole  public  life  of  Tyndale 
has  been  not  unfitly  described,  as  "  a  series  of  hostilities  against 
the  defenders  of  the  Latin  Vulgate."  But  it  became  much  worse 
when  Joye  w^as  taking  liberties  with  the  Vulgate  itself,  and  was 
quite  nettled  because  our  Translator  would  not  imitate  him  in  his 
rash  folly.  In  frowning,  therefore,  upon  such  interference,  Tyn- 
dale only  showed  his  discernment ;  though,  after  all,  poor  George 
Joye  may  now  be  cordially  forgiven,  for  a  petulance  even  tinged 
with  malignity,  owing  to  a  few  terms  in  which  he  expressed  him- 
self He  it  is  who  contributed  his  mite,  to  establish  the  scliolar- 
ship  of  our  original  Translator,  and  to  an  extent  but  little  known 
to  some  of  our  moderns.  "  I  am  not  afraid,"  said  he,  in  one  place, 
"  I  am  not  afraid  to  answer  Master  Tyndale  in  this  matter, /or  all 
his  high  learning  in  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  &c."  What 
other  tongues  he  referred  to,  we  cannot  say;  but  after  this  testi- 
mony, though  uttered  in  a  miserable  spirit,  we  have  no  occasion 
to  draw  upon  the  high-flown  compliment  paid  to  Tyndale,  but  by 
no  mean  judge,  after  he  had  communed  with  him  at  Worms. 
We  refer  to  Herman  Buschius,  the  friend  of  Spalafinus.  He  men- 
tions other  languages,  though  not  German,  as  Herbert  Marsh 
imagined;  but  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin,  with  which  he  begins, 
are  quite  sufficient. 

In  his  history  of  translations,  Lewis,  not  knowing  all  the  cir- 
cumstances, has  misrepresented  Tyndale,  by  saying  that,  in  his 
preface,  his  language  expresses  a  great  deal  too  much  passion  and 


180  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

resentment  against  Joye ;  the  best  refutation   of  which  is  to  be 
found  in  Tyndale's  own  words — 

"  Wilham  Tyndale,  yet  once  more  to  the  Christian  reader.  Tliou 
shalt  understand,  most  dear  reader,  when  I  had  taken  in  hand  to 
look  over  the  New  Testament  again,  to  compare  it  with  the  Greek, 
and  to  mend  whatsoever  I  could  find  amiss,  and  had  ahnost  fin- 
ished my  labor :  George  Joye  secretly  took  in  hand  to  correct  it 
also,  by  what  occasion  his  conscience  knoweth,  and  prevented 
(went  before)  me,  insomuch,  that  his  correction  was  printed  in 
great  number,  (most  of  the  sheets)  ere  mine  began.  When  it  was 
spied,  and  word  brought  me,  though  it  seemed  to  divers  others, 
that  G.  Joye  had  not  used  the  office  of  an  honest  man,  seeing  he 
knew  that  I  was  in  correcting  it  m3'^self ;  neither  did  walk  after 
the  rule  of  love  and  softness,  which  Christ  and  his  disciples  teach 
us ;  how  that  we  should  do  nothing  of  strife  to  move  debate,  or  of 
vainglory,  or  of  covetousness,"  &c. 

At  the  close  of  this  year  we  shall  have  occasion  to  revert  once 
more  to  the  various  editions  of  the  New  Testament,  which  had  is- 
sued, in  only  a  few  months,  from  different  presses  in  Antwerp  ; 
but,  at  present,  we  first  return  home  to  our  native  land,  and  observe 
the  leading  occurrences  by  which  the  period  was  so  distinguished. 

In  England,  the  political  events  of  this  year  were  at  once  im- 
portant and  decisive ;  while,  as  it  regarded  the  Scriptures  and 
their  dispersion,  a  separate  department  of  history,  and  altogether 
as  distinct  as  ever,  the  change  was  not  less  remarkable.  Not  that 
there  was  any  change  on  the  Monarch,  except  that  of  going  on 
from  bad  to  worse  :  but  we  shall  see  him  in  ti'ouble  respecting  his 
own  personal  safety,  adopting  such  measures  as  fear  suggested, 
and  at  the  same  time  pursuing  his  career  after  power,  with  an  ul- 
timate view  to  the  acquisition  of  wealth,  by  whatever  means. 
For  what  though  the  clergy  were  still  paying  up  the  price  of  their 
pardon  ?  These  monasteries  and  religious  houses,  full  in  view, 
were  rich,  and  Henry  still  was  poor. 

In  December  last,  the  English  Council  had  settled  their  mode 
of  procedure  with  regard  to  Clement,  after  he  had  so  threatened  if 
ncpt  frightened  Master  Bonner. 

The  Council  decided  that  Henry's  subjects  should  now  be  fully 
informed  of  his  having  appealed  to  a  General  Council ;  and  it 
nuist  be  preached  throughout  the  land  that  the  authority  of  a 
General  Council  was  superior  to  that  of  the  Pontiff,  who,  in  Eng- 
land, had  now  no  more  than  that  of  any  other  foreign  Bishop. 

On  the  1.5th  of  January,  Parliament  sat  down,  and  the  Convo- 
cation assembled  about  the  same  time.  In  the  latter  there  was 
now  no  more  discussion  respecting  the  burning  of  heretics  ;  while  in 
Parhament,  the  Upper  and  the  Lower  Houses  were  exchanging  bills 
with  each  other,  characteristic  of  the  times.  On  the  4th  of  Feb- 
ruary, the  Commons  sent  up  a  bill  in  mitigation  of  those  who 
might  be  charged  with  heresy,  which  will  be  glanced  at  presently; 
the  Upper  House,  on  the  same  day,  sending  down  the  clergy's 
submission  bill,  to  which  the  Convocation  bowed,  and  the  Com- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  181 

mens  readily  agreed.  This  passed  on  the  28th  of  March,  when 
the  clergy,  entering  into  new  bonds,  acknowledged  that  all  convo- 
cations should  be  henceforth  assembled  by  the  Ktng-'s  writ, — that 
they  should  make  no  new  canons  without  the  royal  assent, — that 
a  committee  should  sit  on  all  present  canons  prejudicial  to  the 
King's  prerogative,  and  that  all  grievances  in  the  Archbishop's 
court,  might  be  appealed  to  the  King. 

On  the  26th  of  March,  a  Bill  had  passed  through  both  Houses, 
discharging  Henry's  subjects  from  all  dependence  on  the  Court  of 
Rome.  On  the  same  day.  Parliament  again  confirmed  the  King's 
marriage,  as  well  as  the  succession  to  the  crown,  and  then,  on  the 
30th,  adjourned  to  the  third  of  November. 

The  Pope,  however,  pronounced  sentence  "  That  Henry's  first 
marriage  was  valid,  that  he  should  be  compelled  to  live  with  Queen 
Catharine,  and  be  forever  silent  on  the  subject !"  Thus  was  there 
only  one  path  left  open  in  England.  But  who  devised  it  ?  Not 
the  King,  certainly  ;  for  he  had  been  long  brooding  over  some 
crooked  path  of  his  own,  which  no  writer  can  well  explain,  and 
for  the  best  of  all  reasons — Henry  did  not  actually  know  it  him- 
self. But  at  all  events,  no  man  can  now  dream  that  religion,  in 
any  sense,  had  ever  the  shadow  of  an  influence,  with  either  party, 
in  these  wearisome  negociations.  On  the  contrary,  and  so  far  as 
England  was  concerned,  we  shall  find  her  Monarch  waxing  worse 
and  worse,  to  the  day  of  his  death.  But  it  was  the  will  of  God  that 
the  connection  should  come  to  an  end,  and  so  says  Halle,  the  earliest 
historian  of  the  times,  "  God  be  everlastingly  praised  therefore." 

Parliament  being  now  prorogued,  one  feature  of  the  time  is 
worthy  of  notice.  It  was  the  exchange  of  the  fear  of  heresy,  for 
the  fear  of  treason.  That  bill  in  mitigation  of  the  treatment  of 
any  who  were  suspected  of  the  former,  is  worthy  of  remark,  as  its 
success  has  been  partly  ascribed  to  feelings  excited  by  the  death 
of  Fryth.  One  Thomas  Philip,  who  had  been  delivered  by  Sir 
Thomas  More  to  Stokesly,  of  London,  by  indenture,  in  1530,  had 
been  cruelly  detained  in  prison  by  hhn  ever  since !  Of  Philip,  who  had 
appealed  to  the  King,  but  could  not  gain  access  to  him,  an  account 
is  given  by  Foxe,  with  an  interesting  letter  of  exhortation  to  firm- 
ness, from  "  the  Congregation,"  or  those  followers  of  Christ  who  met 
in  Bow  Lane,  Cheapside ;  but  Foxe  concludes  by  saying,  that  he 
knew  not  what  became  of  him.  The  truth  is,  that,  at  last,  he  com- 
plained to  the  House  of  Commons  against  Stokesly,  and  as  the 
Bishop  would  not  appear  at  their  bar,  to  answer  for  his  conduct, 
the  Commons'  House  framed  their  bill,  which  had  now  passed. 

It  repealed  the  statute  of  Henry  IV.,  by  which  Bishops  might 
commit  to  prison  on  suspicion  of  heresy ;  heretics  were  only  to 
be  proceeded  against  by  two  witnesses,  and  to  answer  in  open 
court ;  if  guilty,  the  King's  writ  must  be  obtained  before  any  sen- 
tence could  be  executed  ;  but  it  was  declared  that  none  should  be 
troubled  upon  any  of  the  Pontiff's  ca?io?i5  or  laws,  or  for  speak- 
ing or  acting  against  him. 

This  act  was  generally  regarded  by  the  people  as  an  especial 


182  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

blessing,  since  it  not  only  delivered  them  in  a  great  degree  from 
the  paw  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny,  but  immediately  brought  some 
of  the  most  worthy  characters  from  their  dungeons.  Not  only 
did  Philips,  who  had  been  there  for  years,  escape,  but  Thomas 
Patmore,  who  had  been  confined  as  long,  obtained  a  commission 
from  Audley,  Crumwell,  and  Cranmer,  to  inquire  into  "the  injuri- 
ous and  unjust  dealings  of  both  More  and  Stokesly.  Patmore,  who 
was  most  probably  a  relation  of  that  gentleman  who  had  been  so 
shamefully  treated  for  importing  and  dispersing  Tyndale's  New 
Testaments,  in  1531,  seems  to  have  been  restored  to  his  former 
living.  Thus,  after  a  long  season  of  most  reckless  cruelty,  here 
now  was  the  dawning  of  a  day  of  j'etributlon. 

It  was  after  Parliament  rose,  that  the  oaths  of  allegiance  to  the 
King,  to  the  lawfulness  of  his  marriage,  and  the  succession  to  the 
crown,  came  to  be  tendered  to  all  parties.  Sir  Thomas  More,  and 
Bishop  Fisher,  hesitating,  they  were  committed  to  the  Tower,  till 
the  meeting  of  Parliament.  Henry  was  greatly  irritated  against 
both  ;  and  it  being  apprehended,  if  they  had  books  and  paper,  that 
they  would  write  against  the  King's  marriage,  or  his  supremacy, 
these  were  denied  them.  Thus  it  was,  emphatically,  that  More's 
controversial  career  came  to  an  end. 

The  remaining  political  events  of  this  year  may  be  soon  told. 
In  April,  an  "Inhibition"  of  all  seditious  preaching,  or,  in  other 
words,  saying  anything  contrary  to  the  acts  just  passed,  was  sent 
out  by  Cranmer.  In  June,  there  was  a  public  proclamation  against 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pontiff.  In  August,  the  observant  Friars 
of  St.  Francis,  strongly  suspected  of  opposition  to  the  supremacy 
of  Henry,  were  unhoused,  when  many  of  them  took  their  depart- 
ure. This  was  a  preliminary  feeler,  put  forth  with  an  ultimate 
view  to  the  Monasteries,  and  all  other  religious  houses  throughout 
the  kingdom.  In  September,  Clement  died  at  Rome,  surviving 
his  sentence  against  Henry  only  six  months.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Farnese,  or  Paul  III.  In  October,  Secretary  Crumwell  was 
made  Master  of  the  Rolls,  and  on  the  third  of  November,  Parlia- 
ment again  sat  to  the  18th  of  December. 

All  preceding  Acts  of  Parliament  bearing  upon  the  great  con- 
troversy with  Rome,  were  now  fully  recognized  and  confirmed. 
It  was  made  treason  for  any  one  not  only  to  deny  the  King's  dig- 
nity, but  his  attendant  title,  as  "  Head  of  the  Church  of  England ;" 
nay,  once  calling  him  heretic,  scliismatic,  tyrant,  infidel,  or  usurper 
of  the  crown,  subjected  every  man  to  the  same  imputation  !  By 
this  Parliament,  also,  both  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Bishop  Fisher 
were  attainted  for  misprision  of  treason,  so  that,  in  six  months 
hence,  we  shall  see  them  come  to  their  unhappy  end. 

This  year,  amidst  all  the  policy,  and  even  the  wrath  of  states- 
men, still  absorbed  in  their  own  affairs,  concurring  events,  in  which 
the  overruling  hand  of  God  had  been  conspicuous,  were  favorable 
to  the  progress  of  Divine  Truth  in  Britain.  That  cause  continued 
to  be  one  by  itself,  and  still  certainly  witiiout  any  visible  Head  in 
England.     There  had  been  frowns,  and  proclamations,  and  de- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  183 

nunciations  ;  there  had  been  solemn  warnings,  and  martyrdoms  : 
but  never  one  smile  from  the  Throne,  no  sanction  from  the  Privy- 
Council,  not  one  voice  in  Parliament.  But  what  did  all  this  sis'- 
nify?  We  observe  edition  upon  edition  of  the  New  Testament,  as 
■well  as  the  Law  of  God,  prejiared  at  a  distance,  for  English  eyes. 
The  cause  was  God's  ;  by  way  of  emphasis,  His.  He  alone  had 
carried  it  on,  in  defiance  of  all  the  power  and  policy  of  the  nation. 

Among  all  the  wonders  He  hath  vrrought  for  this  favored  Island, 
and  they  are  now  numerous  as  the  sand  upon  her  sea-shore,  there 
is  not  one  to  be  compared  with  His  conveyance  of  the  Bible  to  its 
inhabitants  ;  nor  should  the  wa?/  in  which  he  did  so,  be  confounded 
with  other  passages  in  English  history;  much  less  be  "buried  in 
forgetfulness,  or  in  oblivion  die."'" 

After  such  efforts  made  in  printing  the  Scriptures  in  Antwerp, 
and  to  the  extent  which  we  have  already  witnessed,  it  may  natu- 
rally be  expected,  that  we  shall  discover  in  England  itself,  at  least 
some  of  the  grounds  of  encouragement.  The  intelligence  of  all 
that  was  transacted  in  Parliament,  of  course,  went  to  Antwerp 
immediately,  for  there  was  no  city  on  the  Continent,  where  every- 
thing passing  in  London  was  better  known,  or  so  soon.  The  bill 
introduced  by  the  Commons,  which  would  have  the  eflectof  taking 
any  who  were  suspected  of  heresy,  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Bishops, 
was  of  itself  ominous  of  better  days.  Originating  in  a  complaint 
against  the  late  Lord  Chancellor  and  the  present  Bishop  of  Lon- 
don, and  this  complaint  terminating  in  such  a  cure,  was  better 
still.  There  must  have  been  various  other  encouraging  circum- 
stances, of  which  we  have  no  account ;  but  there  was  one  party 
now  in  England,  of  whom,  till  now.  we  have  heard  nothing  so 
tangible  and  distinct. 

The  reader  is  fully  aware  that  five  years  ago,  a  gentleman  of 
Antwerp,  Mr.  Harman,  was  grievously  molested  by  Hackett,  the 
English  envoy  ;  that  he,  and  his  wife,  equally  zealous  with  him- 
self, were  confined  in  prison  for  months,  and  had  been  seriously 
injured  through  the  furious  enmity  of  both  Hackett  and  Wolsey. 
Such  a  change  had  taken  place,  that  he  was  now  arrived  in  Lon- 
don, and  to  seek  redress  !  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  he  did  not 
apply  to  Audley,  the  Lord  Chancellor  of  the  day.  though  certainly 
a  very  diiferent  man  from  either  of  his  predecessors  ;  nor  to  Cran- 
mer  ;  nor  to  Cromwell ;  but  to  the  Queen  herself.  The  writings 
of  Tyndale  had  been  for  years  well  known  to  her;  and  that  she 
had  stolen  a  march  upon  his  Majesty,  with  one  of  his  publications, 
cannot  be  forgotten.  Mr.  Harman  or  Herman  fully  succeeded 
in  his  application,  and  fortunately,  the  very  letter  written  on  his 
behalf,  by  Anne  Boleyn  herself,  has  been  preserved.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  copy. 

"  Bt/  the  Queen. 
"Anne  the  Queen. 

"Trusty  and  right  well  beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  And 
whereas  we  be  credibly  informed  that  the  bearer  hereof,  Richard 


184  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Herman,  merchant  and  citizen  of  Antwerp,  in  Brabant,  was,  in 
the  time  of  the  late  Lord  Cardinal,  put  and  expelled  from  his  free- 
dom and  fellowship,  of  and  in  the  English  house  there,  for  nothing 
else  (as  he  affirmeth,)  but  only  for  that  he,  still  like  a  good  christ- 
ian man,  did  both  with  his  goods  and  policy,  to  his  great  hurt 
and  hinderance  in  this  world,  help  to  the  setting  forth  of  the  New 
Testament  in  English  :  We  therefore  desire  and  instantly 
pray  you,  that,  with  all  speed  and  favor  convenient,  ye  will  cause 
this  good  and  honest  merchant,  being  my  Lord's  true,  faithful,  and 
loving  subject,  to  be  restored  to  his  pristine  freedom,  liberty,  and 
fellowship  aforesaid,  and  the  sooner  at  this  our  request,  and  at 
your  good  leisure  to  hear  him  in  such  things,  as  he  hath  to  make 
further  relation  unto  you  in  this  behalf.  Given  under  our  signet, 
at  my  Lord's  manor  of  Greenwich,  the  xiiii  day  of  May.  To  our 
trusty  and  right  well  beloved,  Thomas  Crumwell,  Squire,  Chief 
Secretary  unto  my  Lord  the  King^s  Highness^ 

Whatever  may  be  said,  whether  to  the  praise  or  disparagement 
of  Anne  Boleyn,  it  should  not  now  pass  unnoticed,  that  no  man, 
either  of  influence  or  office  in  all  England,  ever  so  expressed  him- 
self, while  Tyndale  lived.  Nor  is  this  merely  a  letter  of  authority  ; 
the  sentiments  of  the  writer  appear  throughout,  and  it  also  con- 
veys some  information.  From  one  expression  it  is  evident  that 
Mr.  Harman  had  done  much  more  than  coolly  import  the  volumes. 
"With  his  goods  and  policy,  to  his  great  hinderance  in  this 
world,"  he  had  done  this.  Every  one  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  the  Hanse  towns,  knows  how  much  had  been  involved  in  the 
forfeiture  of  his  privileges  as  a  merchant  adventurer.  The  "  Eng- 
lish house,"  like  all  these  towns,  exercised  a  judicial  superintend- 
ence over  its  members,  and  punished  them  by  a  species  of  com- 
mercial excommunication.  Mr.  Harman  had  evidently  been  suf- 
fering under  this  for  years.  He  had  been  a  friend  of  the  cause, 
and  therefore  the  friend  of  Tyndale. 

As  Crumwell  had  been  appointed  "  chief  Secretary  of  State," 
only  one  week  before  the  date  of  the  preceding  letter,  this  must 
have  been  one  of  his  earliest  acts  in  that  capacity.  But  the  tide 
is  turning  for  a  short  season,  and  so  does  the  "  chief  Secretary" 
with  it. 

Tunstal,  that  early  opponent,  once  of  great  pow^er,  was  yet  alive, 
and  what  would  he  have  said,  or  not  have  said,  in  1526,  to  such 
a  document,  from  the  Queen  of  England  7  He  is  now  professedly 
approving  of  the  Pontiff's  entire  exclusion  from  this  country,  nay, 
and  preaching  this  to  the  people  ;  while  there  is  no  word  now  of 
"  the  crafty  translation  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  English 
tongue,  containing  that  pestiferous  and  most  pernicious  poison, 
dispersed  throughout  allour  diocese  of  London,  in  great  numbers." 
But  this  is  the  book  itself,  and  this  is  one  of  the  very  men,  who  to 
his  damage  and  loss,  had  so  heartily  imported  it.  The  writer  had 
these  days  in  her  eye,  when  she  took  up  her  pen ;  and  yet,  says 
the  Q^ueen,  Harman  was  only  acting  in  character,  and  doing  only 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  185 

what  he  ought  to  have  done,  "  as  a  good  Christian  man."  Wolsey 
and  Warham  were  in  their  graves.  Sir  Thomas  More  and 
Bishop  Fisher  were  in  the  Tower.  Timstal  and  Gardiner  and 
Stokesly  are  muzzled.  Norfolk,  the  Prime  Minister,  must  wink 
hard.  The  Secretary  of  State  is  requested  to  proceed  forthwith, 
"  the  sooner  at  this  our  request ;"  while  Henry  himself,  wilful, 
wayward,  and  reckless  as  he  was,  is,  at  the  least,  occasionally  now 
kept  in  check  by  the  writer  of  this  letter. 

It  was  fit  that  the  very  book  which  had  been  so  vilified,  so 
trampled  on  and  burnt,  by  the  King,  Wolsey,  Warham,  and  Tun- 
stal ;  which  had  been  fastened  in  derision,  by  Sir  Thomas  More, 
to  the  garments  of  Tyndale's  brother,  or  the  men  who  were  then 
marched  t«  the  spot,  where  they  must  cast  it  into  the  flames  ; — 
nay,  the  book,  w^hich  had  been  denounced  from  the  Star  Chamber 
by  the  King  himself,  should  at  last  meet  with  some  such  notice 
as  this ;  and  that  it  should  proceed  from  the  pen  of  one,  who,  at 
this  moment,  could  turn  the  heart  of  even  such  a  Monarch.  The 
Translator  himself  should  never  be  forgotten,  but  he  never  set  his 
foot  on  English  ground  again ;  the  change  Avas  the  work  of  no 
human  hand,  and  more  than  the  finger  of  Providence  was  here. 
Is  it  too  much  to  say,  that  for  the  sake  of  His  Blessed  Word,  first 
its  entrance  into  this  country,  and  then  its  effects,  God  had  shown 
strength  with  his  arm,  and  scattered  the  proud  in  the  imagination 
of  their  hearts  l — had  put  down  the  mighty  from  their  seats,  and 
honored  a  man  of  low  degree?  Nor  had  the  word,  so  singularly 
introduced,  returned  to  him  void.  Think  of  the  many  whom 
Fryth  had  met  with  in  England  before  his  death,  and  of  the  high 
character  he  gave  them.  God  had  filled  his  own,  however  poor, 
with  gladness,  though  of  the  rich,  there  was  only  one  at  this  mo- 
ment to  justify  the  whole  proceeding,  and  thus  far  espouse  the 
hated  though  uninjured  cause. 

This  token  of  regard,  on  the  part  of  dueen  Anne,  was  not  un- 
felt,  by  Tyndale.  He  must  have  known  her  sentiments  as  well  as 
most  men,  and  been  fully  apprised  of  her  influence  ;  an  influence 
which  had  been  at  once  deprecated  and  dreaded  by  the  old  school. 
He  had  learnt  also  of  this  incident  in  sufficient  time  for  him  to  lay 
down  at  the  press,  one  copy  of  his  corrected  New  Testament,  on 
vellimi.  Beautifully  printed,  with  illuminations,  it  was  bound  in 
blue  morocco,  and  the  Q,ueen's  name,  in  large  red  letters,  equally 
divided,  was  placed  on  the  fore-edges  of  the  top,  side,  and  bottom 
margins  :  thus,  on  the  top,  Anna  ;  on  the  right  margin  fore-edge, 
Reg  IN  A,  and  on  the  bottom,  Anglic — Anne,  Queen  of  England. 

The  Translator,  when  he  put  forth  his  edition,  in  tliat  spirit 
which  Christianity  alone  inspires,  .9^«i^-  his  own  name;  and  would 
have  done  so  afterwards,  but  for  the  character  and  writings  of  his 
amanuensis,  Roye  ;  and  this  year  the  interference  of  Joye  ;  but 
here  he  does  so  once  more.  Even  his  name  is  withdrawn,  and 
with  great  propriety,  all  prefatory  matter  is  omitted.  Tyndale 
was  no  sycophant.  There  is  no  dedication^ — no  complimoit  paid, 
as  there  never  ought  to  be,  to  any  human  being,  along  with  God's 


186  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

most  holy  Word.  The  history  of  this  beautiful  book,  since  it  was 
handled  by  Anne  Boleyn,  above  three  hundred  years  ago,  would 
have  interested  any  reader  ;  but  all  that  can  here  be  stated  is,  that 
the  last  private  individual  into  whose  possession  it  had  come,  was 
the  late  Rev.  Clayton  Mordaunt  Cracherode.  After  his  death,  in 
April,  1799,  the  volume  came  into  its  proper  place,  when,  with 
his  large  and  valuable  library,  it  was  bequeathed  to  the  British 
Museum. 

The  Scriptures,  as  translated  by  Tyndale,  were  now  coming 
more  freely  into  England,  and  were  reading  in  various  places  with 
all  eagerness.  No  man  was  now  molested  abroad,  as  Mr.  Harman 
had  been,  nor  was  any  man  to  be  tormented  at  home,  for  selling 
or  buying,  possessing,  or  reading  them,  as  had  been  tjie  fashion 
too  long.  For  the  moment  at  least,  the  storm  was  changed  into  a 
comparative  calm,  and  it  is  curious  to  contrast  all  this,  with  the 
doings  of  the  Convocation,  which  sat  in  November  and  December. 
By  their  own  journal,  it  appears  that  they  addressed  the  King 
before  rising.  This  was  on  the  19th  of  December,  and  exhibited 
a  striking  proof  of  a  house  divided  against  itself.  Their  resolution 
passed  both  Houses  of  Convocation,  in  which  they  all  agreed,  that 
Cranmer  should  make  instance,  in  their  names,  to  the  King,  that 
his  Majesty  would  vouchsafe,  for  the  increase  of  the  faith  of  his 
subjects,  to  command  that  all  his  subjects  in  whose  possession  any 
books  of  suspected  doctrine  were,  especially  in  the  vulgar  lan- 
guage, imprinted  beyond  or  on  this  side  the  sea,  should  be  warned, 
within  three  months,  to  bring  them  in,  under  a  certain  pain,  to  be 
limited  by  him  !  And  that,  moreover,  his  Majesty  would  vouch- 
safe to  decree,  that  the  Scriptures  should  be  translated  into  the 
vulgar  tongue  by  some  honest  and  learned  men,  to  be  nominated 
by  the  King,  and  to  be  delivered  to  the  people  according  to  their 
learning ! 

The  first  request  exhibits  the  influence  of  Gardiner  and  Stokesly 
in  the  Convocation,  the  latter  that  of  Cranmer ;  and  it  seems  to 
be  evident  that  the  two  parties  nuist  have  come  to  a  compromise. 
for  the  sake  of  each  party  securing,  if  possible,  its  favorite  request, 
or  this  might  be  a/ee^er,  put  forth  to  ascertain,  more  precisely,  the 
existing  state  of  their  tnaster^s  mind. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  187 


SECTION    XII, 


TYNDALE  S  APPREHENSION  AT  ANTWERP IMPRISONMENT    IN    THE    CASTLE   OF    VIL- 

VORDE DISTINCT  INFORMATION  CONVEYED    TO    CRUMWELL  AND    CRANMER THE 

STRENUOUS    EXERTIONS    OF    THOMAS    POYNTZ BRISKING    HIS    OWN    LIFE,  BUT    IN 

VAIN TYNDALE's    PROGRESS  '  IN     PRISON HENRy's     SUPREJIACY FISHER     AND 

MORE    FALL    BEFORE  IT THE    ODIUM    ENSUING CRANMER    AND    THE    BISHOPS 

THE    BISHOPS    APPLIED    TO    FOR    A    TRANSLATION    OF    THE    NEW  TESTAMENT A 

FRUITLESS    ATTEMPT FRESH   EDITIONS    OF    TYNDALe's    TRANSLATION,  PRINTED 

AND  IMPORTING  THIS  YEAR. 

It  has  been  generally  supposed,  that  there  was  only  one  mau 
hired  to  apprehend  Tyndale,  but  there  vras  a  second,  of  far  g-reater 
note  as  to  character,  joined  with  him,  both  in  counsel  and  action  ; 
"and  so,"  says  Halle,  "he  was  betrayed  and  taken,  as  wa?iysaid, 
not  without  tiie  help  and  procurement  of  some  Bishops  of  his 
realm."  The  help,  partly  consisting  in  money,  of  which  we  shall 
find,  presently,  there  was  no  lack,  is  to  be  traced,  therefore,  to  this 
source.  The  Bisiiops,  in  1527,  had  leagued  together  under  War- 
ham,  and  contributed  to  the  strange  and  fruitless  project  of  buy- 
ing up  the  New  Testamejits  to  burn  them ;  and  now,  though 
Warham  be  gone,  several  survivors,  of  the  same  temper,  were  still 
more  eager  to  consign  the  Translator  himself  to  the  flames.  That 
Stephen  Gardiner,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester,  who  had  succeeded 
against  Fryth,  was  in  the  secret,  and  deeply  concerned  in  the  in- 
trigue, there  will  be  little  or  no  doubt  presently ;  but  -//"so,  he  may 
have  been  the  chief,  for  such  was  the  well  known  temper  of  the 
man.  "Unless,"  says  Bonner,  who  knew  him  avcII,  "unless  he 
was  the  only  and  chief  inventor  of  any  matter,  he  would  have 
thwarted  it."  Tutored  and  lired  up  under  Wolscy,  though  the 
Kmg  and  the  Cardinal,  Sir  Thomas  More  and  Crumwell,  had 
not  succeeded,  and  though  abroad  neither  Hackett  or  West,  Sir 
Thomas  Elyot  or  any  other  agent,  had  been  able  to  apprehend 
Tyndale  ;  yet,  intimately  acquainted  with  all  circumstances,  vvith 
persons  and  places,  and  of  great  address,  there  was  no  man  now 
alive,  who  excelled  Gardiner  in  gaining  his  end,  by  secret  and 
circuitous  methods.  As  his  strength  and  skill  lay  in  fetching  a 
compass,  like  the  gyrations  of  a  hawk  before  pouncing  on  its  prey, 
so  was  he  much  more  likely  to  succeed  in  ensnaring  Tyndale 
than  any  one  who  had  previously  attempted  it.  At  least,  no 
other  individual  knew  so  well  how  to  take  advantage  of  the  rising 
discontent  of  monks  and  friars. 

The  men  in  England  selected  on  this  occasion,  were  Henry 
Phillips,  helong'mg  to  Poole  in  Dorset,  on  the  borders  of  Gardiner's 
diocese ;  and  the  other  individual,  in  counsel  with  him,  hitherto 
altogether  unknown,  was  Gabriel  Donne  or  Dunne,  a  monk  from 
Stratford  Abbey,  who  had  proceeded  to  Louvain.  The  former,  a 
good-looking  young  man,  acted  as  the  gentleman,  and  the  latter, 
in  disaruise,  as  his  counsellor  and  servant. 


188  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Certain  parts  of  the  story  cannot  be  better  told  than  in  the 
words  of  Foxe ;  but  we  shall  now  interweave  a  variety  of  other 
particulars,  hitherto  unnoticed  by  any  historian,  and  not  a  few  of 
them  altogether  unknown. 

"  William  Tyndale,  being  in  the  town  of  Antwerp,  had  been 
lodged  about  one  whole  year  in  the  house  of  Thomas  Poyntz, 
an  Englishman,  who  kept  there  a  house  of  English  Merchants  ; 
about  which  time  came  thither  one  out  of  England,  whose  name 
was  Henry  Phillips,  his  father  being  a  customer  (belonging  to  the 
custom-house)  of  Pool,  a  comely  fellow,  like  as  he  had  been  a  gen- 
tleman., having  a  servant  with  him  :  but  wherefore  he  came,  or  for 
what  purpose  he  was  sent  thither,  no  man  could  tell. 

''Master  Tyndale  divers  times  was  desired  forth  to  dinner  and 
supper  amongst  merchants  ;  by  means  Avhereof  this  Henry  Phil- 
lips became  acquainted  with  him,  so  that  within  short  space  Mas- 
ter Tyndale  had  a  great  confidence  in  him,  and  brought  him  to  his 
lodging,  to  the  house  of  Thomas  Poyntz;  and  had  him  also,  once 
or  twice  with  him,  to  dinner  and  supper ;  and  further  entered 
such  friendship  with  him,  that  through  his  procurement  he  lay  in 
the  same  house  of  the  said  Po3mtz  ;  to  whom  he  showed,  more- 
over, his  books,  and  other  secrets  of  his  study,  so  little  did  Tyn- 
dale then  mistrust  tliis  traitor  ! 

"  Poyntz,  having  no  great  confidence  in  the  fellow,  asked  Tyn- 
dale how  he  became  acquainted  with  this  Phillips.  Tyndale 
answered,  that  he  was  an  honest  man,  handsomely  learned,  and 
very  conformable.  Then  Poyntz,  perceiving  that  he  bare  such 
favor  to  him,  said  no  more,  thinking  that  he  was  brought  ac- 
quainted with  him  by  some  friend  of  his.  The  said  Phillips  being 
in  the  town  three  or  four  days,  upon  a  time,  desired  Poyntz  to 
walk  with  him  forth  of  the  town,  to  show  him  the  commodities 
thereof;  and  in  walking  together  without  the  town,  had  commu- 
nication of  divers  things,  and  some  of  the  King's  affairs  ;  by 
which  talk,  Poyntz  as  yet  suspected  nothing,  but  after,  by  the 
sequel  of  the  matter,  he  perceived  more  what  he  had  intended. 
In  the  meantime,  this  he  well  perceived,  that  he  bare  no  great 
favor,  either  to  the  setting  forth  of  any  good  thing,  or  to  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  King  of  England.  But  after,  Avhen  the  time  was 
past,  Poyntz  perceived  this  to  be  his  mind  ;  to  feel,  if  he  could 
perceive  by  him,  whether  he  might  break  with  him  in  the  matter, 
for  lucre  of  money,  to  help  him  to  his  purpose  ;  for  he  perceived 
before  that  he  was  inonied,  and  would  that  Poyntz  should  think 
no  less ;  but  Z>y  whom,  it  was  unknown.  For  he  had  desired 
Poyntz  before,  to  help  him  to  divers  things,  and  such  things  as  he 
named,  he  required  might  be  of  the  best,  '  for,'  said  he,  '  I  have 
money  enough :'  but  of  this  talk  came  nothing  but  that  men 
should  think  he  had  some  things  to  do.  So  it  was  to  be  suspected, 
that  Phillips  was  in  doubt  to  move  this  matter  to  any  of  the  rulers 
or  officers  of  the  town  of  Antwerp,  for  doubt  it  should  come  to 
the  knowledge  of  some  Englishmen,  and  by  the  means  thereof 
Tyndale  should  have  had  warning. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  189 

"So  Phillips  went  fioin  Antwerp  to  the  court  of  Brussels,  which 
is  from  thence  twenty- four  (rather  30)  English  miles,  the  King 
having-  there  no  Ambassador  ;  for  at  that  time  the  King  of  Eng- 
land and  the  Emperor  were  at  a  controversy  for  the  question  be- 
twixt the  King  and  Catherine,  who  was  aunt  to  the  Emperor ; 
and  the  discord  grew  so  much,  that  it  was  doubted  lest  there 
should  have  been  war ;  so  that  Phillips,  as  a  traitor  both  against 
Qod  and  the  King,  was  there  the  better  retained,  as  also  othe^r 
traitors  besides  him  ;  who  after  he  had  betrayed  Master  Tyndale 
into  their  hands,  sliowed  himself  likewise  against  the  King's  own 
person,  and  there  set  forth  things  against  the  King.  To  make 
short,  the  said  Phillips  did  so  much  there,  that  he  procured  to 
bring  from  thence  with  him  to  Antwerp,  that  Procurer-general, 
who  is  the  Emperor's  Attorney,  with  certain  other  officers,  as  after 
foUoweth  ;  which  was  not  done  with  small  charges  and  expenses, 
from  whomsoever  it  came. 

"  Within  a  while  after,  Poyntz  sitting  at  his  door,  Phillips's  man 
came  to  him,  and  asked  whether  Master  Tyndale  were  there,  and 
said  his  master  would  come  to  him,  and  so  departed  ;  but  whether 
his  master,  Phillips,  were  in  the  town  or  not,  it  was  not  known  ; 
but  at  that  time  Poyntz  heard  no  more,  either  of  the  master,  or 
of  the  man.  Within  three  or  four  days  after,  Poyntz  went  forth 
to  the  town  of  Barrois,  being  eighteen  (rather  24)  English  miles 
from  Antwerp,  where  he  had  business  to  do  for  the  space  of  a 
month  or  six  weeks  ;  and  in  the  time  of  his  absence  Henry  Phil- 
lips came  again  to  Antwerp,  to  the  house  of  Poyntz,  and  coming 
in,  spake  with  his  wife,  asking  her  for  Master  Tyndale,  and  whe- 
ther he  would  dine  there  with  him ;  saying — '  what  good  meat 
shall  we  have  V  She  answered,  '  such  as  the  market  will  give.' 
Then  went  he  forth  again,  as  it  was  thought,  to  provide,  and  set 
the  officers  whom  he  brought  with  him  from  Brussels,  in  the  street, 
and  about  the  door.  Then  about  noon  he  came  again,  and  went 
to  Master  Tyndale,  and  desired  him  to  lend  him  forty  shillings ; 
'for,'  said  he,  'I  lost  my  purse  this  morning,  coming  over  at  the 
passage,  between  this  and  Mechlin.'  So  Tyndale  took  him  forty 
shillings,  which  was  easy  to  be  had  of  him,  if  he  had  it ;  for  in 
the  wily  subtilties  of  this  world,  he  was  simple  and  inexpert. 

"Then  said/  Phillips, ''Master  Tyndale,  you  shall  be  my  guest 
here  this  day.'  No,  said  Tyndale,  'I  go  forth  this  day  to  dinner, 
and  you  shall  go  with  me,  and  be  my  guest,  where  you  shall  be 
welcome.'  So  when  it  was  dinner  time,  Master  Tyndale  went 
forth  with  Phillips,  and  at  the  going  forth  of  Poyntz's  house  was 
a  long  narrow  entry,  so  that  two  could  not  go  in  a  front.  Tyn- 
dale would  have  put  Phillips  before  him,  but  Phillips  would  in  no 
wise,  for  that  he  pretended  to  show  great  humanity,  (courtesy.) 
So  Master  Tyndale,  being  a  man  of  no  great  stature,  went  before, 
and  Phillips,  a  tall  comely  person,  followed  behind  him  ;  who  had 
set  officers  on  either  side  of  the  door  on  two  seats,  who  being  there 
might  see  who  came  in  the  entry  ;  and  coming  through  the  same, 
Phillips  pointed  with  his  finger  over  Master  Tyndale's  head  down 


190  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

to  him,  that  the  officers  who  sat  at  the  door  might  see  that  it  was 
he,  whom  they  should  take  ;  as  the  officers  afterwards  told  Poyntz  ; 
and  said,  when  they  had  laid  him  in  prison,  that  they  pitied  to 
see  his  simphcity,  wiien  they  took  him.  Then  they  broug'lu  him 
to  the  Emperor's  attorney,  where  he  dined.  Then  came  he,  tlie 
attorney,  to  the  house  of  Poyntz,  and  sent  away  all  that  was  there 
of  Master  Tyndale's,  as  well  his  books  as  other  things,  and  from 
thence  Tyndale  was  had  to  the  castle  of  Vilvorde,  eighteen  (rather 
23^)  English  miles  from  Antwerp."  Thus  far  at  present  the  nar- 
rative of  Foxe. 

Mr.  Poyntz  and  his  friends,  among  the  merchant-adventurers 
of  the  English  house,  were  immediately  alive  to  what  had  hap- 
pened, and  application,  in  behalf  of  Tyndale,  was  made  without 
delay  to  the  court  of  Brussels,  but  without  effect. 

The  state  of  the  Continent,  at  this  period,  having  become  ex- 
ceedingly critical,  with  regard  to  Henry's  personal  security  as  King 
of  England,  it  became  necessary  for  that  division  of  his  Privy 
Council  who  favored  his  movements,  to  have  a  watchful  eye  over 
the  secret  intrigues  of  the  adverse  party,  and  their  correspondents 
in  foreign  parts.  For  ten  long  years,  it  is  now  very  observable, 
Tyndale  had  been  working  abroad,  and  only  for  good  ;  to  whom 
the  .Monarch  and  his  Ministers  had  been  ever  opposed;  but  now, 
another  man  is  becoming  active  and  formidable,  w4io,  for  more 
than  twenty  years,  and  abroad  too,  shall  work  only  for  evil ;  his 
baneful  influence  extending  not  only  until  the  death  of  the  reign- 
ing King,  but  to  that  of  two  of  his  children.  This  was  Reginald 
Pole,  the  future  Cardinal,  whom  Henry  had  cherished,  and  edu- 
cated with  a  princely  munificence,  and  even  kindness,  such  as  he 
had  never  shown  to  any  other  human  being.  The  cousin  of  the 
King,  and  now  abroad  ;  of  polished  manners,  possessed  of  the  best 
education,  having  easy  access  to  the  higliest  circles,  wherever  he 
travelled ;  the  vivacity  of  his  genius,  and  his  playful  affability, 
endeared  him  to  all.  His  Majesty,  having  literally  made  him  the 
man  he  was,  became  eager  to  have  his  opinions  in  writing,  as  to 
himself  and  his  movements  ;  expecting,  of  course,  that  they  would 
be  entirely  in  his  favor.  Pole  assented,  and  all  the  time  living  on 
Henry's  bounty,  carried  on  the  delusion.  His  opinions  grew  into 
a  volume,  which  he  began  in  January  of 'this  year,  and  so  late  as 
June,  he  had  the  profound  hypocrisy  to  give  assurances,  in  writ- 
ing, that  he  meant  to  serve  the  King  in  the  cause  desired.  His 
book,  however,  such  as  it  was,  had  been  completed  in  March,  but 
it  was  retained  for  more  than  twelve  months  after  that,  and  shown 
to  select  enemies,  just  as  if  intended  to  produce  the  more  astound- 
ing effect  on  the  day  of  its  presentation,  next  year. 

At  this  time,  a  man  by  the  name  of  Tebold,  or  Theobald,  was 
sent  to  the  Continent,  to  keep  an  eye  on  the  movements  of  Pole, 
and  in  his  first  letters  he  brings  to  the  notice  of  Crumwell  and 
Cranmer  the  imprisonment  of  Tyndale,  and  also  shov^^s  that  the 
writer  had  had  confidential  intercourse  with  the  men  who  had  been 
instrumental  in  effecting  the  Translator's  apprehension.     In  his 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  191 

next  communication,  this  Theobald  sliows  that  there  is  reason  to 
beheve  there  were  persons  even  in  Scotland,  concerned  in  the  vile 
plot  to  imprison  Tyndale.  But  these  men  were  generally  friars, 
and  all  the  friars  hated  Tyndale,  as  they  had  done  Wicliffe, 
with  a  perfect  hatred.  Theobald  also  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that 
Tyndale  will  be  put  to  death. 

Previously  to  these  letters,  some  application  had  been  made  to 
England,  for  the  report  in  Antwerp  was,  that  his  Majesty  Itad  in- 
terfered, requesting  Tyndale  to  be  sent  back  to  that  city.  It  was 
but  a  groundless  rumor  !  But  August  had  now  come,  when  Mr. 
Poyntz  wrote  a  most  imploring  letter  to  his  brother  John  in  Eng- 
land, fully  setting  forth  the  facts  respecting  Tyndale's  confinement, 
and  begging  his  brother  to  make  interest  with  the  King  to  secure 
his  liberation.  At  such  a  crisis,  it  is  refreshing  to  find  that  there 
was  one  man  true  to  his  a^est^  tliroughout ;  whether  Crumwell  or 
Cranmer  move  or  not.  His  first  step  was  to  send  an  earnest  letter 
to  his  brother,  imploring  his  immediate  and  most  zealous  exertion. 
It  is  dated  "  at  Antwerp,  25th  August  1535." 

"  Right  well  beloved  brother, — I  recommend  me  unto  you,  and 
to  [Ann]  your  wife,  trusting  in  God  that  you  be  in  good  health. 
Brother,  the  cause  of  my  writing  to  you  at  this  time  is,  as  seems 
to  me,  for  a  great  matter  concerning  to  the  King's  Grace  ;  for 
though  I  am  herein  abiding,  yet  of  very  natural  love  to  the  coun- 
try that  I  was  born  in,  so  also  for  the  oath  and  obedience  the  which 
every  true  subject  is  bound  by  the  law  of  God  to  have  to  his  Prince, 
compels  me  to  write  that  thing  [which  I]  know  or  perceive  might 
be  prejudicial  or  hurtful  to  his  most  noble  Grace ; — which  may 
come  through  counsel  of  them,  that  seek  to  bring  their  own  ap- 
pointments to  pass,  under  color  of  pretending  the  King's  honor, 
and  yet  be  as  the  thorns  under  a  goodly  rose, — I  might  say,  very 
traitors,  in  their  hearts,  reckoning  at  length  to  bring  their  purpose 
to  pass,  as  they  have  always  done,  through  such  means.  Who 
they  be,  I  name  no  man  ;  but  it  is  good  to  perceive  it  must  be  the 
Papists,  which  have  always  been  the  deceivers  of  the  world,  by 
their  craft  and  juggling. 

"  For  whereas  it  was  said  here,  the  King  had  granted  his 
gracious  letters  in  the  favor  of  one  William  Tyndale,  for  to  have 
been  sent  hither  ;  the  which  is  in  prison,  and  like  to  suffer  death, 
except  it  be  through  his  gracious  help.  But  it  is  thought  those 
letters  be  stopped." 

The  presumption,  if  not  the  certainty,  is,  that  it  was  tlds  letter 
which  at  last  took  effect ;  for  we  have  now  the  proof  that  Tyn- 
dale's situation  nuist  have  been  explained  to  his  Majesty.  Mr. 
John  Poyntz  had  been,  for  twenty  years,  in  familiar  intercourse, 
not  only  with  the  Court,  but  the  King;  he  had  been  lon<^  about 
the  King's  person,  and  hi  the  household,  though  now  at  his  estate 
in  Essex.  Hence  the  style  of  his  brother's  letter.  It  was  to  be  a 
direct  appeal.  At  all  events,  Crumwell  was  roused  at  last.  Mr. 
Thomas  Poyntz  continued  at  Antwerp  the  most  zealous  exertions 
in  behalf  of  Tyndale,  and  was  on  the  point  of  success,  when  he 


192  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

was  arrested  at  the  instigation  of  the  same  wretch  who  had  be- 
trayed Tyndale,  and  after  being  confined  three  months,  he  man- 
aged to  escape  and  make  his  way  to  England. 

With  respect  to  Tyndale  himself,  now  in  close  confinement  at 
Yilvorde,  we  are  not  altogether  without  information.  The  fact 
of  his  imprisonment  was  now  well  known  in  England,  Scotland, 
and  Germany ;  and  the  zeal  against  him  was  "  burning  hot,"  es- 
pecially at  liouvain,  a  place  long  celebrated  for  its  ardent  attach- 
ment to  the  old  learning.  This  may  easily  be  conjectured  from 
the  men  now  arrayed,  and  apparently  gathered  together  against 
him.  Dunne,  having  fulfilled  his  commission,  and  for  six  months 
done  his  best,  had  left  for  England  ;  but  Phillips  and  Buckenani, 
with  others,  were  still  at  Louvain,  only  twelve  miles  from  Vil- 
vorde ;  and  they,  in  conjunction  with  the  doctors  there,  had  led 
Tyndale  into  discussion.  He,  having  been  permitted  to  reply  in 
writing,  was  not  slow  to  answer.  "  There  was,"  says  Foxe, 
"  much  writing,  and  great  disputation  to  and  fro,  between  him 
and  them  of  tbe  University  of  Louvain  ;  in  such  sort,  that  they 
all  had  enough  to  do,  and  more  than  they  could  well  wield,  to 
answer  the  authorities  and  testimonies  of  the  Scripture,  where- 
upon he,  most  pithily,  grounded  his  doctrine." 

They  had,  indeed,  now  laid  Tyndale  in  prison,  but  even  this 
could  by  no  means  prevent  the  progress  of  his  work.  It  must  not 
pass  unobserved,  that  there  came  out  this  year  another,  or  the 
third  edition,  of  his  "  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man,"  and  it  may 
very  safely  be  presumed  not  without  his  approbation,  if  not  concur- 
rence ;  as  it  was  printed  at  Marburg,  where  he  and  Fryth  had  dwelt. 

Another  piece  also  now  appeared,  and  appropriate  to  the  war  then 
waging  with  the  Doctors  of  Louvain.  This  was  WiclifTe's  Wicket, 
or  an  exposition  of  the  words  "  This  is  my  bodi/,^^  accompanied 
by  Tyndale's  judgment  respecting  the  Testament  of  William 
Tracy.  But  the  most  memorable  circumstance  was,  that  in  this, 
though  the  year  of  Tyndale's  imprisonment,  not  fewer  than  three 
editions  of  his  New  Testament  came  from  the  press. 

The  situation  of  England  at  this  time  was  very  critical.  Henry 
was  the  head  of  a  party  only,  many  of  his  subjects  adhering  to 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope.  It  was  now  high  treason  for  any 
man  to  question  the  dignity  of  the  King,  or  to  call  him  a  heretic, 
and  the  reign  of  terror  was  established.  On  the  4th  of  May, 
1535,  five  individuals  were  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered,  for 
treason  ;  these  were  a  monk,  a  vicar,  and  three  priors,  all  natives 
of  England ;  but,  on  the  25th  of  the  same  month,  as  many  as 
nineteen  men,  and  six  women,  were  arraigned.  These  were 
Hollanders,  and  not  fewer  than  fourteen  of  the  number  were  con- 
demned and  burnt  for  heresy ;  though  the  fear  felt  must  have 
been  respecting  their  political  influence.  Again,  on  the  19th  of 
June,  three  monks,  of  the  Charter-house,  in  London,  were  hanged 
for  treason,  all  of  Avhom  were  executed  in  their  habits ;  but  still, 
these  revolting  cruelties  could  not  shake  the  resolute  mintls  of  two 
far  more  eminent  men,  firmly  opposed  to  the  title  on  which  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  193 

King  now  doated.  These  were,  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester,  and 
Sh'  Tlioinas  More. 

Fisher  was  arraigned  before  Sir  Thomas  x'\.udley,  the  judges, 
Cruniwell,  and  three  peers ;  and  that,  too,  as  tJie  late  Bishop  of 
Rochester ;  for  since  Cranmer's  appointment,  the  Legislature  had 
made  and  unmade  Bishops,  denying  all  right  to  any  other  au- 
thority. Fisher  had  entertained  no  objections  to  Henry's  strange 
title  of  "  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  and  most  probably  had  assisted 
him  to  attain  it ;  but  the  present  claim  to  be  "  Head  of  the 
Church,"  was  out  of  the  question  with  him,  and  firmly  denied. 
The  indictment  for  what  they  then  called  treason,  having  been 
found  against  him  on  the  11th  of  June,  he  was  tried  on  the  17th, 
and  beheaded  on  the  morning  of  the  22d ;  his  head  afterwards, 
with  shameful  barbarity,  having  been  placed  in  terrorem  on  Lon- 
don Bridge. 

A  more  notable  person  was  soon  to  follow  :  for  this  oath  must 
also  be  tendered  to  the  laity.  At  the  very  top  of  the  list,  in  point 
of  reputed  talents,  eloquence,  and  character,  stood  Sir  Thomas 
More,  and  to  him  the  oath  of  succession  was  now  administered. 
Like  Fisher,  he  proposed  to  swear  to  the  act,  and  not  to  the  pre- 
amble ;  but  this  similarity  of  sentiment  only  the  more  excited  the 
King's  suspicion  and  fear,  that  there  was  lurking  treason,  and  far 
more  involved,  in  this  second  firm  refusal,  than  met  the  ear. 

To  uphold  that  systejn,  which,  in  England,  was  now  tottering 
to  its  base.  More  had  labored  like  another  Hercules.  Many  a  te- 
dious sheet  had  he  penned,  night  and  day,  and  many  a  thrust  had 
he  aimed  at  our  Translator ;  and  yet  now  he  must  die  before  him, 
and  soon  follow  that  Bishop  to  the  grave,  who  had  so  early 
preached  in  St.  Paul's  against  the  books  of  the  new  learning. 
But,  perhaps,  the  most  striking  point  of  all  was,  that  in  the  net, 
by  which  he  had  hoped  to  ensnare  others,  was  his  own  foot  taken. 
He  had  been  eager  to  prove  that  Tyndale  and  his  followers  ought 
to  be  held  guilty  of  treason,  as  well  as  heresy ;  and  now,  for  h\s 
0W71  opinions,  he  is  held  to  be  guilty  of  that  very  crime ;  while 
the  monarch,  whose  honor  and  dignity  he  had  been  professedly  so 
eager  to  uphold,  now  stands  in  his  way,  and  barbarously  exacts 
his  life.  Nor  do  the  tokens  of  return  for  past  offences  end  here. 
Sir  Thomas,  when  in  power,  had  been  severe  in  the  extreme,  to- 
wards his  Majesty's  subjects,  putting  them  to  death  for  what  they 
called  heresy,  upon  old  if  not  obsolete  statute,  without  application 
for  the  King's  writ  or  sanction  ;  and  now  that  the  King,  although 
Cranmer  and  others  were  alike  eager  to  save  hun,  had  made  a 
iieio  law,  to  which  every  knee  must  bow,  and  he  will  on  no  ac- 
count suffer  his  old  Chancellor  to  escape.  The  first  lay  Lord 
Chancellor  for  the  last  125  years,  must  therefore  be  the  first  lay- 
man to  suffer  death  at  this  crisis.  He  had  been  first  sentenced  to 
be  hanged,  drawn,  and  quartered  as  a  traitor,  but  this  decree  was 
changed  into  that  of  decapitation,  and  he  suffered  accordingly  on 
the  6th  of  July  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  "  In  both  cases," 
says  Southey,  "  the  work  of  retribution  may  be  acknowledged  ;  as 

13 


194  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

persecutors  both  sufferers  had  sinned,  and  both  died  as  unjustly 
as  they  had  brought  others  to  death.  The  consideration  is  im- 
portant in  a  Christian's  view,  but  it  affords  no  excuse,  no  palUation, 
for  the  Clime."  Certainly  not,  nor  will  the  odium  of  the  death  of 
both  these  men  ever  cease  to  recoil  upon  the  royal  murderer. 

It  might  have  been  supposed  that  Henry  the  Eighth  could  never 
have  brought  his  haughty  spirit  down  so  lovv^,  as  to  bow  to  Luther- 
anism,  after  having  so  written  against  Luther,  nay  even  to  him  ; 
for  once  on  a  time,  not  long  ago,  he  would  have  disdained  the  very 
idea.  But  the  "  Defender  of  tlie  Faith,"  and  now,  especially,  as 
"  Head  of  the  Church  of  England,"  felt  constrained  to  look  after 
his  own  personal  safety.  During  the  last  six  months  of  this  year, 
therefore,  earnest  court  was  paid  to  the  Lutheran  States  of  Ger- 
many ;  though,  on  the  part  of  the  King  of  England,  it  must  be 
evident  that  there  could  not  be  one  religious  motive,  or  any  sincere 
regard  to  Christianity  in  all  this.  It  was  shnply  because  an  al- 
liance with  these  States  might  prove  the  most  effectual  and  vexa- 
tious check  to  Charles  V. ;  and  it  so  happened,  that  there  was  no 
man  in  England  so  likely  to  open  the  way  into  their  confidence, 
as  Robert  Barnes — a  violent  Lutheran,  the  personal  friend  and 
acquaintance  of  Luther,  as  well  as  Melancthon  and  others.  He 
had  resided  for  years  in  Germany,  and  knew  all  the  leading  par- 
ties well.  And  so  now,  to  serve  a  purpose,  he  must  be  the  envoy 
of  Henry  VIII.  to  these  very  men ;  for  though  he  had  to  do  with 
the  Elector  and  other  civil  rulers,  great  court  must  be  paid  to  the 
former,  and  that,  in  the  first  instance,  by  the  instrumentality  of 
Barnes. 

From  the  beginning,  Henry's  chief,  if  not  sole  object,  in  seeking 
alliance  with  these  parties,  was  to  strengthen  himself  against 
the  Emperor ;  but  when  the  negociations  began,  the  cpiestion  of 
his  divorce,  which  Barnes,  no  doubt,  had  been  laboring  to  solve, 
stood  in  the  way ;  and  of  this  the  Germans  could  not  approve. 
In  short,  as  the  cruelty  of  Francis  had  prevented  any  alliance,  so 
we  shall  find  a  worse  display  on  Henry's  part,  produce  the  same 
effect,  in  a  few  months.  Neither  the  one  nor  the  other  ever  saw 
Melancthon. 

It  was  now  precisely  five  years  since  "the  translation  of  Scrip- 
ture," said  to  be  "  corrupted  by  William  Tyndale,  as  well  in  the 
Old  Testament  as  in  the  New,"  had  been  denounced  by  the  King 
of  England  and  his  Bishops,  '•  as  utterly  to  be  repelled^  rejected, 
and  put  away  out  of  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  not  to  be  suf- 
fered to  get  abroad'  among  his  Majesty's  subjects."  But  the  cause 
of  Tyndale  was  that  of  a  higher  power,  and  as  evidently  for  the 
people.  Nothing,  however,  had  been  done,  in  the  meanwiiile,  to 
furnish  any  other  translation ;  nay,  at  that  time,  these  men  had 
the  daring  impiety  to  say  to  the  people  at  large — "you  cannot  re- 
quire qr  demand  Scripture  to  be  divulged  in  the  English  tongue, 
otherwise  than  upon  the  discretion  of  your  superiors ;  so  as  when- 
soever they  think  in  their  conscience  it  may  do  you  good,  they 
may  and  do  well  to  give  it  unto  you :  and  whensoever  it  shall 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  195 

seem  otherwise  unto  them,  they  do  amiss  in  snffering  you  to  have 
it ! !"  They  then  said  also,  that  this  King  of  theirs  "  did  openly 
say  and  protest,  that  he  would  cause  the  New  Testament  to  be, 
by  learned  men,  faithfully  and  purely  translated  into  the  Eno-lish 
tongue;  to  the  intent  he  niiglit  have  it  in  his  hands  ready  to  be 
given  to  his  people,  as  he  might  see  their  manners  and  behaviour 
meet,  apt,  and  convenient  to  receive  the  same  !  /"  At  the  same 
time,  they  took  care  to  inform  the  people  that  the  King  "  thinketli 
in  his  conscience,"  and  that  by  their  "  deliberation  and  advice, 
that  in  not  suffering  the  Scripture  to  be  then  divulged  in  English, 
he  did  well !  /" 

By  the  good  providence  of  God,  we  have  seen  that  seven  years 
before  1530,  Tyndale  had  resolved  that  his  countrymen  should 
actually  possess  the  Divine  Word ;  and  thus  come  to  know  more 
of  the  Scripture  than  such  men  as  these;  and  as  both  husband- 
men and  artizans  had  been  brought  before  Tunstal,  Bishop  of 
London,  so  early  as  1528,  Tyndale,  confessedly,  had  labored  with 
great  effect.  For  nine  years  past  we  have  seen  one  edition  after 
another  coming  into  the  country. 

But  now,  at*  the  last,  it  seemed  as  if  something  were  actually 
going  to  be  done,  and  by  Henry's  learned  men.  Even  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester  said  in  one  of  his  letters,  that  he  "  had  been  spend- 
ing a  great  labour  in  translating  Luke  and  John  !"  This  was  an 
incident  by  far  to3  remarkable  to  pass  now  without  farther  notice  ; 
and  the  more  so,  as  it  admits  of  an  explanation,  fully  as  curious 
as  the  fact  itself.  In  the  Convocation  last  December,  the  neces- 
sity for  a  translation  of  the  Scriptures  had  been  urged,  while  all 
other  books  of  suspected  heretical  doctrine  were  to  be  called  in 
within  three  months ;  and  though  nothing  was  done  as  to  the  lat- 
ter design,  the  King  seems  to  have  been  addressed  as  to  the  for- 
mer. This  was,  in  fact,  a  second  implication  of  all  that  Tyndale 
had  translated  or  written.  One  is  curious,  therefore,  to  observe 
Xh.Q  first  attempt  of  these  men,  standing  as  it  does,  in  contrast  w^ith 
the  hitherto  unaided,  nay,  despised  exertions  of  the  persecuted  and 
now  imprisoned  Translator  and  patriot. 

Li  proceeding  with  the  plan,  Cranrner  took  an  existing  transla- 
tion,— -Tynd ale's,  of  course,  for  as  j^et  there  was  no  other, — and 
having  divided  it  into  eight  or  ten  parts,  he  got  them  transcribed. 
These  he  transmitted  to  so  many  Bishops,  the  best  learned,  ac- 
companied by  a  request,  that  each  part  should  be  returned  to  him, 
with  their  corrections,  by  a  certain  da3^  The  time  appointed  hav- 
ing arrived,  every  portion,  including  Gardiner's  no  doubt,  is  said 
to  have  been  retm'ned  to  Lambeth,  with  one  exception — the  Acts 
of  the  Apostles,  which  had  been  assigned  to  Stokesly.  Cranmer 
then  sent  to  Fulham,  for  the  corrected  manuscript ;  but  Stokesly, 
far  less  compliant  than  Gardiner,  not  being  then  in  such  fear  of 
court  favor,  or  of  his  neck,  only  made  the  following  reply.  "  / 
marvel  what  my  Lord  of  Canterbury  meaneth,  that  he  thus  ahus- 
eth  the  people,  in  giving  them  liberty  to  read  the  Scriptures ; 
which  doth  nothing  else  but  infect  them  ivith  Jieresy.     I  have  be- 


196  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

stowed  never  an  hour  upon  my  'portion,  and  never  will.  And, 
therefore,  my  Lord  shall  have  his  book  back  again  ;  for  I  never 
will  be  guilty  of  bringing  the  simple  people  into  error."  When 
the  Archbishop  was  informed  of  this  uncourteous  speech,  he  merely 
observed — •'  I  marvel  that  my  Lord  of  I^ondon  is  so  froward,  that 
he  will  not  do  as  other  men  do." — "  Why,  as  for  that,"  said  Law- 
ney,  one  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk's  chaplains,  who  stood  by, — '•'  Your 
Grace  must  consider  that  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  are  a  portion  of 
the  New  Testament.  Peradventure,  my  Lord  of  London  knows 
that  Christ  has  left  him  no  legacy,  and  therefore  he  prudently  re- 
solves to  waste  no  time  upon  that  which  will  bring  him  no  profit ! 
Or  it  may  be,  as  the  Apostles  were  a  company  of  poor  illiterate 
men,  My  Lord  of  London  disdaineth  to  concern  himself  about 
then-  Acts .'" 

That  such  an  attempt  as  this  should  have  entirely  failed,  can 
excite  no  surprise  ;  and  it  not  only  did  so,  but  Cranmer  ever  after- 
wards, from  this  moment,  despaired  of  obtaining  a  translation  of 
the  Scriptures  by  any  such  means  ;  and  of  this  he  will  himself  in- 
form us,  two  years  hence.  These  men  of  name  and  pretension 
must  stand  aside,  for  never  shall  even  a  single  booki  of  the  Sacred 
Volume  be  conveyed  to  their  country  by  one  of  them. 

In  contrast,  therefore,  once  more,  to  these  prelates,  whether  in 
Convocation,  as  in  1534,  or  out  of  it,  as  in  1535,  in  the  printing 
press  of  Antwerp  we  can  discover  no  pause  or  hesitation  ;  no  sym- 
pathy whatever  with  the  scruples  of  the  blind  in  England,  or  any 
fear  of  the  enemy  in  Antwerp  itself.  During  last  year  and  the 
present,  not  fewer  than  seven  if  not  eight  editions  of  Tyndale's 
New  Testament  had  issued  from  the  press  !  Nor  was  any  printer 
ever  prosecuted,  save  the  first  in  1526,  or  Christopher  of  Endhoven. 
Thus,  if  the  Translator  himself  throughout  the  whole  of  even  this 
year  continued  to  war  with  the  enemies  of  Divine  truth  on  the 
"Continent,  it  was  as  if  "  the  stars  in  their  courses"  were  fighting 
with  England ;  nor  was  there  to  be  any  truce  in  this  contest  till 
the  enemy  was  overcome,  nay  overruled,  and  constrained  to  accept 
of  the  long-prolfered  boon. 

But  is  it  possible  that  this  could  have  been  part  of  Tyndale's 
occupation  within  the  walls  of  the  castle  at  Vilvorde?  While 
warring  with  these  Doctors  of  Louvain,  on  the  one  hand,  was  he, 
on  the  other,  at  the  same  time  engaged  in  earnest  pity  for  the 
ploughboy  and  husbandmen  of  Gloucestershire  ?  If  the  conjec- 
ture be  well  founded,  and  Tyndale  himself  had  to  do  with  this  edi- 
tion, it  is  but  seldom  that,  in  the  history  of  any  man,  such  an  in- 
stance of  the  true  sublime  can  be  produced.  The  book  has  never 
been  assigned  to  any  Antwerp  printer ;  but  if  Tyndale  only  fiu- 
nished  a  list  of  words,  to  be  employed  whenever  they  occurred  in 
the  translation,  the  volume  could  have  been  printed  in  Holland  or 
any  other  place  in  Brabant. 

At  all  events,  the  book  comes  before  us  in  the  light  of  a  step  in 
advance,  or  additional  triumph.     The  Translator  was  "suffering 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  197 

trouble  as  an  evil  doer,  even  unto  bonds ;  but  the  Word  of  God 
was  not  bound,"  nor  to  be  bound. 

To  those  who  have  not  before  been  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  the  English  Bible,  and  in  conclusion  of  the  year  1535,  one  fact 
remains  to  be  §tated,  which  must  occasion  some  surprise.  For 
some  time  past,  there  had  been  another  translation  of  the  Script- 
ures into  English  in  progress,  which  was  now  completed.  From 
the  degree  of  mystery  which  still  hangs  over  it,  the  undertaking 
must  have  been  conducted  with  great  privacy ;  but  it  is  a  curious 
and  not  unimportant  circumstance,  scarcely  before  observed,  if  in- 
deed at  all  known,  in  connection  with  the  late  Lord  Chancellor, 
so  barbarously  put  to  death  by  Henry,  in  July  ;  that,  though  not 
a  party  concerned  in  the  cost,  while  yet  alive,  nay,  long  before 
his  death,  and  at  the  very  time  he  was  writing  against  Tyndale, 
with  this  proceeding  he  may,  if  not  must,  have  been  acquainted 
all  along,  even  from  its  origin  !  From  a  single  line  throughout 
his  many  pages,  no  one  could  have  imagined  this ;  but  the  evi- 
dence will  come  before  us  in  due  time. 

Meanwhile,  it  was  on  the  11th  of  October  that  the  last  sheet 
was  put  to  press,  under  the  eye  of  Miles  Coverdale.  Printed,  as 
it  had  been,  abroad,  copies  could  not  have  been  ready  for  importa- 
tion to  England,  till  about  the  opening  of  next  year,  at  the  soon- 
est ;  but  if  any  had  reached  this  country,  at  whatever  time,  the 
book,  owing  to  very  peculiar  circumstances,  to  be  explained,  could 
not  have  been  shown  to  Henry  the  Eighth,  before  the  month  of 
June.  This,  indeed,  was  the  earliest  moment ;  for,  most  proba- 
bly, it  was  not  presented  to  the  King  till  much  later  in  that  year. 


S  ECTION  XIII 


LAST    YEAR     OF     TYNDALE— STATE    OF    ENGLAND MONASTERIES THE    QUEENS 

ANNE     BOLEYN PARLIAMENT QUEEN     ANNE's     TREATMENT     REVIEWED HER 

CHARACTER THE  NEW  OR  UNPRECEDENTED  CONVOCATION LATIMER  PREACHING 

BEFORE  IT STATE  OF  PARTIES  THERE OLD  AND  NEW  LEARNING PROCEEDIKGS 

IN    CONVOCATION THE   FIRST    ARTICLES — CRUMWELL's    FIRST    INJUNCTIONS NO 

BIBLE  MENTIONED — TYNDALE's  LATTER  DAYS — HOME  AND  ABROAD  NOW  DEEPLY 

IMPLICATED THE  MARTYRDOM  OF  TYNDALE HIS    BENEVOLENT    CHARACTER 

HIS  REWARD THE  ONLY  PROSPEROUS    CAUSE,  OR    THE    YEAR  WHICH  EXCELLED 

ALL  THE  PRECEDING. 

Parliament,  after  being  prorogued  since  December  1534,  was 
opened  at  last  on  the  4th  February.  The  long  recess  was  chiefly 
owing  to  the  plague,  which  had  appeared  in  different  parts  of  Lon- 
don in  August  and  September,  of  which  Audley,  the  Lord  Chan- 
cellor, was  not  a  httle  afraid.  But  the  Monarch  must  now  be 
gratified  in  his  thirst  for  more  money  ;  and  to  prepare  the  country 
for  the  bold  step,  already  determined,  the  report  of  the  visitors  of 


198  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Monasteries  was  laid  before  Parliament.  The  idleness  and  de- 
pravity of  their  inmates  were  depicted,  their  waste  and  misappli- 
cation of  funds,  their  frauds  and  folhes  ;  and,  unquestionably,  there 
were  great  abuses  ;  but  it  was  not  on  account  of  these  that  the 
monastic  institutions  were  broken  up.  The  abuses  furnished  an 
excellent  handle  or  pretext ;  but  the  position  of  the  King  led  him 
to  apprehend  war  with  the  Emperor,  if  not  invasion,  and  he  must 
have  supplies.  The  "  Court  of  Augmentation  of  the  King's  Reve- 
nue" was  established,  to  receive  the  surrenders  of  monasteries,  and 
transfers  of  property  to  the  crown,  and  all  monasteries  whose  annu- 
al income  did  not  exceed  .£200,  were  suppressed.  Their  number 
amounted  to  376,  which  brought  £100,000  into  the  royal  coffers, 
and  £32,000  of  annual  revenue  ;  or  a  sum  equal  to  a  million  and 
a  half  in  our  day,  and  above  £400,000  a-year.  At  the  same  time, 
the  larger  monasteries  and  abbeys  were  artfully  commended,  and 
many  of  those  monks  or  nuns  who  were  turned  adrift,  had  it  in 
their  option  to  repair  to  them.  This  was  done  in  order  to  soothe 
or  beguile  the  mitred  Abbots,  though  the  formidable  extent  of  the 
"  court"  established,  miglit  have  shown  that  matters  were  not  to 
stop  here.  Perhaps  it  was  this  that  suggested  the  often-quoted 
remark,  ascribed  to  Stokesly,  Bishop  of  London,  that  "  these  lesser 
houses  were  as  thorns,  soon  plucked  up,  but  the  great  Abbots  were 
like  putrified  old  oaks  ;  yet  they  must  needs  follow,  and  so  would 
others  do  in  Christendom,  before  many  years  were  past." 

Several  other  acts  of  inferior  moment  having  been  dispatched, 
this  Parliament  was  dissolved  on  the  14th  of  April,  after  it  had  sat 
for  a  period  of  six  years,  by  repeated  and  unequal  prorogations. 
It  had  abundantly  answered  Henry's  varied  purposes,  but  now  its 
pliancy  must  have  been  somewhat  doubtful ;  otherwise,  why  was 
it  dissolved?  During  the  entire  session  of  the  Parliament  just  dis- 
solved, one  of  the  darkest  plots  which  marked  the  reign  of  this  licen- 
tious Monarch,  had  been  proceeding  in  secrecy  so  profound,  as  to 
be  unknown  to  any  of  its  future  victims. 

At  two  o'clock  on  Tuesday  the  7th  of  January,  Q,ueen  Cath- 
arine died  at  Kimbolton,  an  event  from  which,  perhaps,  Queen 
Anne  might  augur  a  little  more  security,  and  yet  even  this  is 
doubtful,  for  before  this,  she  had  perceived  that  the  affections  of 
Henry  had  begun  to  waver.  He  had  tormented  all  Europe,  it  is 
true,  and  waited  six  years  that  he  might  gain  her  hand,  and  this, 
in  other  cases,  would  have  been  good  security  for  steadiness  of 
attachment ;  but  the  man  she  had  married  was  not  to  be  judged 
of  by  ordinary  rules. 

And  now  the  plot  was  laid  to  put  Anne  to  death  to  make  room 
for  anothe'-  Q,ueen.  The  guilt  of  this  murder  must  be  charged 
directly  and  without  palliation  upon  Henry  himself,  notwithstand- 
ing the  evidence  which  is  furnished  that  her  removal  was  earnestly 
sought  by  the  enemies  of  the  "  new  learning,"  who  justly  regarded 
her  as  friendly  to  the  introduction  of  the  Scriptures  into  England. 
Of  her  entire  innocence  of  all  semblance  of  the  crimes  imputed 
to  her,  there  is  not  a  shadow  of  doubt,  but  she  was  condemned  to 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  199 

death,  and  suffered  on  the  scaffold,  to  the  unspeakable  shame  of 
the  monster  to  whose  passion  she  was  a  martyr. 

On  the  day  of  her  death  the  King  put  on  uihite  for  mourning, 
and  the  very  next  day  was  married  to  Jane  Seymour. 

The  moment  of  exultation  for  the  votaries  of  "  the  old  learn- 
ing" had  now  arrived  ;  for,  in  their  feeble  apprehension,  the  greatest 
obstacle  to  its  revival,  had  been  the  influence  of  Queen  Anne 
with  the  King,  and  other  individuals.  She  was  now  removed, 
and  the  leanings  of  her  successor,  Jane  Seymour,  could  not  as  yet 
be  divined ;  though  her  having  consented  to  nuptials  the  very 
next  day  after  her  predecessor's  execution,  was  certainly  well  cal- 
culated to  deceive  them,  and  inspire  hope.  As  for  the  King,  he 
must  have  now  been  rejoicing  in  the  full  accomplishment  of  his 
wishes. 

But  see  the  watchful  providence  of  God  !  It  was  on  the  fol- 
lowing Tuesday,  or  only  the  fourth  day  after  Anne  Boleyn's  death, 
that  the  book  of  Cardinal  Pole  was  first  presented  to  Henry. 
"  The  work,"says  Pole  himself,  "  is  divided  into  four  books.  In  the 
first,  I  refute  the  Supremacy  the  King  has  taken  on  himself:  the 
second  asserts  the  prerogatives  of  the  See  of  Rome  :  in  the  third,  / 
sowid  ill  the  King^s  ear  the  voice  which  the  guiltless  blond  he 
has  shed,  and  the  horror  of  his  other  actions,  raises  up  to  Heaveii 
against  him.  Having  thus  discharged  what  I  owed  to  truth 
and  my  country's  welfare,  in  the  last  part  I  cast  myself  at  the 
King's  feet ;  I  conjure  him  to  take  in  good  part  what  I  have  writ- 
ten, as  it  proceeded  from  zeal  and  affection .'"  The  author  is  as 
bitter  against  dueen  Anne  as  he  is  against  Henry  ;  and  by  "guilt- 
less blood,"  he  referred,  of  course,  to  the  execution  of  others ;  but 
the  book  having  been  reserved  till  now,  and  not  presented  till 
immediately  after  such  a  cruel  tragedy  as  that  which  we  have 
recorded,  might  well  give  a  keener  edge  to  the  charge  of  shedding 
innocent  blood.  So  far  as  argument  is  attempted,  the  work  is 
not  distinguished,  or  even  for  its  sophistry ;  but  in  point  of  acri- 
mony and  virulence,  of  all  that  was  ever  addressed  to  the  ear  of 
the  unprincipled  monarch,  it  stands  unrivalled.  The  rank  of  the 
author,  and  his  relation  to  the  King,  gave  the  work  a  degree  of 
importance,  which  made  it  the  more  formidable  and  dangerous  ; 
while  the  recollection,  by  Henry,  that  he  had  actually  reared  and 
qualified  the  writer  for  thus  attacking  him,  must  have  rendered 
the  lanouaije  calling  in  the  extreme. 

His  Majesty  might  now  reflect,  or  not  reflect,  on  all  that  he  had 
done  ;  but  the  end  being  gained,  for  which  so  much  blood  had 
been  shed,  there  was  still  time  sufficient  left,  for  all  the  other  per- 
petrators to  repose  themselves. 

It  is  but  an  act  of  justice  to  the  character  and  memory  of 
Queen  Anne  Boleyn,  to  expose  the  wickedness  of  that  conspiracy, 
which  had  been  formed  against  her  life.  The  profound  secrecy 
of  the  proceedings,  till  the  moment  when  all  things  were  ready 
for  explosion — Cranmer  carefully  kept  in  the  dark,  till  there  could 
be  no  retrograde  step — and  then  the  movements  as  rapid  as  they 


200  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

were  terrible — tlie  complexion  of  the  men  who  had  been  selected 
for  the  first  secret  commission — the  character  of  the  judges  ap- 
pointed— of  the  Peers  so  carefully  selected,  and  amounting'  to  only 
the  half  of  the  entire  peerage— the  trial  within  the  Tower — the 
exclusion  of  spectators,  first  from  the  trial,  and  then  from  the 
execution — the  caution,  if  not  cowardice,  both  of  Crumwell  and 
even  Kingston  himself, — in  short,  there  is  not  one  solitary  step  in 
the  entire  course,  from  first  to  last,  which  is  not  pregnant  with 
suspicion  or  wrong.  The  evil  intent  was  never  more  glaring,  nor 
a  case  of  premeditated  murder  more  fully  established.  At  the 
time,  therefore,  the  transactions  were  viewed  with  indignation  in 
other  countries.  They  at  once  made  the  Germans  pause  with 
horror.  Melancthon  and  Bucer  abandoned  all  idea  of  setting  their 
foot  on  English  ground.  The  former  regarded  Q,ueen  Anne  as 
innocent ;  and  when  the  profusion  of  bloodshed  was  observed, 
Erasmus,  now  within  a  few  weeks  of  his  death,  had  already 
described  the  comitry  as  one  where  the  most  intimate  friends  were 
fearful  of  conversing  with  each  other. 

As  yet,  however,  the  death  of  Anne  remains  to  be  accounted 
for  ;  and  the  mystery  to  be  dispelled.  That  the  scheme  was  fully 
arranged,  that  it  was  deeply  laid,  is  evident;  as  well  as  that  "  the 
May-day  scene,"  with  which  most  historians  have  commenced 
this  tragedy,  was  merely  a  link  in  the  chain,  and  one  worthy  of 
any  Roman  Emperor  in  the  height  of  his  cruelty.  But  still  the 
question  returns, — what  was  the  cause  of  this  cruel  outrage  ?  The 
King  himself  was,  of  course,  the  chief  delinquent ;  but  he  could 
not.  proceed  without  assistance,  and  if,  before  referring  to  the 
dueen  herself,  we  turn  to  the  parties  concerned  in  her  death,  they, 
together,  may  assist  us  to  some  correct  understanding.  Henry 
intended  one  thing,  and  the  men  around  him,  another ;  but  the 
purposes  of  both  involved  the  removal  of  the  Q,ueen.  Her  death 
once  accomplished,  the  former  went  on  his  way  carousing  ;  the 
latter  party  were  foiled  in  their  ultimate  design.  As  for  the  King, 
Queen  Anne's  "  greatest  guilt,"  says  Fuller,  "consisted  in  his  better 
fancying  another ;"  and  though  he  and  Crumwell  will  presently  out- 
wit the  gentlemen  of  the  old  learning;  meanwhile  no  scruple  had 
been  felt  at  employing  them  throughout  this  bloody  scene. 

The  sentiments  and  feelings  of  this  party,  need  not  now  be  ex- 
plained, but  its  position  at  the  moment,  demands  notice.  The 
fact  was  that  they  were  then  opposed  to  both  King  and  Queen. 
The  former,  in  his  royal  progress  was  still  shaking  to  its  founda- 
tions what  they  regarded  as  the  good  old  cause.  For  five  years  past, 
the  clergy  had  been  paying  his  Majesty  above  £20,000  annually, 
as  the  price  of  their  pardon,  and  they  were  still  smarting  under 
their  last  instalment ;  when  behold,  here  comes  Crumwell  in  this 
last  Parliament,  and  having  opened,  on  a  large  scale,  his  "Court 
of  Augmentation  of  the  King's  revenue,"  he  had  already  laid  low 
376  monasteries,  or,  as  they  styled  them,  "  religious  houses."  Be- 
tween these  men  and  their  friends  in  foreign  parts,  there  was  a 
kindred  sympathy  as  to  the  importance  of  this  royal  progress  being 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  201 

stayed.  Here,  however,  and  full  in  their  way,  stood  the  Queen, 
whose  principles  and  procedure  had  been  alike  obnoxious.  These 
will  be  explained  presently,  but  she  had  gone  much  too  far  to  be 
viewed  by  the  zealots  for  "  the  old  learning"  without  the  keenest 
envy  and  malice.  The  moment  for  working  on  the  wavering 
passions  of  the  King  had  at  last  come,  and  the  two  parties  con- 
spiring together,  Q.ueen  Anne's  downfall  was  inevitable. 

Whatever  may  be  said,  when  summing  up  her  character,  it  was 
certainly  no  slight  testimony  to  the  w^eight  of  her  influence  now, 
that  it  was  so  felt  at  a  distance,  as  well  as  at  home.  She  had 
enjoyed  the  honor  of  being  hated,  from  the  Pontiff  downwards  ; 
and  if  the  malice  cherished  at  home,  can  be  shown  to  have  been 
in  league  with  a  kindred  feeling  abroad,  it  is  difficult  to  say  what 
furtlier  proof  the  most  fastidious  can  desire,  as  to  the  solution  of 
this  catastrophe. 

Manuscript  letters,  still  happily  preserved,  here  come  to  our  aid, 
and  at  once  suggest  a  few  pointed  questions,  in  explanation,  from 
this  party.  Gardiner,  Q,ueen  Anne's  arch-enemy,  however  eager 
for  the  divorce,  it  is  granted,  was  not  at  home  ;  but  what  w'as 
more  to  his  purpose,  he  was  in  France,  or  on  the  way  between 
England  and  Italy  ;  and  thus  could  not  fail  to  have  his  share  in 
what  was  going  on  ifor  some  time,  since  Rome  itself  was  so  fully 
informed.  While,  then,  Q,ueen  Anne  was  still  only  lying  pale  and 
languid,  in  confinement,  what  was  involved  in  Sir  Gregory  Qassali 
conferring  with  tlie  Pontiff  about  Henry's  marriage^  and  then  writ- 
ing to  his  Majesty  himself,  so  early  as  the  20tii  of  February  ? 
How  was  it  that  Richard  Pate,  the  English  ambassador  with  the 
Emperor,  was  waiting  to  the  I^ng  in  cypher  and  so  early  as  the 
12th  of  April  about  legitimating  the  Princess  Mary,  and  what 
meant  the  ambassador,  in  pressing  the  subject  with  vehemence  ? 
But  above  all,  on  the  17th  of  May,  or  the  day  on  which  they  were 
putting  Lord  Rochford  and  others  to  death,  and  harassing  the 
Q,ueen  at  Lambeth,  by  whose  instructions  or  instigation  was  it, 
that  Cassali  was  earnestly  reporting  progress  to  the  Pontiff?  That 
very  day,  as  far  distant  as  Rome,  he  was  narrating  to  him  the 
acceptable  tidings  of  the  Queen,  with  her  brother  and  others,  hav- 
ing been  thrown  into  prison.  And  what  was  the  reply  of  Paul 
the  Third,  the  same  man  who  within  the  last  nine  months  had 
framed  such  a  Bull  against  Henry,  and  which  was  still  hanging 
over  him  ?  Let  Cassali  himself,  writing  to  the  King,  inform  us. 
The  tidings  from  England  once  told, — "  he  (Paul)  then  said,  that 
he  had  been  imploring  heaven  to  enlighten  your  mind  on  this 
affair  ;  that  he  had  always  had  something  of  this  sort  in  his  eye, 
because  he  thought  the  mind  of  your  Majesty  was  adorned  with 
such  virtues,  (fee. ! — That  your  Majesty  wo7<?  might  perform  an  ex- 
cellent work  for  Christendom,  being  now  released  from  a  marriage 
that  was  indeed  too  unequal  for  you."  Such  was  the  language 
uttering  iji  Rome,  at  the  very  moment  when  Cranmer  was  pro- 
fessedly sitting  in  judgment  at  Lambeth.  But  this  was  not  all ; 
Cassali  goes  on — "  It  was  most  manifest,  that  if  your  Majesty  had 


202  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  Roman  Pontiff  with  you,  you  might  command  the  other  prin- 
ces, (i.  e.  the  Emperor  and  Francis)  as  you  pleased, — he,  the  Pon- 
tiff, promised  to  obey  you  in  this  business, — desired  only  peace, — 
was  not  disposed  to  faction,  nor  covetously  to  increase  his  fortune 
in  immense  sums  !"  He  said,  "  your  Majesty  ought  not  to  be  in  an 
angry  mind  towards  him,  but  to  be  friendly."  The  pontiff  went 
on  so  far  as  to  apologize  for  having  made  Fisher  a  Cardinal,  and 
confessed  he  had  erred  in  that  step  !  With  many  more  words  in  the 
same  strain ;  after  which  Cassali  again  earnestly  urges  the  King  to 
compliance.  AUthis  was  uttered  by  the  17th  of  May,  as  far  dis- 
tant as  Italy,  so  that  the  sovereign  Pontiff  was  rejoicing  over  the 
plot  entire,  and  without  the  slightest  hesitation  as  to  its  complete 
success,  two  days  before  the  Q,ueen  was  put  to  death  !  !  The 
whole  dispatch  is  curious  and  worthy  of  perusal.  "  No  advances," 
says  Turner,  "  could  be  more  eager,  submissive,  flattering  and 
tempting  to  a  King  of  Henry's  temper,  than  this  ingenious  con- 
ference ;"  and  certainly  instead  of  "entire  favor  and  zeal  unto  the 
truth,"  proceeding  from  his  Majesty's  own  motionj  for  which  Cran- 
mer,  at  the  moment,  was  so  grossly  flattering  him  ;  nothing  was 
more  likely  than  Henry's  compliance, — only  it  so  happened  that 
Gtueen  Jane  turned  out  to  be  not  unfavorable  to  the  new  learning. 
Again,  therefore,  was  the  monarch  overruled,  partly  by  the  very 
marriage  into  which  he  had  plunged  so  barbarously,  and  partly  by 
the  policy  of  Cruinwell,  now  rising  to  the  height  of  his  transient 
glory.  Union  with  the  Pontiff,  or  influence  in  foreign  politics, 
were,  at  tiiis  moment,  of  no  account  in  his  Majesty's  esteem,  when 
compared  with  the  gratification  of  his  own  will,  and  the  pleasing 
prospect  of  augmented  revenue. 

That  a  perfect  understanding  had  existed,  however,  between 
certain  men,  and  as  far  as  Rome,  there  is  now  no  reason  to  doubt. 
They  intended  at  once  to  destroy  the  Ctueen,  and  disgrace  her 
husband,  and  thus  far  they  succeeded  ;  but  as  the  sole  cause  of 
this  mighty  change  of  mind  and  conduct  in  Paul  HI.,  was  the 
simple  announcement  of  Q,ueen  Anne's  downfall,  the  fact  itself 
speaks  a  volume.  The  language  employed  by  the  cringing  Pon- 
tiff', lately  so  furious,  and  to  be  so  again,  becomes  the  higliest  tes- 
timony in  the  world  ;  which,  if  not  granted  to  the  nature  of  her 
principles,  must  be  acceded  to  the  power  and  general  current  of 
her  influence,  and  that  from  the  day  that  Cranmer  said,  so  exult- 
ingly,  "I  did  put  the  crown  upon  her  head." 

There  were  two  men  especially,  who,  through  her  influence,  at 
last  became  Bishops,  and  the  unprecedented  circumstances  of  their 
accession  constituted  mortal  offence.  No  other  than  two  Italians, 
nay,  Roman  Cardinals,  were  deprived  of  both  office  and  revenue, 
before  these  men  could  be  so  advanced.  At  such  a  time,  so  far  as 
money  was  concerned,  it  might  have  been  said,  "  Let  them  go,  but 
woe  to  the  men  who  shall  be  put  in  their  places."  This,  however, 
was  not  all.  These  two  successors  had  been  long  peculiarly  ob- 
noxious to  the  gentlemen  of  "  the  old  learning."  The  first  had 
been  marked  as  a  transgressor  from  the  days  of  Wolsey ;  and  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  203 

second,  as  early  as  1530,  had  incurred  the  wrath  of  Nix,  tlie  old 
Bishop  of  Norwich,  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  said,  in  slaying  Bil- 
ney,  he  was  "afraid  that  he  had  slain  Abel  and  saved  Co j«  alive." 
But  far  worse  than  this,  the  first  of  these  men  had  incurred  the 
wrath  of  no  less  than  Stokesly,  the  reigning  Bisho}3  of  London, 
and  lay  under  his  censure.  He  had  not  only  examined  and  mo- 
lested him  in  1532,  but,  by  the  3d  of  October  1533,  inhibited  him 
from  jjreaching  within  the  diocese  of  London.  This',  however, 
with  all  his  quaintness,  it  will  be  now  acknowledged,  was  the  no- 
blest character  then  living  in  all  England, — the  only  man  who 
ever  boldly,  and  without  evasion,  spoke  the  truth  to  Henry  VIII.^ 
and  was  afterwards  no  less  faithful  to  Anne  Boleyn.  V\^e  need 
not  name  Hugh  Latimer.  But  who  could  be  expected  now  to^ 
interpose  in  his  favor  1  It  was  no  other  than  the  Queen  ;  and  if 
her  achievement  in  rescuing  him  from  the  fangs  of  Stokesly  and 
his  fellows,  was  to  be  followed  by  any  farther  mark  of  her  j>ersonaI 
regard,  she  could  not  fail  to  incur  most  virulent  hatred.  Even 
thus  far,  however,  she  had  already  made  v/ay  for  the  cautious  and 
timid  Primate  ;  and  this  becomes  the  more  observable,  as  it  is 
about  the  first  time  that  we  hear  of  Cranmer  doing  anything  in 
advance.  He  followed  in  the  wake  of  Latimer  and  the  Queen. 
Accordingly,  by  the  autumn  of  1534,  Cranmer  had  not  only  be- 
friended Latimer,  but,  in  the  face  of  Stokesly's  ire,  he  had  actually 
"  licensed  divers  to  preach  within  the  province  of  Canterbury,  at 
his  instance  and  request"  and  this,  of  course,  embraced  London. 
Next  year,  how^ever,  Anne  proceeded  much  farther.  By  the  10th 
of  February,  the  same  man  was  preaching  before  the  King  and 
Q,ueen,  and  upon  all  the  following  Wednesdays  in  Lent ;  till  at 
last,  through  the  same  influence,  by  September,  Latimer,  as  Bishop 
of  Worcester,  occupied  the  place  from  which  Cardinal  Ghinucci 
had  been  expelled.  Thus,  the  last  Italian  non-resident  Bishop 
over  Tyndale's  native  soil,  from  whence  so  many  thousand  pounds 
had  been  drained  for  half  a  century,  being  gone  ;  it  was  altogether 
a  deed  so  notable,  that  it  must  have  been  resented  not  only  in 
England,  but  especially  at  Rome ;  and  much  more  so,  if  the  sec- 
ond man  to  whom  we  have  referred,  was  also  to  be  so  advanced. 
This  was  Nicholas  Shaxton,  a  most  miserable  contrast,  indeed,  to 
Latimer,  though  not  at  present,  nor  for  years  after.  Nix  of  Nor- 
wich, his  sworn  enemy,  was  yet  alive ;  and  yet  this  man,  by  May 
1534,  was  the  Queen's  almoner ;  and  in  February  following,  he 
succeeded  in  the  See  of  Salisbury  to  Cardinal  Campeggio. 

The  Queen's  decided  encouragement  of  Latimer  was,  of  itself, 
sufficient  to  have  sealed  her  doom,  with  the  opposite  party.  She 
had  ent]-eated  him  to  point  out  whatever  was  amiss  in  her  con- 
duct ;  and  notwithstanding  all  the  calumny  which  has  been  heaped 
upon  her,  let  that  conduct  now  be  farther  observed  ;  for  there  were 
other  offences,  so  called,  of  not  less  magnitude.  By  her  letter  to 
Crumwell,  in  May  1534,  she  had  openly  and  officially  avowed  her 
approbation  of  the  Scriptures  having  been  imported  into  England  ; 
which  no  official  man  had  yet  dared  to  do,  and  against  which 


204  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Wolsey  and  the  Bishops  had  been  fighting  all  along.  In  short, 
her  approbation  of  the  Scriptures  having  been  circulated  in  the 
vulgar  tongue — her  recent  vindication  of  Mr.  Harman,  their  zeal- 
ous importer — -her  pointed  request  that  he  should  be  restored  to  all 
his  forfeited  privileges,  as  a  merchant  in  Antwerp — -her  growing 
estimation  in  the  eyes  of  the  people,  only  show  that  the  dueen 
had  been  by  far  too  good  a  woman  for  such  a  being  as  Henry  had 
discovered  himself  to  be  ;  but  they  prove,  that  she  had  proceeded 
much  too  far,  in  a  certain  course,  ever  to  escape  the  bitterest  defa- 
mation from  her  enemies  ;  perhaps  it  was  thought  too  fast ;  and 
hence  the  pusillanimity,  if  not  the  base  desertion  of  her  professed 
friends.  As  for  death  from  her  husband,  it  was  nothing  more  than 
one  awful  result,  though  probably  the  worst,  of  his  vile  and  varia- 
ble passions.  It  is  of  him,  and  after  a  masterly  review  of  the  en- 
tire proceedings,  that  Sir  James  Mackintosh  has  said — "  Henry, 
perhaps,  approached  as  nearly  to  the  ideal  standard  of  perfect 
wickedness,  as  the  infirmities  of  human  nature  would  allow !" 

Henry,  having  called  a  new  Parliament,  had  resolved  also  to 
have  a  new  Convocation,  and  one  differing  in  its  character  from 
all  that  had  preceded  it  on  English  ground,  or,  indeed,  anywhere 
else.  Of  the  Parliament  wc  can  already  judge.  "Henry's  two 
divorces,"  says  Hallam,  alluding  to  the  pretended  declaration  that 
Henry's  marriage  to  Anne  was  null  and  void,  "  having  created  an 
uncertainty  as  to  tlie  line  of  succession,  Parliament  had  endeavored 
to  remove  this,  not  by  such  constitutional  provisions  in  concur- 
rence with  the  crown,  as  might  define  the  course  of  inheritance, 
but  by  enabling  the  King,  on  faihue  of  issue  by  Jane  Seymour, 
or  any  other  lawful  wife,  to  make  over  and  bequeath  the  kingdom 
to  any  person  at  his  pleasure,  not  even  reserving  a  preference  to 
the  descendants  of  former  sovereigns  !"  But  we  have  now  to  look 
into  the  Convocation. 

The  confusion  and  misrepresentation  which  reigns  throughout  al- 
most all  our  general  histories,  respecting  this  Convocation  and  its 
results,  more  especially  with  regard  to  the  English  Bible,  render  it 
miperatively  necessary  for  the  reader  to  observe  what  actually  took 
place.  Having  already  witnessed  the  failure  of  these  Prelates  in 
1534  and  1.535,  their  procedure  in  1536  only  invites  the  more  care- 
ful inspection,  if  not  the  deeper  interest.  A  universal  mistake  has 
consisted  in  the  supposition  that  Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
then  ambassador  at  Paris,  was  here  present ;  but  there  are  many 
others,  especially  in  relation  to  the  Scriptures  in  English. 

Thvis,  for  example,  Hume,  in  his  History  of  England,  informs 
us,  that  "  a  vote  was  passed  for  publishing  a  new  translation  of 
the  Scriptures ;  and  in  three  years'  time  the  work  was  finished, 
and  published  at  Paris P^  Burnet  represents  certain  "arguments" 
as  so  prevailing  with  both  houses  of  Convocation,  that  "  they  pe- 
titioned the  King,  that  he  would  give  order  to  some  to  set  about  it." 
— "  These  arguments,  joined  with  the  power  that  the  Queen  had 
in  his  affections,  were  so  much  considered  by  the  King,  that  he 
gave  order  for  setting  about  it  immediately  !    To  ichom  that  work 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  205 

was  committed,  or  hoiv  they  froceeded  in  if,  I  know  not.  For  the 
account  of  these  things  has  not  been  preserv^ed,  nor  conveyed  to 
us,  with  that  care  that  the  importance  of  the  thing  required.  Yet 
it  appears  that  the  work  was  carried  on  at  a  good  rate :  for  three 
years  after  this,  it  was  printed  at  Paris,  whicli  siiews  they  made  all 
cojivenient  haste,  in  a  thing  that  required  so  much  dehberation  !  !"' 

Other  historians  being  equally  loose,  and  as  far  astray,  one  is 
the  less  surprised  at  egregious  mistakes  committed  by  the  painter. 
Only  the  other  day  a  cartoon  was  exhibited  in  Westminster  Hall, 
entitled,  "A  Convocation  held  in  1536,  for  a  deliberation  on  a  new 
translation  of  the  Scriptures."  Instead  of  all  the  Prelates  being 
seated  before  and  below  Crumwell,  the  Vicegerent  and  Vicar-Gen- 
eral,— "  Cranmer,"  according  to  the  description  given,  "  is  repre- 
sented as  presiding  over  the  Assembly.  On  his  right  hand  are 
Orumwell !  Timstal,  Gardiner,  (though  in  France,)  and  others  ; 
on  his  left  are  Latimer,  Fox,  Goodrich,  and  others."  But  we  for- 
bear. It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  there  actually  were  two  or  three 
scenes  at  this  Convocation,  inviting  the  pencil  of  our  highest 
artists  :  especially  "  Latimer  preaching  before  the  Convocation,"  or 
even  "Stokesly  of  London,  at  the  height  of  his  wrath;"  but  they 
yet  remain  to  be  laid  on  the  canvas. 

The  friends  of  the  "  old  learning"  round  the  King,  included  two 
distinct  parties — the  nobility  and  the  clergy.  The  present  pros- 
pects of  these  two,  were  direct  contrasts  to  each  other.  The 
former  were  looking  forward,  with  eagerness,  to  the  acquisition 
of  property ;  tlie  latter  were  trembling  in  the  apprehension 
of  losing  it.  The  nobility  were  happy  to  aid  the  king  in  his  late 
atfair,  and  had  borne  him  through  it ;  but  certainly  not  without 
full  expectation  of  his  recollecting  their  services,  for  they  had  laid 
the  King  under  a  debt  of  gratitude  ;  the  clergy  had  also  rejoiced 
in  the  death  of  the  Queen,  and  will  immediately  give  their  official 
sanction.  But  then,  it  was  not  to  follow  as  a  matter  of  course, 
that  because  this  latter  party  had  gone  along  with  Henry  in  his 
bloody  progress,  that  he  was  to  aid  them,  or  even  spare  them,  as  a 
body,  in  theirs.  By  no  means.  On  the  contrary,  the  clergy,  at 
all  events,  must  prepare  for  further  inroads  and  fresh  humiliation.  It 
will  be  remembered  that  Crumwell  had,  last  year,  been  very  conven- 
iently made  "Vicegerent,  Vicar-General,  and  Commissary  Special 
and  Principal,"  involving  vast  powers  ;  placing  him,  in  fact,  next  to 
the  royal  family,  for  specific  and  prospective  purposes  ;  and  we  have 
now  to  see  the  height  to  which  he  thought  himself  entitled  to  act. 

The  Convocation  had  met  on  the  day  after  Parliament,  or  the 
9th  of  June.  Cranmer  had  resolved  to  try  what  a  sermon  could 
effect  at  the  opening.  We  have  seen  how  eager  he  was  respecting 
Latimer  preaching  before  the  Court,  and  he  appointed  him  now  to 
preach  before  the  Convocation.  His  text  was  appropriate  enough. 
"  The  children  of  this  tvorld  are  wiser  in  their  generation,  than 
the  children  of  light, ^^ — and  he  did  not  fail  to  speak  as  he  thought. 
He  delivered  two  sermons,  on  the  same  day,  from  this  text,  and  in 
the  afternoon,  especially,  came  to  the  point. 


206  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

After  detailino",  at  lenq-th,  the  evils  to  be  removed,  and  urg'incr 
them  all  to  "do  soinelhing  whereby  they  rniglit  be  known  to  be 
the  children  of  light," — -as  "all  men  know  that  we  be  here  gath- 
ered, and,  with  most  fervent  desire,  breath  and  gape  for  the  fruit 
of  our  Convocation  ;  and  "  as  our  acts  shall  be,  so  shall  tliey  name 
us."  After  warning  them  by  that  wicked  professor  who  "beat  his 
fellow-servants,  and  did  eat  and  drink  with  the  drunken," — he 
closes  all  by  saying : — 

"  Come,  go  to,  my  brothers  ;  go  to,  I  say  again,  and  once  again 
go  to,  leave  the  love  of  your  profit ;  study  for  the  glory  and  profit 
of  Christ ;  seek  in  j'our  consultations  such  things  as  pertain  to 
Christ,  and  bring  forth,  at  the  last,  something  that  may  please 
Christ. — Preach  truly  the  Word  of  God.  Love  the  light,  walk  in 
the  light,  and  so  be  3"e  the  children  of  light,  while  ye  are  in  this 
world,  that  ye  may  shine  in  the  world  that  is  to  come,  bright  as 
the  sun,  with  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  whom 
be  all  honor,  praise,  and  glory — Amen." 

This  stringent  and  intrepid  discourse  must  have  been  as  gall 
and  wormwood  to  many  who  were  present :  but  it  certainly  was 
meet,  that  some  such  address  should  salute  their  ears,  and  at  such 
a  time  as  this.  It  was  fit  that  they  should  l)e  told,  when  thus  all 
assembled  to  hear,  that  already  there  were  among  the  People 
'^ many  children  of  light;"  while  they  had  not  yet  done  one  thing 
whereby  the  inhabitants  of  England  had  profited  "one  hair."  It 
was  fit  that  Tunstal  should  be  reminded,  thus  publicly,  of  his 
miserable  injunction  in  1526,  and  his  torturing  examinations  in 
1528,  and  his  burning  of  the  Sacred  Volume  in  1530  ;  nay,  that 
in  that  very  St.  Paul's  where,  after  his  return  from  Spain,  he  had 
denounced  the  New  Tes'tament,  of  which  now  so  many  editions 
had  been  sold  and  circulated,  he  should  have  to  sit  still  and  listen 
to  such  harrowing  interrogations  as  these.  And  although  some 
may  question  the  delicacy  of  Latimer  introducing  himself,  more 
especially  as  he  was  reverting  to  the  most  humiliating  scene  in  his 
past  life,  perhaps  the  solitary  speck  in  his  public  character ;  still 
it  was  fit  that  the  ears  of  Stokesly  and  his  fellows  should  be  made 
to  tingle,  in  remembrance  of  their  past  cruelties.  Stokesly  had 
actually  officiated,  before  the  sermons  began  ! 

In  short,  taking  the  discourse  all  in  all,  a  more  perfect  dis- 
claimer of  anything  having,  as  yet,  been  done,  by  these  men  in 
England,  could  not  have  been  given  ;  nor  a  higher  attestation  to 
the  powerful,  though  denounced,  exertions  of  Tyndale,-as  well  as 
to  their  positive  and  extensive,  eifects.  It  was  only  in  perfect 
keeping  with  all  that  has  been  recorded,  that  such  an  eminent 
and  distinct  testimony  should  have  been  delivered  before  an  as- 
sembly of  foes  and  friends,  at  St.  Paul's  in  London.,  three  months 
before  Tyndale  received  the  crov/n  of  Martyrdom, — and  that  by 
Latimer,  the  man,  among  all  present,  best  quahfied  to  judge. 

It  becomes  of  no  little  curious  importance  to  observe  who  were 
actually  assembled  to  hear  all  this ;  and  the  more  so,  that  the 
statements  frequently  given  have  been  both  defective  and  errone- 


1531. 

Lee  of  York. 

1533. 

1530. 

Stiikesly  of  London. 

1534. 

1530. 

Tanstal  of  Durham. 

1535. 

1520. 

Longland  of  Lincoln. 

1535. 

1519. 

Vesey  of  Exeter. 

1535. 

1533. 

Clerk  of  Bath. 

1535. 

1534. 

Lee  of  Litchfield. 

1536. 

1534. 

Salcot  of  Bangor. 

1536. 

1536. 

Rugs'e  of  Norwich. 

1536. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  207 

ous.  Of  the  twenty-one  Bishops,  sixteen  Avere  present  at  the 
Convocation,  and  two  voted  by  proxy.  As  for  tlie  other  three,  not 
present ;  Gardiner  of  Winchester  was  still  hi  France,  w^iere  in- 
deed he  remained  for  above  two  years.  Athaqvia  or  Attien,  Bishop 
of  Llandaff,  if  yet  aUve,  being,  a  Spaniard,  could  not  now  vote ; 
and  Kite  of  Carlisle,  once  Archbishop  of  Armagh,  an  appointment 
which  he  had  received  from  Leo  X.  in  1513,  and  resigned  for 
Carlisle  in  1521,  was  now  in  extreme  old  age,  and  died  next  year. 
But  besides  the  sixteen  Bishops  present,  there  Avere  forty  mitred 
Abbots  and  Priors,  or  fifty-six  in  all.  In  the  lower  house  fifty 
members  attended,  namely,  twenty-five  Archdeacons,  seven  Deans, 
seventeen  Proctors,  and  one  Master  of  a  College.  Of  the  eighteen 
who  voted  from  the  Bench,  those  who  were  with  and  against 
Cranmer,  will  show  how  equally  they  were  divided  when  dis- 
cussion began.  We  give  them  with  the  dates  of  their  appoint- 
ment : — 

Cranmer  of  Canterbury. 
Goodrich  of  Ely. 
Shaxton  of  Salisbury. 
Fox  of  Hereford. 
Latimer  of  Worcester. 
Hilseij  of  Rochester. 
Barlow  of  St.  Davids. 
Warton  of  St.  Asaph. 
Savipson  of  Chichester. 

Thus,  although  the  reader  will  still  recognize  well-known  ene- 
mies to  the  progress  of  Divine  Truth,  and  to  Tyndale  personally, 
he  will  observe  that  the  coast  is  clear  of  the  aged  and  literally 
bhnd  Nix  of  Norwich — of  West  of  Ely,  the  crafty  foe  of  Latimer 
— of  Standish,  the  slanderer  of  Colet  and  Erasmus — of  Fisher, 
the  ablest  opponent  of  the  7iew  learning — and  of  Cardinal  Cam- 
peggio  of  Salisbury,  as  well  as  Ghinucci  of  Worcester,  two  Italians, 
ever  ready  to  support  the  old — besides  five  others.  If  death  had 
not  thinned  the  ranks  of  these  men,  it  is  evident  that  Cranmer 
had  been  left  in  a  small  minority ;  but  it  now  appears,  that, 
since  his  appointment,  only  three  years  ago,  as  many  as  eleven 
vacancies  had  occurred,  and  of  these  not  fewer  than  eight  voted 
with  him.  So  late  as  the  31st  of  May,  the  other  party  liad  been 
strengthened  by  Rugge  alias  Repps,  being  elected  for  Norwich ; 
but  it  shows  the  keenness  of  Crumwell  and  Cranmer,  that  on  the 
very  dai/  before  the  Convocation,  they  got  Warton  into  St.  Asaph, 
nay,  on  the  day  of  opening,  having  procured  Sherburne's  resig- 
nation, they  put  Richard  Sampson,  the  King's  great  champion,  in 
his  place.  Even  then,  however,  they  divided,  it  appears,  nine  to 
nine.  Fortunately  for  Cranmer's  peace,  Gardiner  was  not  there, 
and  two  disciples  of  the  old  learning  voted  only  by  proxy,  viz., 
Exeter  and  Litchfield,  for  whom  Longland  of  Lincoln  acted. 

Preliminaries  being  adjusted  by  Friday,  the  16th  of  June,  the 
old  party  in  the  lower  house,  had  prevailed  in  securing  one  of 
their  number  to  be  Prolocutor  in  the  Convocation.  This  was 
Richard  Gwent,  an  Archdeacon  of  Stokesly's,  now  presented  and 


208  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

confirmed  by  the  upper  house.  But,  by  way  of  keeping  the  bal- 
ance even,  or  rather  of  discovering  how  strong  was  the  rod  of 
royal  authority  over  them,  there  entered,  on  the  same  day,  not 
even  Crumwell  himself,  for  he  was  as  yet  too  busy  with  Parlia- 
mentary affairs,  but  Dr.  William  Petre,  as  his  deputy !  He 
claimed  the  precedency  due  to  his  immediate  master,  and  the 
commission  he  brought  with  him  being  read,  Cranmer  assigned 
him  his  place,  next  to  himself  Some  might  well  question,  and 
probably  did,  as  Fuller  supposes,  whether  "  a  deputy's  deputy" 
might  properly  claim  his  place  who  was  principally  represented. 
It  has  been  said  that  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the  clergy  sup- 
pressed their  murmurs,  at  Crumwell's  appointment  to  his  office — 
a  man  who  had  never  taken  orders,  nor  graduated  in  any  Univer- 
sity ;  but  their  indignation  increased,  when  they  found  tliat  the 
same  pre-eminence  was  claimed  by  any  of  his  clerks,  whom  he 
might  commisssion  as  his  deputy  at  their  meetings. 

On  Wednesday  next,  however,  the  21st,  Crumwell  entered,  and 
as  Vicegerent  and  Vicar-General  seated  himself  judicially 
above  all.  He  then  presented  them  an  instrument,  annulling  the 
King's  marriage  with  the  late  Q,ueen.  They  all  signed  it,  and 
one  party  most  willingly,  though,  as  already  noticed,  the  measure 
did  not  pass  the  House  of  Lords  till  the  30th. 

On  Friday,  the  23d  of  June,  Gwent  brought  up  from  the  lower 
house,  a  long  list  of  what  they  styled  i7iala  dogmata,  or  erroneous 
doctrines.  The  number  amounted  to  not  fewer  than  sixty-seven  ; 
and  it  now  remained  for  Cranmer,  Latimer,  and  others,  to  say, 
what  was  to  be  done  with  them  ;  for  this  was  no  other  than  "  The 
protestation  of  the  Clergy  of  the  lower  house,  within  the  province 
of  Canterbury.''''  As  a  picture  of  the  men  within  these  doors,  and 
of  the  opinions,  that  were  now  travelling  the  country,  the  docu- 
ment is  of  value.  The  puerility,  it  is  granted,  and  the  absurdity 
of  most  of  the  items,  strikingly  evince  the  degraded  state  of  the 
human  mind,  in  those  who  sanctioned  the  list ;  while,  on  the 
other  hand,  some  of  those  very  items  prove,  that,  in  the  face  of 
their  most  furious  opposition.  Divine  Truth  had  already  found  its 
way  into  a  thousand  channels.  A  few  only  will  serve  to  show 
whether  there  were  any  of  "  the  children  of  this  world"  in  this 
assembly,  as  Latimer  had  more  than  suspected,  and  whether  there 
were  many  of  "  the  children  of  light"  elsewhere,  as  he  had 
affirmed. 

"  We  think,"  say  they,  "  in  our  consciences  and  opinions,  these 
errors  and  abuses  following,  to  have  been,  and  now  to  be,  within 
this  realm,  causes  of  dissension,  worthy  special  reformation.  It 
is,  to  wit, 

1.  "  That  it  is  commonly  preached,  taught,  and  spoken,  to  the 
slander  of  this  noble  realm,  disquietness  of  the  people,  damage 
of  Christian  souls,  not  without  fear  of  many  other  inconven- 
iences and  perils — that  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  is  not  to  be  es- 
teemed. 

5.  "Item. — That  all  ceremonies  accustomed   in  the  Church, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  209 

which  are  not  clearly  expressed  in  Scripture,  must  be  taken 
away,  because  they  are  jnen^s  inventions. 

8.  "Item. — That  it  is  preached  and  taught  that  the  Church 
that  is  commonly  taken  for  the  Church,  is  the  old  synagogue ; 
and  that  the  Church  is  'the  cofigregatioii  of  good  men  only.^ 

15.  "  Item. — That  images  of  saints  are  not  in  any  wise  to  be 
reverenced. 

26.  "  Item.— That  confession  amucular,  absolution,  and  penance, 
are  neither  necessary  nor  profitable  in  the  Church  of  God. 

27.  "  Item. — That  auricular  confession  is  only  invented  and  or- 
dained to  have  the  secret  knowledge  of  men's  hearts,  and  to  pull 
money  out  of  their  jnirse. 

44.  "  Item. — That  there  is  no  mean  place,  between  Heaven 
and  Hell,  wherein  souls  departed  may  be  afflicted. 

56.  "Item. — That  by  preaching,  the  people  have  been  brought 
in  opinion  and  belief,  that  nothing  is  to  be  believed,  except  it  can 
be  proved  expressly  from  Scripture. 

65.  "Item. — That  besides  preaching,  there  are  many  slander- 
ous and  erroneous  books  that  have  been  made  and  suffered  to  go 
abroad  indifferently,  Avhich  books  were  the  more  gladly  bought, 
because  of  these  words,  '  ciion  privilegio ;'  which  the  ignorant 
people  took  to  have  been  an  express  approbation  of  the  King, 
where  it  was  not  so  indeed. 

66.  "Item. — That  where,  heretofore,  divers  books  have  beeti 
examined  by  persons  appointed  in  the  Convocation,  and  the  said 
books  found  full  of  heresy  and  erroneous  opinions,  and  so  de- 
clared ;  the  said  books  are  not  yet  by  the  Bishops  expressly  con- 
demned, but  suffered  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  unlearned  people, 
which  ministereth  to  them  matter  of  argument,  and  much  un- 
quietness  within  the  realm." 

Independently  of  Latimer's  testimony,  here  was  a  second,  and 
from  many  individuals.  If  it  be  said  that  their  alarm  may  have 
led  them  to  exaggerate  the  good  that  had  been  done,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  God  had  been  carrying  forward  his  work  with 
secret  energy,  and  that  they  were  not  the  men  to  know  all :  but 
still  they  come  forward  in  proof  that  the  Sacred  Volume,  so  far 
from  having  been  read  in  vain,  had  already  produced  some  of  its 
finest  effects,  and,  it  may  safely  be  presumed,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  since  they  affirmed  that  these  truths  were  "  commonly 
taught  and  spokenP  It  is  true,  that  all  this  had  been  accom- 
plished in  the  face  of  opposition,  and  certainly  without  the  bold 
and  public  sanction  of  any  present ;  but,  though  it  has  been  too 
little  observed,  the  moment  was  a  crisis  in  the  history  of  England, 
more  important  than  any  one  that  has  since  occurred  in  her  event- 
ful history.  As  far  as  the  vital  interests  of  Christianity  itself  arc 
concerned,  Avho  is  there  now,  understanding  these  interests,  who 
can  forbear  to  exclaim — "  Oh  !  had  they  but  let  '  well'  alone  !  and 
left  those  cardinal  principles,  which  the  majority  of  these  men  now 
branded  as  evil,  to  have  found  their  way  into  every  city  and  ham- 
letj  till  they  had  leavened  the  community  !"     But  no  ;  the  perfec- 


210  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

tion,  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  Sacred  Vohime  to  accompHsh  all  the 
purposes  of  the  Divme  will,  was  a  tenet  held  by  no  one  there. 

And  now  the  war  grew  warm,  the  strife  interminate,  for  what 
else  could  be  expected  from  an  assemblage  such  as  this  ?  Cran- 
mer  alone,  as  yet  possessed  of  no  fixed  principles,  nor  any  distinct 
conception  of  where  he  was  going,  though  even  backed  by  Lati- 
mer, with  all  his  wit  and  shrewdness,  could  have  done  nothing. 
Even  in  the  absence  of  Gardiner,  they  would  have  been  crushed 
or  overruled.  Queen  Anne  was  gone,  and  the  old  party  had  de- 
termined to  try  their  strength.  Oh  !  exclaims  old  Fuller,  "  wliat 
tugging  was  here,  betwixt  those  opposite  sides,  (for  I  dare  not  take 
Bishop  Latimer's  phrase,  as  he  took  it  out  of  his  text — betwixt 
the  children  of  this  generation,  and  the  children  of  light,)  whilst, 
with  all  earnestness,  they  thought  to  advance  their  several  designs^ 
The  truth  is,  that  the  House  of  Lords  itself  was  often  interrupted 
in  their  business  by  these  men  ;  and  in  their  "  Journal,"  the  rea- 
son recorded  for  many  adjournments  was  this,  that  the  Lord 
Bishops  "  were  busy  in  the  Convocation." 

It  was  while  these  discussions  were  proceeding,  or  rather  about 
their  commencement,  that  a  notable  scene  occurred,  in  which 
Alexander  Ales,  of  Edinburgh,  made  a  conspicuous  appearance. 
One  day,  as  Lord  Crumwell  was  proceeding  to  the  house,  he  met 
Ales  "  by  chance  on  the  street,"  and,  as  if  determined  on  still  far- 
ther humiliation  of  the  Bench,  "  he  called  him,  and  took  him  with 
him  to  the  Parliament  house,  to  Westminster."  Upon  entering, 
all  the  Bishops  "  rose  and  did  obeisance  to  their  Vicar-General, 
and  after  he  had  saluted  them,  he  sat  him  down  in  the  highest 
place."  "  Right  against  him  sat  Cranmer  and  Lee  as  Archbish- 
ops ;  and  then  Stokesly  and  Longland,  Shaxton  and  Clerk,  Good- 
rich and  Fox,  Sampson  and  Rugge,  Latimer  and  certain  others," 
adds  Ales,  "  whose  names  I  have  forgotten."  "  All  these  did  sit 
at  a  table  covered  with  a  carpet,  with  certain  Priests  standing 
about  them." 

"  The  Vicar-General  of  the  realm"  commenced — "  The  King's 
Majesty  giveth  you  high  thanks  that  ye  have  so  diligently,  with- 
out any  excuse,  assembled  hither  according  to  his  commandment ; 
and  ye  be  not  ignorant  that  ye  be  called  hither  to  determine  cer- 
tain controversies,  which  at  this  time  be  moved,  concerning  the 
Christian  religion  and  faith,  not  only  in  this  realm,  but  also  in  all 
nations  throughout  the  world.  For  the  King  studieth  day  and 
night  to  set  a  quietness  in  the  Church  !  And  he  cannot  rest  until 
all  such  controversies  be  fully  debated  and  ended  through  the  de- 
termination of  you,  and  his  whole  Parliament !  For  although 
his  special  desire  is  to  set  a  stey  (fix  according  to  rule)  for  the  un- 
learned people,  whose  consciences  are  in  doubt  what  they  may 
believe,  and  he,  himself,  by  his  excellent  learning,  knoweth  these 
controversies  well  enough ;  yet  he  will  suffer  no  common  altera- 
tion, but  by  the  consent  of  you  and  his  whole  Parliament  And 
he  desireth  now,  for  Christ's  sake,  that,  all  manner  of  obstinacy 
and  carnal  respect  set  apart,  ye  will,  friendly  and  lovingly,  dispute 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  .   211 

among  yourselves,  of  the  controversies  moved  in  the  Church,  and 
that  ye  will  conclude  all  things  by  the  Word  of  God  ;  without 
all  brawling  or  scolding.  Neither  will  his  Majesty  suffer  the  Script- 
ure to  be  wrested  or  defaced  by  any  glosses,  or  by  any  authority 
of  doctors  or  Councils ;  and  much  less  will  he  admit  any  articles 
or  doctrine  not  contained  in  the  Scripture  ;  but  approved  only  by 
continuance  of  time  and  old  custom,  and  by  luiwritteii  verities^  as 
ye  icere  wont  to  do.  Ye  know  well  enough,  that  ye  be  bound  to 
show  this  service  to  Christ  and  to  his  Church  ;  and  yet,  notwith- 
standing, his  Majesty  will  give  you  high  thanks,  if  ye  will  set  and 
conclude  a  godly  and  a  perfect  unity — whereunto  this  is  the  only 
way  and  mean,  if  ye  will  determine  all  things  by  the  Scripture, 
as  God  commandeth  you  in  Deuteronomy — which  thing  his  Maj- 
esty exhorteth  and  desireth  you." 

However  strange  the  former  part  of  this  address  must  appear 
to  every  enlightened  Christian  now,  tow^ard  the  close  the  trumpet 
gave  a  certain  sound  ;  and,  so  far  as  words  could  convey  meaning, 
no  man  present  could  misunderstand  the  message.  But  what  fol- 
lowed ?  "  After  this,"  says  Ales,  "  they  began  to  dispute  of  the 
sacramentsP  First  of  all,  the  Bishop  of  London,  Stokesly,  (whom, 
a  little  before,  Crumwell  had  rebuked  by  name,  for  defending  of 
unwritten  verities,)  went  about  to  defend  that  there  were  seven 
sacraments  of  our  Christian  religion,  which  he  would  prove  by 
certain  glosses  and  writers  ;  and  he  had  upon  his  side  the  Arch- 
bishop of  York,  the  Bishops  of  Lincoln,  Bath,  Chichester,  and 
Norwich.  The  Bishops  of  Salisbury,  Ely,  Hereford,  and  Worces- 
ter, and  certain  others,  with  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  were 
against  him.  After  they  had  made  much  strife  and  contention 
about  the  sayings  of  the  doctors,  Cranmer  rose  and  said — 

"  It  beseemeth  not  men  of  learning  and  gravity  to  make  much 
babbling  and  brawling  about  bare  w^ords,  so  that  we  agree  in  the 
very  substance  and  effect  of  the  matter.  For  to  brawl  about 
words,  is  the  property  of  sophisters,  and  such  as  mean  deceit  and 
subtilty,  which  delight  in  the  debate  and  dissension  of  the  world, 
and  in  the  miserable  state  of  the  Church  ;  and  not  of  them 
which  should  seek  the  glory  of  Christ,  and  should  study  for  the 
unity  and  quietness  of  the  Church. 

"There  be  weighty  controversies  now  moved  and  put  forth,  not 
of  ceremonies  and  light  things,  but  of  the  true  understanding,  and 
of  the  right  difference  of  the  Law  and  the  Gospel — of  the  manner 
and  way  how  sins  be  forgiven — of  comforting  doubtful  and  waver- 
ing consciences,  by  what  means  they  may  be  certified  that  they 
please  God,  seeing  they  feel  the  strength  of  the  law  accusing  them 
of  sin — of  the  true  use  of  the  sacraments,  whether  the  outward 
work  of  them  doth  justify  man,  or  whether  we  receive  our  justifi- 
cation through  faith. 

"  Item. — Which  be  the  good  works,  and  the  true  service  and  honor 
which  pleaseth  God  ;  and  whether  the  choice  of  meats,  the  differ- 
ence of  garments,  the  vows  of  monks  and  priests,  and  other  tradi- 
tions, which  have  no  Word  of  God  to  confirm  them ;  whether 


212^  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

these,  I  say,  be  right  good  works,  and  such  as  make  a  perfect 
Christian  man,  or  no. 

"  Item. — Whether  vain  science  and  false  honoring  of  God  and 
man's  traditions^  do  bind  men's  consciences,  or  no.  Finally, 
whether  the  ceremonies  of  confirmation — of  orders — and  of  anoint- 
ing, and  such  other,  (which  cannot  be  proved  to  be  instituted  of 
Christ,  nor  have  any  worth  in  them  to  certify  us  of  remission  of 
sins,)  ought  to  be  called  Sacraments,  and  to  be  compared  with 
Baptism  and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord,  or  no. 

"  These  be  no  light  matters,  but  even  the  principal  points  of  our 
Christian  religion ;  wherefore  we  contend  not  about  words  and 
trifles,  but  of  high  and  earnest  matters.  Christ  saith — '  blessed 
be  the  peace-makers,  for  they  shall  be  called  the  sons  of  God.'  And 
Paul  commandeth  Bishops  to  avoid  brawling  and  contention  about 
words,  which  be  profitable  to  nothing,  but  unto  the  subversion  and 
destruction  of  the  hearers  :  and  he  admonisheth  especially  that 
he  should  resist  with  the  Scriptures  when  any  man  disputeth  with 
him  of  the  faith,  and  he  addeth  a  cause, — 'doing  this,  thou  shalt 
presei^ve  both  thyself  and  also  them  which  hear  thee.'  Now,  if  ye 
will  follow  these  counsellors,  Christ  and  Paul,  all  contention  and 
brawling  about  words  must  be  set  apart,  and  ye  must  stabhsh  a 
godly  and  a  perfect  unity  and  concord,  out  of  the  Scripture." 

This  assembly,  to  a  man,  had  already  acknowledged  Henry  to 
be  the  Supreme  Head  of  their  Church,  and  now  also  had  made 
obeisance  to  his  Vicegerent,  their  Vicar-General ;  but  such  was 
the  catalogue  of  affairs  brought  forward,  and  as  explained  by 
Cranmer  himself  He  did  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  the  men 
whom  he  urged  to  engage  in  discussion  were  peace-makers,  ivcre 
the  sons  of  God,  were  Bishops,  indeed, — but,  waving  this,  here  was 
a  field  for  strife  and  debate,  confessedly  wide  enough,  if  not  bound- 
less, and  as  now  spread  out,  it  certainly  exhibited  a  strange  mix- 
ture of  truth  and  error ;  where  the  mere  acts  of  outward  conform- 
ity were  mingled  with  the  inward  feelings  of  mental  obedience; 
and  comparative  trifles  were  enumerated  in  company  with  matter 
of  divine  authority.  But  still,  should  Cranmer  commence  with 
faith  and  not  with  obedience,  or  with  what  he  styled  "  the  prin- 
cipal points  of  our  Christian  religion,"  or  "high  and  earnest  mat- 
ters," and  NOT  with  ceremonies,  an  effectual  turn  may  yet  be  given 
to  discussion.  Two  steps  were  before  him,  the  right  and  the 
wrong ;  and  as  he  had  precedence,  and  was  about  to  state  the 
order  of  debate,  and  now  had  this  in  his  own  hands,  one  naturally 
waits  with  anxiety  to  hear  his  decision, — and  here  it  Avas. 

"  Wherefore,  in  this  disputation  we  must  first  acjree  of  the 
number  of  the  Sacraments,  and  what  a  Sacrament  doth  signify 
in  the  holy  Scripture ;  and  when  we  call  Baptism  and  the  Sup- 
per of  the  Lord  sacraments  of  the  Gospel,  what  Ave  mean  thereby !" 

Lord  Crumwell  observing,  by  his  countenance,  that  Ales  was 
pleased  with  Cranmer's  address,  thought  it  the  proper  moment  to 
call  upon  him ;  and  having  introduced  him  to  all  present,  under 
the  high  appellation  of  "  the  King's  Scholar,"  he  desired  him  now 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  *    213 

to  say,  what  he  thought  of  this  disputation.  Tlie  exiled  Scotch- 
man compUed,  maintaining  throughout,  and  for  the  first  time 
upon  Enghsh  ground,  for  many  centuries,  before  any  such  au- 
dience, that  there  were  only  two  sacraments, — easy  to  be  kept, 
and  very  excellent  in  signification, — and  tliat  these  Avere  "  Bap- 
tism and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord."  Stokesly  sat  with  impatience, 
and  at  last  fired, — saying  of  what  Ales  had  affirmed — "//  is  all 
falseP  To  this  he  answered,  "  I  will  prove  all  that  I  have  said 
to  be  true^  not  only  by  the  Sciipture,  but  by  the  old  doctors,  and 
by  the  School  writers  also." 

Upon  this  Edward  Fox,  Bishop  of  Hereford,  interposed,  and  in 
a  noble  address,  well  worthy  of  being  recorded,  spoke  as  fol- 
lows : — 

"  Brother  Alexander,  contend  not  much  with  him,  about  the 
minds  and  sayings  of  the  doctors  and  school  writers  ;  for  ye  know 
that  they,  in  many  places,  do  differ  among  themselves,  and  that 
they  are  contrary  to  themselves,  also,  almost  in  every  article. 
And  there  is  no  hope  of  any  concord  to  be  made,  if  we  must  lean 
to  their  judgments,  in  these  matters  of  controversy.  And  we  be 
commanded  by  the  King's  Grace  to  dispute  by  the  Holy  Script- 
urey     Then  turning  himself  to  the  Bisnops,  he  thus  proceeded — - 

"  Think  ye  not,  tliat  we  can,  by  any  sophistical  subtilties,  steal 
out  of  the  world  again,  the  light  which  every  man  doth  see. 
Christ  hath  so  lightened  the  world  at  this  time,  that  the  light  of 
the  Gospel  hath  put  to  flight  all  misty  darkness  ;  and  it  will, 
shortly,  have  the  higher  hand  of  all  clouds,  though  we  resist  in 
vain  never  so  much.  The  lay  people  do  now  know  the 
Holy  Scripture,  better  than  many  op  us.  And  the  Ger- 
mans have  made  the  text  of  the  Bible  so  plain  and  easy,  by  the 
Hebrew  and  the  Greek  tongue,  that  now  many  things  may  be  better 
understood,  witlioiit  any  glosses  at  all,  than  by  all  the  commen- 
taries of  the  doctors.  And,  moreover,  they  have  so  opened  these 
controversies  by  their  writings,  that  women  and  children  may 
wonder  at  the  bhndness  and  falsehood  that  hath  been  hitherto. 
Wherefore,  ye  must  consider  earnestly,  what  ye  will  determine  of 
these  controversies,  that  ye  make  not  yourselves  to  be  mocked, 
and  laughed  to  scorn  of  all  the  world  ;  and  that  ye  bring  them 
not  to  have  this  opinion  of  you,  to  think  evermore  hereafter,  that 
ye  have  not  one  spark  of  learning  nor  yet  of  godliness  in  yon. 
And  thus  shall  ye  lose  all  your  estimation  and  authority  with 
them  which  before  took  you  for  learned  men,  and  profitable  mem- 
bers unto  the  commonwealth  of  Christendom.  For  that  which 
you  do  hope  upon,  that  there  was  never  heresy  in  the  Church  so 
great,  but  that  process  of  time,  with  the  power  and  authority  of 
the  Pope,  hath  quenched  it — it  is  nothing  to  the  purpose.  But  ye 
must  turn  (change)  your  opinion,  and  think  this  surely,  that 
there  is  nothing  so  feeble  and  weak,  so  that  it  be  true,  but  it  shall 
find  place,  and  be  able  to  stand  against  all  falsehood. 

"  Truth  is  the  daughter  of  time,  and  time  is  the  mother  of  truth. 
And  whatsoever  is  besieged  of  truth,  cannot  long  continue ;  and 


214  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

upon  whose  side  truth  doth  stand,  that  ought  not  to  be  thought 
transitory,  or  that  it  will  ever  fall.  All  things  consist  not  in 
painted  eloquence,  and  strength,  or  authority.  For  the  truth  is  of 
so  great  power,  strength,  and  efficacity,  that  it  can  neither  be  de- 
fended with  words,  nor  be  overcome  with  any  strength  :  but  after 
she  hath  hidden  herself  long,  at  length  she  putteth  up  her  head, 
and  appeareth." 

Encouraged  by  this  oration,  and  confining  himself  to  the  Sacred 
Volume,  Ales  proceeded  to  ply  the  Bishop  of  London  with  this 
argument — "  Sacraments  be  signs  of  ceremonies,  which  make  us 
certain  and  sure  of  the  will  of  God — but  no  man's  heart  can  be 
certain  and  sure  of  the  will  of  God,  without  the  Word  of  God. 
Wherefore,  it  foUoweth,  that  there  be  no  sacraments  without  the 
Word  of  God.  And  such  as  cannot  be  proved  out  of  the  Holy 
Scripture,  ought  not  to  he  called  sacraments. 

"And  so  after  this  manner  doth  Paul  speak  unto  the  Ephesians, 
that  Christ  doth  sanctify  his  Church,  through  the  bath  of  water, 
in  the  word  of  life.  And  for  as  much  as  he  joineth  the  Word  unto 
the  ceremony,  and  declareth  the  virtue  and  power  of  the  Word  of 
God,  that  it  bringeth  with  him  (it)  life ;  he  doth  manifestly  teach, 
that  the  Word  of  God  is  the  principal  thing,  and  even,  as  it  were, 
the  very  substance  and  body  of  the  sacrament ;  and  the  outward 
ceremony  nothing  else  than  a  token  of  that  lively  inflammation 
which  we  receive,  through  faith  in  the  Word  and  promise. 

"St.  Paul,  also,  in  ministering  the  sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per, doth  manifestly  add  the  words  of  Christ,  '/fe  took  bread,' 
saith  he,  '  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he  brake  it  and  said, 
take  ye  this,  and  eat  ye  this,  for  it  is  my  body.'  Item,  '  do  ye  this 
in  my  remembrance.' 

'•  Beside  this,  he  teacheth  evidently,  that  only  Christ,  and  none 
but  He,  had  power  to  institute  a  sacrament :  and  that  neither  the 
Apostles,  nor  the  Church,  hath  any  authority,  to  alter,  or  to  add 
anything  unto  his  ordinance.  Whereas  he  saith — '  For  I  received 
of  the  Lord,  that  whicli  I  delivered  unto  you,'  &.c. — to  what  pur- 
pose should  he  go  about  to  move  the  people  to  believe  him,  and  to 
win  their  hearts  with  his  protestation,  if  it  had  been  lawful  for  him 
to  have  made  any  sacraments,  or  to  have  altered  the  form  and 
manner  of  ministering  this  sacrament  ?  As  some  men,  both  wick- 
edly and  shamelessly  do  affirm,  that  the  Apostles  did  alter  the  form 
of  baptism." 

Stokesly,  however,  here  again  interrupted  him  and  said — "  Let 
us  grant  that  the  sacraments  may  be  gathered  out  of  the  Word  of 
God,  yet  are  ye  far  deceived,  if  ye  think  that  there  is  none  other 
Word  of  God,  but  that  which  every  sonter  and  cobbler  doth  read 
in  his  inother  tongue  .'"  The  Vicar-General  and  others  smiled 
when  he  had  done  ;  but  it  was  now  twelve  o'clock,  and  time  to 
disperse.  Crumwell,  therefore,  desired  Ales  to  be  "  content  for  the 
time,"  on  which  he  closed,  by  saying  to  Stokesly, — 

"  Right  Reverend  Master  Bishop — ye  deny  that  our  Christian 
faith  and  religion  doth  lean  only  upon  the  Word  of  God  which  is 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  215 

written  in  the  Bible  :  which  thing  if  I  can  prove  and  declare,  then 
ye  will  grant  me,  that  there  be  no  sacraments  but  those  that  have 
the  manifest  Word  of  God  to  confirm  them."  To  this  he  con- 
sented, and  the  assembly  for  that  day  was  dissolved. 

The  next  day,  however,  when  the  Bishops  were  again  met,  this 
dangerous  man  of  Edinburgh  must  not  be  admitted.  He  was 
punctually  present  with  Lord  Crumwell,  and  ready  to  accompany 
him  ;  but  poor  Cranmer,  ever  in  character,  timid  and  time-serving, 
became  alarmed  as  to  consequences,  and  prevented  the  appearance 
of  Ales. 

The  obvious  purport  of  this  dispute  respecting  the  ordinances  of 
Christ,  here  styled  sacraments,  was,  whether  there  were  seven,  or 
only  two;  and  Ales  firmly  maintained  his  ground,  but  his  argu- 
ments had  no  effect  whatever  in  swaying  such  men. 

In  these  circumstances,  what  was  to  be  done  ?  To  one  of  the 
parties  it  seemed  at  last,  that  some  expedient  must  be  devised,  to 
enforce  obedience  or  conformity,  silent  or  quiet  submission.  But 
where  did  the  power  reside  ?  Only  in  the  breast  of  a  man,  who 
had  been  washing  his  hands  in  blood,  and  "  following  the  sport" 
on  the  day  of  his  (Queen's  execution  !  In  the  language  of  sacred 
writ,  that  he  was  also  "  proud,  knowing  nothing,  but  doting  about 
questions  and  strifes  of  words," — "  vainly  puffed  up  by  his  fleshly 
mind,"  we  have  already  had  but  too  much  evidence  ;  only  he  was 
now  about  to  proceed  one  step  farther,  and  should  he  only  fix 
on  more  sacraments  than  two,  all  must  yield,  and  at  least  bow 
assent. 

Of  course,  neither  Henry,  nor  any  of  his  advisers,  understood 
that  Christianity,  as  revealed  in  the  New  Testament,  repudiated 
all  constraint  of  receiving  and  holding  opinions  by  human  au- 
thority ;  or,  to  use  a  word  often  employed  since,  all "  imposition  ;" 
that  tlie  nature  of  faith  did  not  admit  of  this — that  God  himself 
had  appointed  no  such  means  to  enforce  belief,  nor  nominated  any 
Vicegerent  to  attempt  this — that  dominion  over  conscience  is  God's 
exclusive  province,  within  which,  especially,  his  name  is  "  Jealous" 
— that  any  man,  therefore,  presuming  to  enter  here,  must  needs 
be  an  usurper,  demanding  blind  submission, — so  that  whatever 
means  be  adopted,  they  must  be  nefarious.  But,  apart  from  all 
these  vital  considerations,  so  far  as  the  present  uproar  was  con- 
cerned, both  Crumwell  and  Cranmer  well  knew,  that  they  had 
only  to  repair  to  the  royal  presence,  and  describe  this  scene  of 
strife, — "  the  perverse  disputings  of  men  of  corrupt  minds,  and 
destitute  of  the  truth,  who  supposed  that  gain  was  godliness." 
They  did  so  at  last,  when  a  message  arrived  from  Henry.  He 
soon  stilled  the  tumult,  very  much  in  the  manner  of  Sardanapalus 
of  old — "  Sic  volo,  sic  juheo,  and  let  my  tvill  for  reason  stand." 
These  men  had  been  convoked,  in  fact,  not  to  discuss  but  to  "  do 
the  King's  business." 

The  form  in  which  this  settler  came,  was  in  tliat  of  certain 
"  Articles,"  which  all  must  subscribe.  They  were  strangely  enough 
entitled — "  Articles  devised  by  the  King's  Highness'  Majesty,  to 


216  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

stablish  Cristian  quietness  and  unity  among  us.  and  to  avoid  coyi- 
tentious  opinions  !" 

These,  the  first  articles  propounded  in  England,  though  not 
originally  composed  by  Henry,  were  carefully  revised  by  him  ;  at 
least  in  the  preface,  he  speaks  of  having,  in  his  own  person,  many 
times,  bestowed  on  them  ■'  great  pain,  study,  labor  and  travail !" 
No  doubt,  Cranmer  and  his  coadjutors  had  done  their  best  before 
then ;  and  if,  after  passing  through  such  an  ordeal,  these  articles 
are  to  be  regarded  as  the  amount  of  their  united  wisdom,  they 
only  discover  Avhat  darkness  and  confusion  still  reigned  in  the 
minds  of  all  men  in  power.  It  is  not  only  the  substance,  but  the 
order  in  which  they  are  stated,  which,  at  once,  betrays  this  con- 
fusion. At  the  same  time,  we  now  discover  that  Cranmer  must 
have  had  his  secret  reason  for  passing  over  every  Christian  doc- 
trine, or  matter  of  belief,  and  giving  it  out  as  imperative,  that  they 
must  begin  with  the  sacraments  !  So  it  was  with  the  Articles : 
for  after  simply  allowing  the  particulars  of  the  Christian  faith  to 
be  contained  in  the  Scriptvires,  but  joining  with  them  the  Nicene 
and  Athanasian  creeds  ;  we  have  1.  Baptism.  2.  Penance.  3. 
The  Sacrament  of  the  Altar,  or  the  Mass.  4.  Justification.  5. 
Images.  6.  Honoring  of  Saints.  7.  Praying  to  Saints.  8.  Rites 
and  Ceremonies.  9.  Purgatory.  •  They,  in  fact,  allowed  the  use 
of  images,  sanctioned  prayers  to  the  Saints,  defended  purgatory, 
and  recommended  prayers  for  the  dead.  Far  from  following  the 
sentiments  of  Ales,  not  only  spoken,  but  more  fully  delivered  in 
writing  to  Crumwell,  and  meant  to  have  been  read  before  them — 
they  assert  three  sacra,ments ;  1.  Penance,  2.  Baptism,  3.  the 
Lord's  Supper — ^maintaining  that  infants  dying,  before  the  second, 
perish  everlastingly  !  and  that  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
are  present  in  the  third  !  No  wonder  that  Cranmer  trembled  for 
his  Articles,  or  was  afraid  of  the  set  speech  of  Ales,  next  day  ;  for 
if  it  had  been  listened  to  by  any,  not  to  say  all,  it  might  have  at 
least  retarded  the  attempt  to  "  stablish  Christian  quietness,"  after 
this  fashion. 

Nor  had  these  miserable  articles  any  such  effect.  On  the  con- 
trary, when  once  pubhshed,  they  occasioned,  says  Burnet,  "  great 
variety  of  censures."  Beyond  the  walls  of  their  assembly,  "  qui- 
etness," of  any  kind,  was  not  to  be  the  order  of  the  day  ;  although, 
at  this  moment,  all  the  men  within  must  acquiesce  in  the  unbend- 
ing will  of  their  acknowledsjed  Head.  At  least  one  hundred  and 
nine  individuals  subscribed  ;  including  Crumwell  and  the  two 
Archbishops,  sixteen  Bishops,  forty  Abbots  and  Priors,  and  fifty 
Archdeacons  and  Proctors. 

Nothing  can  more  forcibly  illustrate  the  absurdity  of  this  blind 
consent  to  certain  propositions,  professedly  religious,  than  that 
this  assembly  had  never  yet  been  able  to  agree  upon  any  transla- 
tion of  the  Sacred  Volume  itself;  nor,  upon  this  subject,  accord- 
ing to  Cranmer's  strongly  expressed  opinion  next  year,  if  left  to 
themselves,  would  they  ever  have  agreed,  to  the  end  of  their  days. 
But  after  thus  subscribing,  it  would  have  been  more  inconsistent 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  217 

still,  had  tliey  now  departed,  without  any  reference  to  the  subject. 
They  had,  to  a  man,  professedly  recognized  the  Scriptures  as  con- 
taining the  essentials  of  the  Christian  faith,  but  could  not  agree 
on  a  translation  into  their  own  language ;  neither  could  they  as 
a  body,  approve  of  that  translation,  through  which  many  of  the 
people  were  already  so  far  before  them  in  acquaintance  with  Di- 
vine Truth.  They  agreed,  however,  upon  the  form  of  a  petition, 
to  be  presented  to  the  King,  that  he  would  graciously  indulge 
unto  his  subjects  of  the  laity,  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  Eng- 
lish tongue,  (which  so  many  had  already  read  without  his  indul- 
gence,) and  that  a  new  translation  of  it  might  he  fortliwith  made 
for  that  end  and  purpose.  This  was  a  convenient  method  for 
postponing  the  subject ;  but.  providentially,  their  dissention  or 
agreement  was  of  no  eartlily  moment,  since  neither  the  petition- 
ers, nor  the  King  they  addressed,  were  to  be  allowed  to  furnish 
that  translation  of  the  Bible  for  England,  which  was,  ultimately, 
to  become  her  own. 

Thus,  Parliament  having  risen,  and  the  Convocation  being  dis- 
solved, after  having  shown  nothing  save  profound  subserviency  to 
the  wishes  and  the  vices  of  the  Sovereign,  both  Crumwell  and 
Cranmer,  will  contrive  to  save  themselves  the  trouble  of  consulting 
either  of  these  bodies,  for  some  time  to  come  ;  for  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  there  was  neither  Parliament  nor  Convocation  lield 
till  the  year  1539. 

Lnmediately  after  this,  the  first  act  of  Crumwell,  as  Vicegerent, 
was  to  issue  certain  injunctions,  and,  upon  one  account  at  least, 
they  demand  notice.  Among  these  injunctions,  however,  by 
whatever  means,  there  has  crept  into  the  pages  of  several  his- 
torians, the  following: 

"  Item. — That  every  parson  or  proprietary  of  any  Church  with- 
in this  realm,  shall,  on  this  side  of  the  feast  of  St.  Peter  ad  vin- 
cula,  nest  coming-,  provide  a  book  of  the  whole  Bible,  both  in 
Latin,  and  also  in  English,  and  lay  the  same  in  the  choir,  for 
every  man  that  will,  to  look  and  read  thereon,  and  shall  discourage 
no  man  from  the  reading  of  any  part  of  the  Bible,  either  in  Latin 
or  English.''' 

There  is  no  necessity  for  estimating  whether  there  were  in  ex- 
istence, anywhere  in  England,  as  many  Bibles  in  Latin,  much  less 
in  English,  as  is  here  supposed  ;  nor  for  reminding  the  reader  that 
the  Convocation  had  aclvanced  only  so  far  as  to  petition  for  a 
translation  to  be  forthwith  made ;  as  a  little  reflection  miglit  long 
ago  have  led  to  the  suspicion,  that  there  must  be  some  palp,ible 
interpolation,  or  blunder  here.  But  the  paragraph  is  not  to  be 
found  in  the  official  copy  of  Cranmer's  Register,  not  in  Wilkins' 
Concilia,  not  in  the  folio  editionsof  Burnet,  nor,  it  might  be  added, 
in  the  text  of  any  subsequent  edition.  It  is  only  in  the  appendix 
of  later  editions,  that  the  erroneous  statement  of  Foxe  has  been 
substituted  for  what  was  before  the  correct  one,  though  transcribed 
by  Burnet  himself  from  the  Register.  "  It  would  appear  then," 
says  Jenkyns,  "  that  no  order  was  issued  for  placing  the  English 


218  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Bible  in  Churches  before  Crumwell's  second  set  of  injunctions, 
which  were  issued  in  September  1538."  Not  one,  certainly,  in 
reference  to  the  kingdom  at  large ;  though  Cranmer,  indirectly 
through  the  Chancellor  in  the  summer  of  that  year,  issued  such 
injunctions  within  the  diocese  of  Hereford.  That  there  were  no 
other  such,  till  then,  will  become  increasingly  evident,  as  we  pro- 
ceed. Meanwhile,  neither  the  King,  Crumwell  nor  Cranmer  had 
yet  spoken  one  ivord  officially  respecting  any  Bible,  or  New  Tes- 
tament separately. 

Turning  away,  therefore,  from  the  Convocation  of  1.536,  which, 
with  reference  to  the  Sacred  Volume,  was  equally  fruitless  of  any 
benefit  to  the  kingdom  with  that  of  1534,  no  sooner  do  we  come 
to  the  actual  history  of  the  English  Bible,  than  it  turns  out  to 
have  been  by  far  the  most  remarkable  year  of  all  that  had  pre- 
ceded it !  Nay,  to  those  who  have  never  looked  narrowly  into  the 
subject,  it  may  seem  next  to  incredible,  that  there  should  have  been 
of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  as  many  editions  as  in  most  of  the 
preceding  years  when  put  together  !  Such,  however,  will  turn  out 
to  have  been  the  fact,  and  of  this  state  of  things  let  us  hope  that 
our  Translator  could  not  have  been  kept  altogether  in  ignorance, 
more  especially  as  the  jailor  and  his  family  will  appear  to  have 
been  won  to  his  principles.  So  far  as  he  did  know,  after  such  a 
passage  through  life,  this  must  have  cheered  him  in  his  entrance 
to  the  haven  of  eternal  rest,  as  a  finer  sun,  which  was  to  shine  for 
ages  upon  his  native  land.  He  had  corrected  his  New  Testament 
in  1534,  and  these  were  reprints  of  that  edition. 

His  own  country  having  left  him  to  perisji,  the  only  remaining 
quarter  to  which  we  can  turn,  is  to  the  Government  of  Flanders 
itself  Curiosity  must  be  awake  to  know  the  character  of  the  par- 
ties into  whose  hands  Tyndale  had  fallen.  The  reigning  Prin- 
cess, Mary,  was  merely  a  vassal  of  the  priests.  With  the  chief 
man,  still  in  power,  Carondelet,  the  Archbishop  of  Palermo,  we 
have  been  long  familiar,  and  to  him  the  character  of  Tyndale 
must  have  been  well  known  for  nine  years  past,  at  least ;  but  he 
was  a  mere  courtier  without  heart ;  and  from  the  days  in  which 
Cornelius  Grapheus,  the  learned  Secretary  of  Antwerp,  had,  under 
his  eye,  suffered  so  severely,  for  publishing  a  book  on  "  the  liberty 
of  the  Christian  Religion,"  he  had  been  familiar  with  cruelty.  No 
mercy  was  therefore  to  be  expected  from  him.  Erardas  a  Mar- 
chia,  the  Cardinal  and  Bishop  of  Liege,  the  man  to  whom  Reginald 
Pole  fled  next  year  for  protection,  was,  of  course,  a  determined 
opponent  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  Montigni  lived  under  the  sover- 
eign power  of  the  monks.  Such  were  the  men  of  influence  and 
authority.  It  was  only  three  years  since  Erasmus  himself,  that 
eminent  reviver  of  literature,  was  invited  to  this  Court.  But  he 
was  then,  and  ever  afterwards,  afraid  to  venture  near  it,  even 
though  the  Emperor  himself  had  invited  him,  and  money  had  been 
remitted  to  defray  his  travelling  charges.  Sometime  after  this  in- 
vitation, his  picture  of  the  Government  was  sufficiently  graphical, 
and  it  serves  our  present  purpose.     Having  referred  to  the  monks 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  219 

in  a  letter  to  Choleius,  in  1534,  he  says — -"Tliese  animals  are 
omnipotent  at  the  Emperor's  Court"  in  the  Low  Countries.  "  Mary 
is  a  mere  puppet,  maintained  by  our  nation  ;  Montig'ni,  a  man 
of  authority,  is  a  toolof  tiie  Franciscans;  the  Cardinal  oi  Liege  is 
an  ambitious  friend,  and  when  he  takes  offence,  a  violent  enemy  ; 
the  Archbishop  of  Palermo  is  a  giver  of  good  words,  and  nothina; 
else." 

And  thus  it  is  at  last,  tliat  the  history  of  the  times,  and  of  the 
men  of  the  times,  whether  in  England  or  Brabant,  but  too  well 
prepare  us  for  anticipating  the  martyrdom  at  Vilvorde. 

After  the  escape  of  Mr.  Poyntz,  "  Tyndale,"  we  are  informed  by 
Foxe,  "  was  proffered  an  advocate  and  a  procuror ;  for  in  any 
crime  there,  it  shall  be  permitted  to  counsel  to  make  answer  in 
the  law ;  but  he  refused  to  have  any,  saying,  that  he  would  make 
answer  for  h'miself ;  and  so  he  did."  But  at  last,  after  much  rea- 
soning, when  no  reason  would  serve,  although  he  deserved  no 
death,  he  was  condemned,  by  virtue  of  the  Emperor's  decree  at 
Augsburg.  Such  had  been  "  the  power  of  his  doctrine,  and  the 
sincerity  of  his  life,  that  during  the  whole  time  of  his  imprison- 
ment, which  endured  about  one  whole  year  and  a  half,  (or  rather 
a  year  and  three  quarters,)  it  is  said  he  converted  his  keeper,  the 
keeper's  daughter,  and  others  of  his  household.  The  rest  that 
were  in  the  Castle,  and  conversant  with  Tyndale,  reported  of  him, 
that  if  he  were  not  a  good  Christian  man,  they  could  not  tell  whom 
to  trust :  and  the  Procurator-General,  the  Emperor's  attorney,  being 
there,  left  this  testimony  of  him,  that  he  was  '  Homo  doctns,  pins, 
et  bonus — a  learned,  pious,  and  good  man." 

The  decree  issued  at  Augsburg,  on  the  19th  of  November,  1530, 
was  still  in  full  force,  after  which,  no  man  was  admitted  into  the 
judicature  of  the  Imperial  Chamber,  unless  he  approved  of  it ;  and 
the  Privy  Council  of  Brussels,  of  which  Carondelet  was  President, 
enjoyed  ample  authority  in  all  matters,  religious  as  well  as  politi- 
cal. The  persecutors  of  Tyndale,  therefore,  knew  full  well,  since 
his  own  King  and  Council  had  left  him  to  perish,  how  they  could, 
at  any  time,  close  the  controversy  and  slay  him.  That  detestable 
decree  had  not  only  enjoined  the  continuance  of  all  the  former 
ceremonies,  rites,  and  superstitions, — but  particularly  rejected  the 
doctrine  oi  justification  by  faith  alone.  The  doctors  of  Louvain 
must  have  discussed  many  subjects  with  their  prisoner :  his  trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures,  of  course,  he  would  defend  to  the  last ;  but 
here  was  one  point,  on  which  Tyndale  would  remain  firm  as  a 
rock.  There  was  no  man  in  Germany,  to  say  nothing  of  Eng- 
land, who  had  written  with  greater  distinctness  on  the  subject  of 
justification :  no  man  who  had  discovered  a  more  profound  esteem 
for  this  sacred  and  precious  truth.  This  was  one  of  those  "  high 
matters,"  on  which  he  had  so  warmly  pressed  his  dearest  earthly 
friend,  Fryth,  to  remain  immovable  in  London ;  and  it  is  not  a 
little  remarkable,  that,  at  this  moment,  besides  his  New  Testa- 
ment in  folio,  Tyndale's  first  publication  was  either  printing  or 


220  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

finished,  and  in  London,  too,  under  this  very  title — "  A  treatise  of 
justification  by  faith  onlyP 

From  the  past  history  frequently  showing  how  early,  and  with 
what  accuracy,  Tyndale  was  in  possession  of  intelligence  from 
England,  we  have  already  supposed  it  to  be  quite  possible,  that, 
though  in  prison,  he  may  have  heard  of  many  things  that  had 
occurred  there,  during  the  last  nine  months  ;  and,  more  especially, 
that  his  New  Testament,  as  corrected  in  1534,  was  so  pouring  into 
his  native  land,  by  repeated  editions,  from  Antwerp.  This  is  the 
more  probable,  from  his  having  been  made  useful  to  the  keeper  of 
the  Castle  and  his  family,  having  thus  gained  their  favor.  But, 
besides  this,  all  that  he  had  translated,  was  now  actually  proceed- 
ing to  the  press,  in  folio,  and  under  the  eye  of  a  competent  friend 
and  great  admirer,  John  Rogers.  This  was  more  than  Crumwell, 
or  Cranmer,  or  the  King,  yet  knew ;  although  the  volume  was  to 
prove  absolutely  the  first  Bible,  the  reading  of  which  throughout 
England,  they  were  to  enjoin  !  But  now,  and  after  such  years  of 
persecution,  the  end  was  come  ! ! 

It  appears  to  have  been  at  some  hour  on  Friday,  the  6th  of  Oc- 
tober 1536,  that  Tyndale  was  led  forth  to  be  put  to  death.  Before 
leaving  the  Castle,  he  delivered  a  letter  to  the  keeper,  addressed 
either  to  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Poyntz  of  Antwerp ;  but  no  copy  of  it  re- 
mains. Having  reached  the  fatal  spot,  the  noble  martyr  was  fast- 
ened to  the  stake — upon  which,  "  crying  with  a  fervent  zeal,  and 
a  loud  voice — ^' Lord  !  open  the  eyes  of  the  King  of  Eng- 
land' " — he  was  first  strangled,  and  then  his  body  was  consumed 
to  ashes  !  Though,  strange  to  say,  even  up  to  this  hour,  "  no  mar- 
ble tells  us  where  !"  For,  surely,  if  ever  the  lines  of  England's 
choicest  Christian  poet  [Cowper]  Avere  strictly  applicable  to  any 
single  man,  every  word,  by  way-  of  eminence,  belongs  to  the 
Memory  of  William  Tyndale, — 

"  His  blood  was  shed 

In  confirmation  of  the  noblest  claim, 

Our  claim  to  feed  upon  immortal  truth, 

To  walk  with  God,  to  be  divinely  free, 

To  soar,  and  to  anticipate  the  skies. 

Yet  few  remember  him.     He  lived  unknown 

Till  persecution  dragg'd  him  into  fame. 

And  chased  him  up  to  Heaven.     His  ashes  flew — 

No  marble  tells  us  whither.     With  his  name 

No  bard  embalms  and  sanctifies  his  song  ; 

And  history,  so  warm  on  meaner  themes, 

Is  cold  on  this." 

Tyndale's  dying  invocation,  most  emphatically  expressed  his 
opinion  of  Henry  VIH. ;  and  uttered,  as  it  was,  with  a  loud  voice, 
though  in  a  foreign  land,  was  lueant  to  be  heard,  if  not  also  car- 
ried to  England.  The  precise  meaning  of  the  speaker,  in  these 
dying  words,  it  may  be  difficult  to  divine ;  but  if  Cranmer  could 
go  so  far  as  to  grossly  flatter  his  Majesty,  even  on  the  third  of 
May,  Tyndale  told  him  the  truth  with  his  last  breath,  from  the 
stake,  on  the  sixth  of  October.     He  regarded  all  that  Henry  had 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  221 

yet  done,  as  the  work  of  a  blind  man,  and  certainly  this  was  the 
most  charitable  of  all  constructions.  ^  Though  to  us  now,  who 
view  the  royal  progress  entire,  and  such  as  it  was,  that  blindness, 
even  by  this  time,  was  no  longer  a  mere  misfortune,  but  his  crime. 
The  King  had  already,  and  but  too  manifestly,  closed  his  eyes, 
and  hardened  his  heart,  of  which  his  future  life  will  afford  the 
saddest  evidence. 

As  for  the  Martyr  himself,  since  no  good  man  was  ever  cut  off 
in  the  midst  of  his  usefulness,  so  neither  was  Tyndale.  His  work 
was  done,  and  by  an  invincible  providence,  he  had  been  singularly 
preserved  to  the  last.  In  the  councils  of  heaven,  he  had  accom- 
plished, as  a  faithful  servant,  his  day,  and  evening's  welcome  hour 
had  come.  Occupying  a  place  in  the  history  of  his  country,  which 
no  other  man  could  ever  occupy  after  him,  he  w^as  now  called  off 
from  his  labor,  and  with  a  character  unspotted.  That  character 
has  been  drawn  long  ago,  and  with  so  much  of  simple  beauty, 
that  we  must  give  it  entire.  Oh,  what  a  contrast  does  it  exhibit 
to  almost  all  those  men  aroinid  him,  \\'hether  at  home  or  abroad. 
to  whom  his  life  and  labors  have  constrained  us  to  allude  ! 

"  First,  he  was  a  man  very  frugal,  and  spare  of  body,  a  great 
student,  and  earnest  labourer  in  the  setting  forth  of  the  Scriptures 
of  God.  He  reserved  or  hallowed  to  himself  two  days  in  the  week, 
which  he  named  his  pastime,  Monday  and  Saturday.  On  Mon- 
day he  visited  all  such  poor  men  and  women  as  were  fled  out  of 
England,  by  reason  of  perseciiiion^  into  Antwerp,  and  these,  once 
well  understanding  their  good  exercises  and  qualities,  he  did  very 
liberally  comfort  and  relieve ;  and  in  like  manner  provided  for  tlie 
sick  and  diseased  persons.  On  the  Saturday,  he  walked  round 
about  the  town,  seeking  every  corner  and  hole,  where  he  suspected 
any  poor  person  to  dwell ;  and  where  he  found  any  to  be  well  oc- 
cupied, and  yet  over-burdened  with  children,  or  else  were  aged 
and  weak,  those  also  he  plentifully  relieved.  And  thus  he  spent 
his  two  days  of  pastime,  as  he  called  them.  And  truly  his  alms 
were  very  large,  and  so  they  might  well  be  ;  for  his  exhibition  that 
he  had  yearly,  of  the  English  merchants  at  Antwerp,  when  living 
there,  was  considerable,  and  that  for  the  most  part,  he  bestowed 
upon  the  poor.  The  rest  of  the  days  of  the  week,  he  gave  wholly 
to  his  book,  wherein  he  most  diligently  travailed.  When  the  Sun- 
day came,  then  went  he  to  some  one  merchant's  chamber,  or  other, 
whither  came  many  other  merchants,  and  unto  them  would  he 
read  some  one  parcel  of  Scripture ;  the  which  proceeded  so  fruit- 
fully, sweetly  and  gently  from  him,  much  like  to  the  writing  of 
John  the  Evangehst,  that  it  was  a  heavenly  comfort  and  joy  to 
the  audience,  to  hear  him  read  the  Scriptures  :  likewise,  after  din- 
ner, he  spent  an  hour  in  the  same  manner.  He  was  a  man  with- 
out any  spot  or  blemish  of  rancour  or  malice,  full  of  mercy  and 
compassion,  so  that  no  man  living  was  able  to  reprove  him  of  any 
sin  or  crime  ;  although  his  righteousness  and  justification  depended 
not  thereupon  before  God;  but  only  upon  the  blood  of  Christ  and 
his  faith  upon  the  same.     In  this  faith  he  died,  with  constancy, 


222  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

at  Vilvorde,  and  now  resteth  with  the  glorious  company  of  Christ's 
martyrs,  blessedly  in  the  Lord. — And  thus  much  of  the  life  and 
story  of  the  true  servant  and  martyr  of  God,  William  Tyndale, 
who  for  his  notable  pains  and  travail,  may  well  be  called  the  Apos- 
tle of  England,  in  this  our  latter  age." 

Such  was  the  estimate  of  old  John  Foxe  in  his  day  :  and  though, 
in  various  instances,  he  stands  chargeable  with  indiscriminate 
praise,  in  the  present  he  has  not  exceeded  ;  nay,  living  so  early, 
he  could  not  be  expected  to  distinguish  the  relative  greatness,  and 
peculiar  distinction  of  Tyndale's  character.  Standing  above  all 
his  contemporaries,  with  only  one  man  by  his  side,  his  companion 
Fryth,  he  had  never  temporized,  never  courted  human  favor,  never 
compromised  or  sacrificed  one  iota  of  Divine  truth ;  but  with  his 
face  to  the  foe,  and  dying  on  the  shield  of  faith,  lie  was  called  to 
quit  the  well-fought  iield,  for  his  mansion  near  the  throne  ;  to  re- 
fresh himself,  after  the  dust  and  turmoil  and  heat  of  the  day,  in 
the  paradise  of  God.  Having  once  exchanged  contention  with  the 
votaries  of  darkness  and  superstition,  for  the  harmony  and  the 
light  of  heaven  ;  the  solitude  of  his  dungeon,  for  the  presence  of 
his  Redeemer,  in  the  city  of  the  living  God ;  his  faithful  and  in- 
trepid spirit,  as  Milton  would  have  said  of  him,  "had  entered  that 
region,  where  they,  undoubtedly,  that  by  their  labours,  counsels,  and 
prayers,  have  been  earnest  for  the  common  good  of  religion  and 
their  country,  shall  receive  above  the  inferior  orders  of  the  blessed; 
and  in  super-eminence  of  beatific  vision  shall  clasp  inseparable 
hands  with  joy  and  bliss  in  over  measure  forever." 

But  the  influence  and  usefulness  of  such  a  man,  could  not  pos- 
sibly die  with  him.  If  he  had  now  rested  from  all  his  labor,  we 
shall  find  his  works  following  him.  The  light  he  had  kindled, 
was  to  prove  "  the  joy  of  many  generations."  Hence  the  force  of 
individual  consistent  Christian  character — the  importance  of  indi- 
vidual exertion. 

Vilvorde,  (Vilvorden,  or  Villefort,)  is  situate  at  the  confluence  of 
the  Senne  and  Woluwe,  half  way  between  Mechlin  and  Brussels, 
or  about  eight  miles  from  the  former,  and  seven  from  the  latter. 
The  large  and  strong  castle,  to  which  they  had  conveyed  Tyndale 
from  Antwerp,  and  where  he  remained  to  the  hour  of  his  death, 
was  originally  built  by  Duke  Wenceslaus,  in  the  year  1375.  It 
was  afterwards  employed  as  a  place  of  safe  keeping  for  the  archives 
and  charters  of  Brabant,  as  well  as  of  state  prisoners.  But  the 
castle  has  now  given  place  to  a  prison  and  house  of  correction  on 
a  very  large  scale. 

"  Tyndale,"  said  the  Belgian  traveller's  guide  to  us  then,  "  Tyn- 
dale, who  first  translated  the  New  Testament  into  English,  suf- 
fered martyrdom  here  in  1.536  ;"  but  the  reader  is  now  better  able 
to  estimate  what  liad  been  the  amount  of  his  exertions  and  exam- 
ple ;  and  next  year,  we  shall  witness  how  mucli  more  of  the  Sa- 
cred Volume  was  conveyed  to  England,  as  the  richest  legacy  she 
had  ever  received.     Meanwhile,  we  are  obhged  to  turn  to  a  verv 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE,  223 

different  subject,  and  present  a  melancholy,  though  instructive 
view,  in  the  dark  side  of  this  entire  picture. 

To  those  who  have  never  before  been  aware  of  the  fact,  it  must 
appear  extraordinary,  that  the  Martyrdom  of  Tyndale,  the  first 
translator  of  our  Bible  into  Enghsh,  should  stand  so  empliatically 
by  itself.  There  was  no  other,  with  which  the  Councils  of  Eng- 
land, and  of  a  Continental  kingdom,  were  both  concerned  ;  no  other, 
in  the  guilt  of  which,  both  our  own  country,  and  a  foreign  power, 
were  alike  involved.  The  eyes  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  those 
of  his  Ministers,  were  wide  open,  when  the  martyr  fell  vmder  a  de- 
cree of  the  Emperor  Charles  Y.  Considered  as  an  event,  amidst 
all  the  wide-spread  and  long-continued  violence  of  the  times,  his 
martyrdom  rises  up  to  view,  and  appears  like  a  conspicuous  soli- 
tary column.  If  there  be  any  memento  inscribed,  it  is  a  double 
one — German  on  one  side,  but  English  on  the  other.  In  the  scale 
of  creation,  the  death  of  Tyndale  was  nothing  more  than  that  of 
any  other  human  being,  and,  therefore,  in  itself,  an  every-day  oc- 
currence ;  though  it  will  be  conceded  that  he  was  no  conmion 
character.  He  had  engaged  attention  not  only  abroad,  but  es- 
pecially at  home,  and  that  of  public  men,  both  dead  and  still  alive. 
But  then,  besides,  he  was  not  merely  the  only  conspicuous  English- 
man thus  slain,  with  the  full  cognition  of  this  country  and  the 
Continent ;  but  the  only  translator  of  the  Sacred  Volume  in 
Europe,  so  put  to  death.  The  moral  crime  attached  itself,  at  once, 
to  home  and  foreign  authorities. 

This  was  the  Translator's  martyrdom,  but  was  truth  to  be  silent 
or  suppressed  because  folly  frowned?  So  far  from  this,  though 
the  two  last  years  had  been  more  highly  distinguished  than  ever, 
for  the  number  of  editions,  the  present  year  exceeded  them  both 
put  together.  Or,  to  speak  more  generally  and  from  the  begin- 
ning, from  the  year  1525  to  1530  there  had  been  at  least  six  im- 
pressions, which,  on  an  average,  was  more  than  one  edition 
annually ;  since  then  there  had  been  seven  if  not  eight  editions, 
which  was  equal  to  two  every  year ;  but  in  this  one  year,  or  the 
last  of  the  Translator's  life,  there  were  nine  if  not  ten  editions 
from  the  press.  One  gentleman,  deeply  conversant  with  the  sub- 
ject, does  not  despair  of  his  being  able  to  make  out  the  round 
dozen. 

Once  more,  therefore,  and  for  the  third  time,  these  volumes  come 
before  us  in  contrast  to  all  the  mere  confabulations  of  the  Convo- 
cation men.  They  had  met  again,  as  if  resolved  to  force  them- 
selves upon  the  notice  of  every  future  historian,  and  we  have  al- 
ready seen  them  striving  to  settle  matters  of  high  behest;  but  to 
the  highest  of  all,  or  the  Sacred  Volume  itself,  we  are  here  con- 
fined ;  and  now  that  Tyndale  is  gone,  it  seems  to  be  due  to  his 
proceedings  to  glance  at  what  these  men  had  as  yet  said ;  for 
there  had  been  nothing  done,  as  Latimer,  with  such  pungent  or 
galling  frequency,  had  thundered  in  their  ear. 

In  the  close  of  1-534,  or  eighteen  months  ago,  these  men  had 
petitioned  in  the  following   terms, — "  That   his  Majesty  would 


224  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

vouchsafe  to  decree  !  that  the  Scriptures  should  be  translated  into 
the  vulgar  tongue  by  some  honest  and  learned  men  to  be  nomi- 
nated by  the  King  ;"  and  now,  once  more,  after  having  completely 
failed  among  themselves,  nay  fighting  with  each  other  over  the 
Sacred  Record,  here  they  are,  professedly,  a  second  time  petition- 
ing the  King.  And  what  is  the  language  they  now  employ? 
They  petition,  "  That  the  King  would  graciously  indulge  unto 
his  subjects  of  the  laity  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  English 
tongue  ;  though,  as  yet,  according  to  their  own  showing,  there 
was  no  Bible  to  read ;  and  the  Bishop  of  London  has  not  only  re- 
turned the  portion  of  Scripture,  with  contempt,  which  has  been 
assigned  to  him  for  revision,  but  he  has  declared  that  he  will  be 
no  party  in  leading  the  people  into  error  by  giving  them  the 
Scriptures !  Still,  however,  and  as  a  Convocation,  they  go  on, 
and  now  petition,  "  That  a  neiv  translation  might  be  forthwith 
made  for  that  end  and  purpose ;"  that  is,  that  the  laity,  under  the 
gracious  indulgence  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  might  read  the  Bible  ! 
But  a  new  translation  of  it !  Had  these  words  escaped  from  them 
unwittingly?  Were  they  a  tacit  admission,  or  confession,  that 
one  had  been  made  already  ?  Were  they  now  saying  that  the 
New  Testament,  which  was  to  be  England's  and  Scotland's  own 
book,  long  after  they  were  in  their  graves,  was  of  no  esteem  in 
their  eyes  ?  Or  that  the  volume  they  had  openly  denounced  and 
burnt  so  long,  was  now  to  be  consigned  to  oblivion  ?  Was  this  a 
frown  upon  Coverdale's  new-born  attempt,  of  which  they  may 
have  only  just  heard  ?  But  especially,  and  certainly,  upon  Tyn- 
dale's  numerous  editions,  which  had  now  driven  them  to  such 
perplexity?  So  it  seemed  to  Lewis,  above  a  century  ago.  "By 
this,"  said  he,  "  it  appears  that  the  clergy  did  not  approve  of  the 
translation  already  made  by  Tyndale  and  (or)  Coverdale,  and  that 
their  attempt,  which  they  made  two  years  (eighteen  months)  ago, 
to  have  the  royal  permission  to  make  a  new  one,  did  not  succeed." 
True,  and  we  have  read  the  history  of  its  failure  ;  but  certainly  if 
Cranmer  had  been  a  tool  as  deep  and  dexterous  as  any  one  man 
within  the  Convocation,  he  could  not  have  contrived  to  place  him- 
self and  his  brethren  before  posterity,  in  a  light  or  posture  so  little 
to  be  envied. 

All  this,  however,  only  lends  additional  interest  to  the  volumes, 
which,  throughout  the  whole  year,  had  been  issuing  from  the 
press,  and  coming  into  England  "  thick  and  three-fold,"  without 
the  "gracious  indulgence"  of  his  Majesty  being  either  asked  or 
granted.  Of  these  New  Testaments  three  separate  and  entirely 
distinct  editions  were  in  quarto.  Of  the  duodecimo  or  small  oc- 
tavo size  we  know  of  five  editions  ;  and  though  in  these  pages 
we  adhere  to  those  books  only  which  have  been  verified,  we  may 
add  that  another  edition,  if  not  two,  may  yet  be  ascertained  to 
exist.  All  these  editions,  with  the  exception  of  one,  had  been 
printed  abroad  in  Antwerp  ;  but  that  one,  in  several  respects,  may 
be  considered  as  equal  in  importance  to  all  the  others.  The  size 
of  the  book,  in  folio  ;  the  season  of  its  publication,  the  present 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  225 

year  ;  but  above  all,  the  printer  and  the  place,  his  Majesty's  own 
■patent ])r inter ^  in  London  ;  all  conspire  to  render  the  volume  even 
still  a  mystery.  It  comes  before  us,  unaccountably,  as  the  top- 
stone  of  this  hazardous  but  successful  enterprise  ;  brought  into 
view,  also,  about  the  very  time  wlieu  our  Translator  was  breathing 
his  last,  or  consuming  to  ashes  at  Vilvorde.  Some  account  of  it, 
in  particular,  must  not  be  withheld. 

'•  The  Newe  testament  yet  ones  agayne  corrected  by  W.  Tyn- 
dale  :  And  in  many  places  ameded,  where  it  scaped  before  by  neg- 
lygence  of  the  printer.  Also  a  Kalender,  and  a  necessary  table, 
wherein  easely  and  lightly  may  be  founde  any  story  coteyned  in 
ye  foure  Euangelystes,  and  in  the  Actes  of  ye  apostels.  Also  before 
every  psytel  of  S.  Paul,  is  a  prologue,  very  fiutefull  to  ye  reder. 
And  after  ye  newe  testament,  foloweth  the  Epistels  of  ye  olde 
testament.  Newly  printed  (by  Tho.  Berthelet)  in  the  yere  of  our 
lorde  MDXxxvi." — in  the  compartment  of  the  boys  in  triumph, 
and  with  a  small  medallion  of  a  head  laureated,  supported  by 
sphynxes  ;  peculiar  to  this  printing  press. 

Collation.  Prefixes,  viz.  Almanake  for  23  years — Kalender — 
W.  T.  to  the  Christen  Reder — a  prologue  into  the  four  Euange- 
lystes— the  Offyce  of  all  Estates,  and  the  Bokes  conteyned  in  the 
Newe  Testament :  14  leaves.  The  Newe  Testament  contains 
folio  cxcvii.,  but  the  folios  run  on  to  ccv.  ;  then  the  table  of  the 
Epistles  and  the  Gospels,  in  double  columns,  &c.  But  at  the  end 
we  have  the  following  distinguishing  mark — "God  saue  the 
Kynge,  and  all  his  well-wyllers."  Words  which  may  have 
been  actually  printing,  and  in  London  too,  not  far  from  the  hour 
when  the  Translator  himself,  the  most  eminent  well-iviller  the 
King  ever  had,  was  praying  for  him,  and  passing  into  heaven. 

Of  this  rare  volume,  a  copy  now  lies  before  the  writer.  Very 
correctly  printed,  it  is  perhaps  the  first  to  be  distinguished  through- 
out for  one  peculiarity  in  its  orthography,  viz.  the  Anglo-Saxon 
particle  of  negation,  nat  for  not,  and  naAvithstanding  ;  which  was 
occasionally  adopted  after  this,  as  in  the  Latin  and  English  edi- 
tion of  Redman,  1538,  and  of  Powell,  in  1547  and  1549.  In  all 
other  respects,  the  book  is  an  exact  reprint  of  Tyndale's  corrected 
edition  in  1534,  having  his  name  on  the  title  page,  and  his  long 
prologue  to  the  Romans,  which,  by  itself,  had  been  so  often  and 
so  long  condemned  ! 

The  name  of  Thomas  Berthelet  as  printer,  it  is  true,  is  not 
mentioned,  whether  out  of  delicacy  to  the  Bishops  and  their  ad- 
herents, we  cannot  tell ;  but  Ames,  Herbert,  and  Dibdin,  agree  in 
ascribing  the  book  to  his  press.  It  is  known,  indeed,  by  the  type, 
and  the  ornamental  title  of  the  boys  in  triumph.  In  the  Harleian 
Library  there  were  two  copies  of  this  edition,  one  of  them  bound 
in  red  morocco,  finely  ornamented  with  gold.  It  is  probably  one 
of  these  which  is  now  in  the  Bodleian  at  Oxford.  But  at  such  a 
season  as  this,  in  this  style,  and  by  the  King's  printer,  the  book, 
we  repeat,  is  a  mystery  still.  Must  it  not  have  been  got  up  under 
favor  of  the  late  Q,ueen  ?     Such  a  supposition  is  only  in  harmony 

15 


226  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

with  her  letter  to  Ciiimwell,  on  behalf  of  Mr.  Harman,  and  with 
Henry's  printer  being  the  man  employed.  But,  at  all  events,  such 
was  the  first  Sacred  Volume  printed  on  English  ground. 

We,  of  course,  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  attached  any  essen- 
tial mHixence  to  the  late  dueen.  But,  in  conclusion  of  this  year 
it  ought  to  be  lemembered,  that  as  she  was  now  gone,  and  her  in- 
fluence at  Court,  whatever  was  its  amount,  had  died  with  her,  this 
will  now  render  the  future  overruling  of  the  King  and  his  adher- 
ents, or  of  all  surviving  parties,  only  the  more  obvious  and  distinct. 

In  Bunyan's  immortal  story  of  "  the  Holy  War,"  when  ear-gate 
was  once  broken  up,  and  its  bolts  and  bars  shivered  into  a  thousand 
pieces,  Emmanuel  himself  came  forward,  and  set  his  throne  in  it: 
the  weapons  of  war  were  then  carried  within  the  walls,  to  be  em- 
ployed on  the  citadel  of  the  heart.  So,  in  this  long  and  arduous 
contest,  Wolsey  and  Warham,  Fisher  and  More,  with  many  other 
opponents,  were  now  gone ;  but  if  printers  within  the  shores  of 
England,  and  near  to  Henry's  own  person,  have  begun  thus  to 
act,  what  will  signify  all  his  proclamations,  or  the  wrath  of  all  his 
official  men?  In  truth,  the  day  was  nearly  won?  The  printing 
press  abroad  was  now  busy,  in  a  style  quite  unprecedented  ;  and 
next  year,  though  quite  unforeseen  by  the  King,  or  Crumwell,  or 
Cranmer,  the  victory  will  be  complete  !  They  had  no  idea  what- 
ever, of  what  was  awaiting  them,  only  eight  months  hence. 


SECTION    XIV. 

MEMORABLE  INTRODUCTION  OF  THE    ENTIRE    SACRED    VOLUME MYLES  COVERDALE 

HIS  CIRCUMSTANCES    COMPARED  WITH    TYNDALe's COVERDALE's  TEMPORARY 

SUCCESS — THE    REMARKABLY    SUDDEN    CHANGE TYNDALe's    BIBLE STATE    OF 

ENGLAND    BEFORE    ITS    INTRODUCTION CRANMER's    PREVIOUS    ENGAGEMENTS 

TYNDALe's    BIBLE    ARRIVED — IMMEDIATELY  RECEIVED MUST    BE    BOUGHT   AND 

READ — THE  KING  AGREES — THIS  AT  FIRST  SEEMS  TO  BE  INCREDIBLE GRAFTON 

THE  PROPRIETOR ALL  PARTIES  OVERRULED DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  THE  BIBLE 

REJECTED    AND    THE    BIBLE    RECEIVED CONCLUSION    OF     THE    FIRST    YEAR    OF 

TRIUMPH. 

With  regard  to  the  highest  favor  ever  bestowed  upon  this  king- 
dom, there  are  no  years  so  marked  and  memorable  as  those  of 
1526  and  1537.  The  former,  distinguished  by  the  arrival  and  in- 
troduction of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  printed  in  the  native 
tongue;  the  latter,  by  that  of  the  entire  Sacred  Volume.  The 
former,  in  defiance  of  all  the  authorities ;  the  latter,  with  the  im- 
mediate concurrence  of  the  King  and  his  best  advisers.  The 
former  came  as  Tyndale's  first  effort ;  the  latter  arrived  as  the 
distinct  and  appropriate  tribute  to  his  memory  ;  both  alike  being 
foreign  printed  books. 

It  was  now  above  fourteen  years  since  the  design  had  been  first 
formed.     Up  to  this  period,  there  had  been  more  than  ten  years 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  227 

of  hard  fighting,  in  single  combat,  with  the  nation  entire,  from  its 
monarch  downwards  ;  but  more  than  twenty  editions  of  Tyndale's 
translation  of  the  New  Testament  had  passed  through  the  jDress. 
They  had  gone  into  a  thousand  unknown  channels  ;  deep,  nay, 
indelible  was  the  impression  already  made  upon  many  minds. 
Latimer  has  informed  the  Convocation  of  his  brethren,  that  among 
the  people  there  were"  many  children  of  light ;"  and  Fox  has 
told  them,  that  "  the  lay  people  knew  the  Holy  Scriptures  better 
than  many  of  themselves  ;"  but  it  was  time  that  the  King  and  all 
around  him  should  be  overruled.  The  day  drew  near,  though 
they  knew  not  of  it.  The  Translator  was  gone,  it  is  true,  but  his 
translations  were  safe ;  and  not  only  in  safe  keeping,  but  in  the 
press.  The  volume  must  have  been  preparing  before  he  was  con- 
sumed to  ashes.  But,  at  all  events,  the  Scriptures  entire,  from 
Genesis  to  Revelation  will  now  be  introduced ;  and  his  Majesty, 
however  incensed  before,  or  armed  with  power  and  pride  still, 
must  at  once  bow  in  assent,  and  all  other  men  proceed,  as  it  had 
been  appointed  they  should.  The  opposition  hitherto  had  been 
both  loud  and  long ;  but  when  once  the  day  for  the  ariival  of  the 
Scriptures  comes,  not  a  man  must  move  his  tongue  against  them. 
We  have  heard  already  of  one  translation  of  the  Bible  by  Cov- 
erdale  ;  but  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  had  retarded  its  appearance 
in  England.  Henry  had  married  Jane  Seymour,  after  which  the 
name  of  her  predecessor  here  inserted,  was  no  passport  to  royal 
favor.  Some  time,  however,  having  once  elapsed,  although  there 
be  no  positive  proof  of  this  book  having  ever  been  laid  before  the 
King,  what  is  curious  enough,  a  reprint  of  it  had  obtained  favor 
in  his  eye ;  so  that  we  are  now  prepared  for  a  comparison  of  Cov- 
erdale's  Bible,  with  that  of  Tyndale,  edited  by  his  surviving  de- 
voted friend  John  Rogers,  under  the  name  of  Thomas  Matthew, 
and  imported  this  year. 

It  is  remarkable  that  such  obscurity  should  have  rested  on  the 
origin  of  our  two  first  Translators  of  the  Scriptures ;  though  that 
which  still  prevails  over  the  very  name  and  parentage  of  Cover- 
dale,  be  by  far  the  greatest.  No  such  surname  being  certainly 
known  to  exist,  in  the  person  of  any  other  man,  it  has  been  sup- 
posed to  have  been  taken  or  given,  as  in  foreign  countries,  from 
the  district  in  Yorkshire  where  he  was  born.  The  parish  or  town- 
ship of  Coverham,  near  Middleham,  in  the  North  Riding  of  that 
county,  claims  him  for  a  native.  Burnet  strangely  imagined  him 
to  be  a  foreigner,  and  native  of  Denmark.  Into  this  mistake  he  may 
have  been  led,  from  Coverdale  having  afterwards  married  abroad, 
thougli  this  was  to  a  lady  of  Scotch  extraction,  Elizabeth  Mache- 
son  ;  a  circumstance  which  we  shall  find  proved  of  great  value  to 
him.  in  the  reign  of  Q,ueen  Mary.  The  surname  itself  being  so 
unknown,  if  Lewis  be  correct  in  saying  that  one  of  this  name 
took  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Canon  Law  at  Cambridge,  a.d. 
1531,  it  could  scarcely  apply  to  any  other  than  the  future  Trans- 
lator ;  and  it  seems  no  unsuitable  introduction  to  his  engagements 
from  that  very  time.     According  to  Godwin,  he  received  a  doctor's 


228  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

degree  from  Tubingen,  and,  though  late  in  life,  was  admitted  ad 
eundem  at  Cambridge,  but  no  dates  are  mentioned. 

The  origin  and  progress  of  Coverdale's  translation  have  remained 
in  equal  obscurity  ;  and  hence  the  extremely  different  opinions 
which  have  been  hazarded  as  to  the  length  of  time  he  occupied  in 
preparing  for  the  press,  or  in  printing  it  after  it  was  ready. 

Upon  a  marble  tablet  erected  to  his  memory  in  1537,  by  the 
parishioners  of  St.  Magnus  in  London,  where,  in  the  close  of  his 
long  career,  he  used  to  preach,  the}^  have  engraved,  that  he  "  spent 
many  years  of  his  life  in  preparing  a  translation  of  the  Script- 
ures ;"  and  they  add — "  On  tiie  4tli  of  October  mdxxxv.  the  first 
complete  English  printed  version  of  the  Bible  was  published  under 
his  direction."  With  regard  to  its  appearance  in  England,  how- 
ever, the  reader  is  already  able  to  judge  more  correctly ;  for  it 
does  not  follow,  because  the  last  sheet  was  committed  to  the  press, 
in  a  foreign  land,  on  the  day  mentioned,  that  the  book  was  then 
published. 

On  the  other  hand,  more  recently,  in  "  a  historical  account  of 
the  English  version  of  the  Scriptures,"  we  have  been  told  that  in- 
stead of  '■  many  years,"  this  translation  of  the  entire  Bible  "  could 
not  have  commenced  before  November  1534,  and,  probably,  it  was 
not  until  the  following  month  !  Thus,  the  longest  time  that  Cov- 
erdale  could  have  had  for  the  completion,  both  of  the  translation 
and  of  the  printing,  was  eleven  7notiths  ;  and  if  this  work  did,  in 
any  way,  result  from  the  resolutions  of  the  Convocation,  19f,h 
December  1534,  then  the  whole  was  executed  in  the  short  space 
of  nine  months  and  a  half !  The  time  when  he  began  was  cer- 
tainly not  previous  to  November  1534." 

If  Coverdale  had  overtaken  a  translation  of  the  entire  Sacred 
Volume  in  the  space  of  two  years,  or  even  three,  and  employed 
nearly  another  in  printing  it,  when  the  time  in  which  he  lived  is 
considered,  it  will  be  allowed  by  all  who  are  competent  to  judge, 
that  he  must  have  been  very  busily  occupied.  And  if  it  shall 
turn  out  that  he  was  not  only  unmolested,  but  fostered  in  his  un- 
dertaking, this  he  may  have  accomplished.  Extreme  opinions,  so 
wild  or  wide  of  the  truth,  whether  on  marble  or  in  print,  need  not 
be  refuted ;  though  they  show  the  necessity  for  some  more  feasible 
and  distinct  account,  if  any  evidence  can  be  found. 

We  have  heard  of  Coverdale  before,  again  and  again  ;  though 
to  those  who  have  ever  paid  any  attention  to  the  subject,  by  this ' 
time  it  may  have  appeared  extraordinary,  that  we  should  seem  to 
have  either  forgotten  him,  or  omitted  frequent  mention  of  his 
name.  But  the  truth  is,  that  we  have  searched  for  him  all  along, 
and  yet,  upon  the  broad  surface  of  all  these  manuscripts,  with  the 
exception  of  one  significant  letter,  we  have  not  found  a  single  in- 
telligible allusion,  since  after  meeting  with  him  in  Hamburgh,  ac- 
cording to  Foxe.  We  supposed  that  he  had  then  returned  again 
into  England.  This  he  certainly  did,  granting  our  old  historian 
to  be  correct  in  thus  sending  him  abroad  ;  for  the  whole  story  rests 
upon  his  sole  authority.     But   this   was   above   six   years   ago. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.      •  229 

Amidst  this  unbroken  silence,  however,  we  have  this  epistle  from 
Coverdale  himself,  and  but  one,  which  has  effectually  prevented 
him  from  being  forgotten.  It  would  scarcely  have  been  intelligi- 
ble much  before  the  present  year,  when,  wherever  he  had  been, 
we  find  him,  for  the  first  time,  and  then  certainly  upon  English 
ground. 

Before  giving  this  letter,  however,  there  is  one  notable  circum- 
stance, connected  with  Coverdale's  name,  which  has  never  been 
pointed  out,  not  the  least  curious  in  the  history  of  these  stormy 
times.  The  reader  need  not  here  be  told,  that  a  searching  contro- 
versial war  had  been  going  on  in  England  for  years,  or  that  the 
man  who  enjoyed  the  melancholy  eminence  of  being  the  grand 
opponent  to  the  new  learning,  was  Sir  Thomas  More.  But  it  so 
happened,  that  in  opposing  the  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  and 
their  introduction  into  his  native  land,  it  was  a  main  point  with  the 
Lord  Chancellor  to  report  names  ;  and  this  he  did,  not  only  with  ac- 
curacy, but  emphasis.  Hence,  not  only  is  Tyiidale  named,  times 
out  of  number,  and  Fryth  very  frequently ;  but  we  have  "  Friar 
Barnes,  sometime  doctor  in  Cambridge;"  "  Friar  Roye,  the  apos- 
tate ;"  "  George  Constantyne  ;"  "  George  Joye,  otherwise  called 
Clarke ;"  "Richard  Bayfield,  both  a  priest  and  a  monk  ;"  "  Thomas 
Bilneyf  "John  Tewksbiiry;"  "Thomas  Hyttonf^  "John  Byrte, 
otherwise  calling  himself  Adrian,  otlierwise  John  Bookbinder,  and 
yet  otherwise  I  cannot  tell  what."  In  short,  names  were,  in  the 
Chancellor's  esteem,  of  first-rate  importance  in  the  controversy ; 
and,  therefore,  not  only  the  Translator  himself,  by  way  of  emi- 
nence, but  all  the  subordinate  agents,  who,  in  the  humblest  man- 
ner, aided  in  the  importation  of  his  translation,  or  even  read  it, 
were  held  up  to  reprobation,  or  to  the  terror  of  all  England.  What, 
then,  had  become  of  Coverdale  !  Why  was  he  not  treated  with 
derision  as  well  as  Tyndale  !  How  is  it,  that  in  the  wide  compass 
of  More's  voluminous  controversy,  the  name  of  Coverdale  is  not 
exposed  as  that  of  a  delinquent,  nay,  never  once  mentioned? 
Was  he  not  engaged ;  must  he  not  have  been  busily  at  work 
somewhere,  at  the  same  time  that  Sir  Thomas  More  was  so  busy 
in  ferretting  out,  and  naming  every  suspected  individual  ?  We 
have  seen  Coverdale  make  one  narrow  escape.  His  name,  in 
1528,  when  so  many  men  were  punished,  had  been  very  distinctly 
held  up  before  Tunstal,  as  a  noted  delinquent.  He  had  been 
preaching;  he,  as  well  as  Barnes,  had  approved  of  Tyndale'sNew 
Testament,  and  of  its  dispersion  ;  but  we  then  quoted  his  own 
letter  to  Crumwell,  in  August  1527,  as  accounting  fully  for  his 
safety,  and  his  being  then  passed  over  in  silence.  But  if  since 
that  period,  and  more  especially  at  the  very  season  when  Sir 
Thomas  was  continuing  to  write  so  furiously  against  Tyndale's 
version,  and  all  who  dared  to  read  it,  Coverdale  has  been  engaged 
in  translating  ;  and  if  by  the  close  of  1535,  he  has  finished  at 
press  an  impression  of  the  English  Bible,  he  must  have  been  em- 
ployed upon  it  for  a  considerable  time.  There  can  be  now  no 
doubt  that  he  was,  and  as  little,  that  Sir  Thomas  More  had  been 


230  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

perfectly  aware  of  his  occupation ;  though  his  sing-ular  silence, 
maintained  throughout,  must  have  always  remained  a  riddle,  not 
to  be  solved,  but  for  this  one  solitary  letter  from  Cove^dale's  own 
pen,  which  has  never  been  printed  till  within  these  few  years.  It 
is  addressed  to  Crumwell — 

"  Most  singular  good  Master — With  due  humility,  I  beseech 
unto  your  Mastership  all  godly  comfort,  grace,  and  prosperous 
health.  For  so  much  as  your  goodness  is  so  great  toward  me, 
your  poor  child,  only  through  the  plenteousness  of  your  favour  and 
benevolence,  I  am  the  bolcler  of  your  goodness,  in  this  ray  rude 
style,  if  it  like  your  favour,  to  revocate  to  your  memory  the  godly 
communication  which  your  Mastership  had  with  me,  your  orator, 
in  Master  Moor''s  house  in  Easter  Eve,  amongst  many  and  divers 
fruitful  exhortations,  specially  of  your  singular  favour,  and  by  your 
most  comfortable  words,  I  perceive  your  gracious  mind  towards 
me. 

"  Wherefore,  most  honourable  Master,  for  the  tender  love  of  God, 
and  for  the  fervent  zeal  that  you  have  to  virtue  and  godly  study, 
cordis  genibus  provolatus,  I  humbly  desire  and  beseech  your  good- 
ness, of  your  gracious  help.  Now  I  begin  to  taste  of  Holy  Script- 
ures ;  now,  honor  be  to  God,  I  am  set  to  the  most  sweet  smell  of 
holy  letters,  with  the  godly  savour  of  holy  and  ancient  doctors, 
unto  whose  knowledge  I  cannot  attain,  without  diversity  of  books, 
as  is  7iot  unknown  to  your  most  excellent  wisdom.  Nothing  in 
the  world  I  desire,  l)at  books  as  concerning  my  learning.  Thei/ 
once  had,  I  do  not  doubt  but  Almighty  God  shall  perform  that  in 
me,  which  He,  of  his  most  plentiful  favour  and  grace,  hath  begun. 
Moreover,  as  touching  my  behaviour,  'f/our  Mastership^s  Tnind  once 
known,  with  all  lowliness  I  offer  myself,  not  only  to  be  ordered  in 
all  tilings,  as  shall  please  yonr  wisdom,  but  also  as  concerning 
the  education  and  instruction  of  others,  alonly  to  ensue  your  pru- 
dent counsel ;  '  nam,'  &c. ;  for  whatever  of  counsel  is  in  thee, 
there  is  nothing  which  is  not  politic,  nothing  not  divine ;  verily, 
whatever  you  do,  you  do  nothing  unadvisedly,  never  vaunting 
)^ourself  the  first  philosopher  :  but  of  the  dew  of  heaven,  (in  the 
manner  of  Jacob,)  you  have  stolen  away  the  chief  blessing.  Out 
of  that  mighty  stream  of  yours,  I  greatly  desire  to  drink,  be- 
cause, in  your  presence,  I  wish  to  speak  not  after  an  ordinary 
manner.  Farewell,  thou  ornament  of  learning,  of  councils,  and, 
in  fine,  of  every  virtue  ! — From  the  Augustine's,  this  May-day — 
Your  child   and  beedman  in  Jesu  Christ,  Frere   Myles  Cov'- 

DALE. 

"  Unto  the  right  nwrshipfnl,  and  his  most  singular  good  Mas- 
ter, Master  Crumivell,  this  be  delivered  with  due  mannerP 

This  document  is  important  in  several  respects ;  and  though 
the  year  in  which  it  was  written  be  not  marked,  the  style  proves 
that  Crumwell  had  already  much  in  his  power,  and  that,  there- 
fore, he  must  have  been  engaged  officially  near  the  King.     His 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  231 

Majesty's  Commissioners  in  our  day,  who  first  printed  the  let- 
ter, in  1830,  have  said — '-From  the  superscription  it  was  clearly 
before  Crumwell  became  Secretary  of  State,  probably  before  he 
was  of  the  Privy  Council,"  and  they  have  dated  it  1st  May  1532. 
But  the  "  superscription"  is  literally  the  same  which  Vaughan 
and  others  employed,  when  addressing  Crumwell  in  1531 ;  and 
as  time  must  be  allowed  for  Coverdale  to  complete  his  transla- 
tion, we  are  inclined  to  think  that  the  letter  may  have  been  writ- 
ten on  May-day  1531.  In  May  1530,  the  Bishops  and  Sir  Thomas 
More  were  mad  to  fury  against  Tyndale,  but  by  the  next  year, 
his  influence  being  more  powerful  than  ever,  Crumwell  may  have 
felt  that  something  must  be  attempted. 

As  for  the  gentleman,  in  whose  house  Crumwell  and  Coverdale 
had  conversed,  Master  Moot;  there  can  be  little  hesitation.  The 
name  of  Sir  Thomas  was  then  often  so  spelt,  and  it  is  well  known, 
that,  at  that  period,  in  familiar  correspondence,  titles  were  fre- 
quently dropt.  Master  Moor''s  name  occurs  in  the  letter  of  1527, 
as  well  as  in  the  present. 

The  style  of  this  epistle,  may  have  amused  the  reader,  since 
adulation  could  scarcely  farther  go.  This  was  the  foible  of  the 
age  ;  though,  at  the  same  time,  it  forcibly  explains  to  us,  the  only 
course  which  Coverdale  imagiued  he  could  pursue.  He  felt  that 
he  must  have  a  Patron,  and  posterity  has  now  the  advantage  of 
seeing,  in  the  two  cases  of  Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  whether,  in 
translating  the  Sacred  Volume,  a  man  succeeds  best,  with  or  with- 
out one.  Coverdale  was  afterwards  of  great  value ;  but  as  soon 
as  he  appears,  when  compared  with  Tyndale,  we  have  no  choice, 
but  are  obliged  to  discriminate.  They  were  men  evidently  cast 
in  two  different  moulds.  The  former  never  could  have  adopted 
such  a  style  of  address  to  any  maii,  whether  in  or  out  of  power. 
Once  in  his  life,  indeed,  we  have  seen  Tyndale  approach  Sir 
Henr}^  Guilford,  with  the  translation  of  a  Greek  Ode,  as  a  speci- 
men of  his  scholarshisp,  and  he  advised  him  to  apply  to  Tunstal ; 
but  being  civilly  enough  refused,  this  at  once  opened  his  eyes,  so 
that,  from  that  moment  he  looked  up  to  God  alone,  and  went  on 
his  way.  '•  God,"  said  he,  seven  years  afterwards,  "  who  knoweth 
what  is  within  hypocrites,  saw  that  I  was  beguiled,  and  that  that 
counsel  was  not  the  next  way  to  my  purpose,  and,  therefore,  He 
gat  me  no  favour  in  my  lord's  siglit." 

After  such  a  letter,  and  "  books  once  had,"  it  is  natural  to  sup- 
pose that  Coverdale  lost  no  time.  He  had  been  set  to  "  the  smell 
of  holy  letters"  by  no  common  Patron — a  man  rising  into  great 
power ;  though  the  spot  to  which  this  second  translator  retired, 
has  never  yet  been  ascertained.  But  wherever  it  was,  there  he 
sat  down,  and  amidst  all  the  war's  tumultuous  noise,  as  well  as 
shielded  from  the  keen  arrows  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  of  England, 
he  was  left,  like  Luther  on  his  mountain  ground  at  Wartburg,  to 
pursue  the  even  tenor  of  his  way.  How  striking  is  the  contrast, 
when  we  turn  for  a  moment  to  the  situation  of  Tyndale,  whether 
in  1531  or  1532?     Having  had  no  fixed  abode,  no  certain  dwell- 


232  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

ing  place,  but  under  the  pelting  of  a  pitiless  storm,  by  May  1531, 
for  more  than  seven  long  years,  he  had  already  been  doing  his 
best  for  England.  As  far  as  reproach,  denunciation,  and  persecu- 
tion, could  go,  it  might  be  said,  "  with  many  an  arrow,  deep  in- 
fixed, his  panting  side  was  charged." — '•  As  I  now  am,"  said  he 
to  Vaughan,  in  April  of  that  year,  "  very  death  were  more  pleas- 
ant to  me  than  life  ;"  and  if  the  reader  will  only  glance  over  that 
stern  and  strange  letter  of  this  same  man,  Crumwell,  he  will  be 
better  able  to  judge  of  the  contrast.  Or  let  the  date  given  in  the 
Government  State  Papers  turn  out  to  be  the  correct  one ;  then,  at 
that  moment.  Sir  Thomas  Elyot  had  been  charged  by  Henry 
VIII.  to  seize  Tyndale,  if  he  could ;  at  home  the  bishops  were 
tormenting  Latimer,  and  burning  Mr.  Bainham  ;  and  as  Cover- 
dale  dates  his  letter  from  /St.  Aiigust'Die's,  he  could  scarcely  miss 
hearing  that  gentleman,  with  Tyndale's  Testament  in  his  hand, 
address  the  Congregation  there^  as  he  did,  with  tears  !  At  all 
events,  if  that  letter  was  written  on  May-day  1532,  Bainham  had 
been  consumed  to  ashes  in  Smithfield,  that  very  morning. 

If,  however,  we  now  assume  the  latest  date,  or  that  of  the  Gov- 
ernment Commissioners,  to  be  the  true  time,  it  is  evident  Cover- 
dale  had  quite  enough  to  do  for  fully  two  years  to  come,  in  bring- 
ing his  manuscript  of  the  entire  Scriptures  into  such  a  state,  as 
that  he  could  please  his  employers  with  regard  to  any  word  or  an}'' 
rendering  contained  in  it. 

According  to  his  own  expression,  he  was  then  ready  ^o  set  forth 
this  special  translation.  In  other  words,  he  was  then  ready  for 
the  press.  Nor  is  the  time  unworthy  of  notice.  By  May  in  that  year, 
Crumwell  had  been  appointed  Secretary  of  State,  and  his  influence 
was  rising  rapidly  to  its  great  lieight.  He  had,  therefore,  much 
more  in  his  power,  while  Coverdale,  as  we  have  seen  for  years 
past,  was  at  his  disposal,  or  entirely  subservient  to  his  will.  Now, 
it  was  the  Neiu  Testament,  all  along,  of  which  the  authorities  had 
been  most  afraid  ;  the  systematic  alteration  of  certain  words  in  it, 
might  be  regarded  as  likely  to  allay  their  apprehensions,  and  could 
be  very  easily  done,  before  the  manuscript  was  committed  to  the 
press.  At  all  events,  Coverdale  was  then  ready  to  "  set  forth"  his 
translation,  "  according  as  he  was  c^esirec/ ;"  and  the  letter  just 
quoted,  indeed,  is  chiefly  valuable  as  a  key  to  certain  expressions 
to  be  found  in  the  preliminary  matter  affixed  to  the  Bible  of  1535. 
No  fault  can  ever  be  found  with  Coverdale's  amiable  temper  as  a 
man,  while  his  expressed  humility  as  a  scholar  shines  pre-eminent. 
Among  his  contemporaries  he  must  ever  be  ranked  very  high.  As 
a  translator  he  did  well ;  and  had  he  not  been  encumbered  with 
patronage,  he  would  have  done  far  better.  We  must,  however, 
take  the  work  as  it  came  from  his  hands,  and  can  now  judge  of  it 
only  by  its  merits. 

But  if  the  situation  of  the  two  men  has  furnished  one  contrast, 
the  origin  of  the  two  translations  presents  another,  not  less  wor- 
thy of  remembrance.  The  origiji  of  Tyndale's,  must  ever  be 
traced  to  his  own  bosom  and  conscience  alone.     Before  leavinsr 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  233 

England,  we  have  supposed  that  he  might  have  said, — "  The  word 
of  the  Lord  was  in  mine  heart,  as  a  burning  fire  shut  up  in  my 
bones,  and  I  was  weary  with  forbearing,  and  I  could  not  stay ;" 
nay,  and  with  the  prophet  of  old,  he  might  have  added — "  All  my 
familiars  watched  for  my  halting ;  saying,  peradventure  he  will 
be  enticed,  and  we  shall  prevail  against  him,  and  we  shall  take 
revenge  upon  him."  With  Coverdale,  it  was  far  otherwise.  It 
was  an  undertaking,  no  doubt,  congenial  with  his  taste ;  but,  left 
to  himself,  if  we  are  to  believehis  oimi  words,  he  never  would  have 
attempted  it.  In  his  prologue  "to  the  Christian  reader,"  he  styles 
his  work  a  "special  translation,"  because  he  proceeded  as  he  ivas 
desired  under  authority.  "  But,  to  say  the  truth  before  God,  it 
was  neither  niij  labour,  nor  my  desire  to  have  this  work  put  into 
my  hands  ;  nevertheless,  when  I  was  instantly  required,  though 
I  could  not  do  so  well  as  I  would,  I  thought  it  yet  my  duty  to  do 
my  best,  and  that  with  a  good  will." 

Then,  again,  as  to  the  expense  of  this  undertaking,  Coverdale 
was  patronized.  In  Tyndale's  case,  under  the  influence  of  the 
power  of  Christianity  and  the  noblest  patriotism,  the  whole  com- 
menced at  his  own  risk ;  and  pvuely  for  his  country's  benefit,  we 
have  seen  him,  again  and  again,  embarrassed  in  more  ways  than 
one.  But  Coverdale  had  no  risk  whatever  to  run.  He  was  em- 
ployed, and,  whether  he  was  to  succeed  or  not,  the  work  was  to 
involve  him  in  no  expense  wiratever.  He  spake  as  he  felt  at  the 
moment,  and  it  was  intended,  no  doubt,  as  a  hitit  to  the  King  ; 
but  certainly  it  was  by  far  too  bold  to  sa}^,  that  "  he  trusted,  that 
God  would  bring  his  simple  and  rude  labor  to  good  effect,  seeing 
that  others  had  been  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  undertake  the 
cost  of  it."  The  glaring  truth  was,  that  the  community  at  large 
had  been  even  by  that  time  happily  brought  into  such  a  state,  by 
manifold  editions  of  Tyndale's  translation,  that  the  patrons  of 
Coverdale  were  moved  by  no  higher  feeling  than  that  of  impera- 
tive expediency ;  and  this  feeling  forms  decidedly  one  of  the 
strongest  testimonies  to  the  effect  and  power  of  Tyndale's  ex- 
ertions. 

Having  proceeded  however  to  the  close,  Coverdale  had  now  to 
approach  his  Majesty,  no  doubt  under  direction,  that  notliing  might 
be  wanting  to  secure  acceptance ;  and  therefore  he  came  with  the 
first  of  those  dedications,  which,  to  say  the  least,  ought  never  to 
have  been  bound  up  with  the  word  of  the  living  God. 

In  the  course  of  his  dedication,  he  compares  Henry  VIII.  to 
Moses,  to  David,  to  Jehosaphat,  to  Hezekiah,  "  yea  a  very  Josias  ;" 
and  as  if  all  this  had  not  been  too  much,  he  says — "  I  thought  it 
my  duty,  and  to  belong  wwioxny  allegiance,  when  I  had  translated 
this  Bible,  not  only  to  dedicate  this  translation  unto  your  Highness, 
but  wholly  to  commit  it  unto  the  same :  to  the  intent  that  if  any- 
thing therein  be  translated  amiss,  it  may  stand  in  your  Grace's 
hands,  to  correct  it,  to  amend  it,  to  improve,  yea,  and  clean  to 
REJECT  it,  if  your  godly  ivisdom  shall  think  it  necessary .'" 

In  the  volume  which  Coverdale  thus  presented,  were  these  words, 


234  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  his  own  translation, — ^"  He  that  rebuketh  a  man,  shall  find  more 
favor  at  the  last  than  he  that  flattereth  him ;"  though  certainly, 
at  the  moment,  it  might  seem,  that  under  such  high  patronage, 
and  after  incense  so  dense  and  abundant  as  had  been  offered  to  his 
Majesty,  he  must  succeed.  And  not  only  succeed,  but  overshadow 
the  man  who  had  been  so  signally  raised  up  by  God,  and  who,  for 
twelve  years,  had  been  God's  own  sanctioned  instrument,  for  con- 
veying into  Britain  His  blessed  Word.  Often  have  we  marked  his 
labors,  as  forming  a  distinct  and  independent  undertaking,  with 
which  Divine  providence  would  not  permit  mere  time-serving  men, 
whoever  they  were,  or  worldly  politicians,  to  interfere;  but  how 
will  it  be  possible  to  draw  this  distinction  now  7  And,  more  espe- 
cially, as  this  is  only  the  first  of  several  distinct  attempts,  to  bestow 
on  this  country,  a  translation  different  from  that  of  the  first — the 
unpatronized  Tyndale's  ? 

Yet  in  serving  man  only,  and  in  seeking  to  please  him,  there 
are  many  critical  moments,  while  in  serving  God,  there  is  not  one  : 
and,  therefore,  with  regard  to  this  attempt,  it  so  happened  that 
Coverdale  had  overshot  the  mark  at  a  most  critical  period.  This 
might  have  well  warned  any  future  individual,  of  the  danger  con- 
nected with  such  dedications.  The  last  sheet  of  this  Bible  having 
been  put  to  press  on  the  4th  of  October  1535,  Coverdale  had  closed 
the  heading,  or  title,  of  his  dedication  to  Henry,  by  imploring  the 
Divine  blessing  on  himself,  and  his  "dearest  just  wife  and  most 
virtuous  Princess,  Queen  Anne.''''  Any  copy  of  this  book,  bound, 
could  not  have  reached  this  country  before  the  beginning  of  1536, 
at  the  soonest.  But  by  February,  if  not  earlier,  the  very  name  of 
Queen  Anne,  so  far  from  being  a  passport  to  royal  favor,  was  fatal 
to  anvthing  to  which  it  was  affixed  !  Crumweil,  too,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  had  fallen  in  with  the  King's  barbarous  intentions, 
so  that  till  another  Q,ueen  arose,  in  the  person  of  Jane  Seymour, 
the  book  must  have  remained  unpresented.  After  that,  it  is  true, 
the  Convocation  assembled  in  June  ;  but,  as  a  body,  they  appear 
to  have  entertained  no  favor  for  the  translation,  no  nor  even  sym- 
pathy for  those  who,  as  Coverdale  has  told  us,  had  been  "  inoved  to 
-pay  the  cost .'"  So  far  from  this,  "  the  Convocation  agreed  upon 
the  form  of  a  petition  to  be  presented  to  the  King,"  as  already  no- 
ticed, "  That  he  would  graciously  indulge  unto  his  subjects  of  the 
laity,  the  reading  of  the  Bible  in  the  English  tongue,  and  that  a 
new  translation  of  it  might  he,  forthwith  made,  for  that  end  and  pur- 
pose." And,  therefore,  said  Lewis,  it  appears  that  the  Clergy  did 
not  approve  of  the  translations  already  made  by  Tyndale  and 
Coverdale,  and  their  owm  attempt  to  have  the  royal  permission  to 
make  a  new  one  had  not  succeeded. 

Here,  however,  was  a  Bible,  completely  finished  by  Coverdale, 
dated  in  1535,  and  before  any  remarks  respecting  it,  we  give  the 
Title  and  Collation. 

"BiBLiA.  The  Bible,  that  is  the  holy  Scripture  of  the  Olde 
and  New  Testament,  faithfully  and  truly  translated  out  of  Douche 
and  Latyn  in  to  Englishe,  mdxxxv."     The  book  is  in  black  letter, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  235 

printed  in  double  columns,  in  a  foreig-n  secretary-gothic  type,  with 
wood  cuts  ;  but  the  dedication,  prologue,  and  contents  of  Genesis, 
are  in  a  different  letter.  Collation.  Wood-cut  title  ;  dedication 
to  K.  Henry  VIII.,  including-  his  "dearest  just  wife,  and  uiost 
virtuous  pryncesse,  Q,ueen  Anne," — indicating-  the  powerful  influ- 
ence she  possessed  in  that  year,  5  pag-es.  "A  prologue  to  the 
reader,"  6  pages.  "  The  Bokes  of  the  hole  Byble,"  2  pages.  "  The 
contenlesof  the  boke  of  Genesis,"  1  page.  "The  first  book  of  Moses," 
fol.  i. — xc. ;  then  a  map  of  the  Holy  Land.  "  l^he  second  parte  of 
the  Olde  Testament,"  Josua  to  Hester,  fol.  ii. — cxx.  "  Job  to  Solo- 
mon's Balettes,"  fol.  i. — lii.  "All  the  Prophets  in  Englishe,"  fol. 
ii. — cii.  "Apocripha,"  fol.  ii. — Ixxxhi.,  falsely  numbered  Ixxxi.,  a 
blank  leaf.  "  The  Newe  Testamente,"  fol.  ii. — cxiii.  and  on  the 
reverse  of  the  last  is,  "  Prynted  in  the  yeare  of  oure  Lorde,  mdxxxv. 
and  fynished  the  fourth  daye  of  October." 

The  death  of  Q,ueen  Anne,  in  May  1536,  having  proved  fatal 
to  the  appearance  of  this  book  till  after  the  event,  various  expe- 
dients were  then  tried  to  ensure  success.  "The  interval,"  says 
Professor  Walter,  "  between  the  date  on  the  title-page  and  the 
actual  publication,  is  clearly  marked  by  a  curious  alteration  in  the 
dedicatory  letter  to  Henry  VIII.  which  contains  these  words, — 
'  your  dearest  just  wife  and  most  vertuous  pryncesse  du.  JAne.' 
This  is  not  as  it  was  printed ;  for  Anne  has  been  altered  into 
JAne  by  the  pen."  Thus  indeed  it  stands  in  the  British  Museunj 
copy,  but  there  is  great  variety  as  to  this  appellation.  Lambeth 
Libraiy  has  one  copy  with  Anne,  another  with  Jane.  The  Bod- 
leian has  Anne.  Sion  College  has  Jane,  and  in  some  copies  the 
name  of  the  Queen  had  been  expunged.  None  of  these  expe- 
dients, it  must  be  obvious,  could  possibly  meet  the  case.  The 
preceding  phrase  was  now  as  inauspicious  as  that  of  the  Queen's 
name.  The  epithet  just,  as  intended  to  mark  both  Coverdale's 
and  Crumwell's  approbation  of  Henry's  second  Queen,  had  come 
too  late ;  and  it  was  more  than  awkward  when  applied  to  the 
third  marriage,  as  it  seemed  to  say  that  the  question  of  legitimacy 
would  never  be  laid  to  rest.  Only  one  other  device  remained  to 
be  tried,  which  was  that  of  a  new  title,  as  if  it  were  a  different 
book ;  changing  the  year  to  the  next,  or  1536,  and  leaving  out 
the  words  "  translated  out  of  Dnuch  and  Latyn^''  as  follow,  "  Bib- 
LiA.  The  Byble  :  that  is,  the  Holy  Scrypture  of  the  Olde  and 
New  Testament,  faythfully  translated  in  Englyshe,  mdxxxvi." 
But  all  was  yet  in  vain,  and  that  year  expired  without  leaving 
one  shadow  of  proof  that  the  book  had  obtained  the  royal  appro- 
bation. In  June,  the  Prelates  virtually  expressed  their  dissatis- 
faction, with  all  that  had  yet  been  done ;  and  we  have  already 
seen  that  there  were  no  injunctions  on  the  subject  in  1536. 

From  all  this,  it  becomes  evident,  that  wherever  Coverdale  had 
superintended  the  press,  whether  at  Zurich,  Frankfort,  or  Cologne, 
for  they  have  all  been  mentioned,  in  1536  he  must  have  been  in 
London  ;  and  in  1537  we  have  evidence  not  only  of  his  occu- 
pation and  place  of  abode,  but  of  his  long-continued  confidential 


236  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

commiinicatioii  with  Crurawell.  We  have  never  seen  him  but  as 
his  obedient  servant  for  ten  years  past,  or  since  August  1527.  His 
return  to  England  therefore,  and  his  continued  residence  in  it  till 
next  year,  being  thus  ascertained,  all  such  assertions  as  that  "  Cov- 
ERDALE,  assisted  by  Rogers,  who  corrected  the  press,  revised  the 
whole  of  Tyndale's  w^ork  before  they  reprinted  it,  not  only  the 
published  but  the  unpublished  part  of  it,"  as  Mr.  Whittaker  had 
imagined,  are  now  at  an  end.  Coverdale  was  at  home  in  Eng- 
land, all  the  time  that  Rogers  was  so  busy  abroad  ;  and  from  the 
superior  manner  in  which  he  executed  his  task,  it  is  evident  that 
he  required  no  such  assistant.  The  alliance  of  Coverdale  with 
Tyndale,  at  any  time,  is  a  historical  fiction,  which  must  now  be 
discarded.  No  two  undertakings  could  well  be  more  distinct ; 
though  Rogers,  it  will  be  evident,  had  sat  in  judgment  on  what- 
ever Coverdale  had  translated. 

With  reference,  however,  to  the  Bible  brought  into  England  in 
1536,  of  Coverdale's  qualifications  as  a  Translator  from  tbe  origi- 
nal, there  can  be  little  or  rather  no  question,  after  what  Mr.  Whit- 
taker has  so  ably  written  respecting  his  acquaintance  with  Hebrew; 
though,  at  the  same  time,  his  leaning  to  the  Vulgate  and  German 
versions,  has  been  made  equally  apparent  by  Professor  Walter ; 
who  goes  so  far  as  to  insist  that  the  version  cannot  be  ranked  so 
high  as  that  of  a  primary  one.  The  truth  seems  to  be,  that  be- 
tween Coverdale  and  Crumwell,  expediency  had  been  far  too  much 
consulted  in  the  undertaking  throughout.  Hence  even  the  first 
title-page,  bearing  these  words,  "  translated  out  of  Douche  and 
LtatynP  These  terms,  as  Whittaker  had  not  seen  them,  he  could 
scarcely  believe ;  adding,  "  if  this  be  the  case,  the  title-page  con- 
tains a  ver}?:  great  misrepresentation,"  Hence  the  withdrawment 
of  the  words  in  1536  by  Coverdale,  and  this  year  by  Nycolson  ;  to 
say  nothing  of  the  awkward  substitute,  "  translated  m  Englyshe." 
At  the  same  time,  Coverdale  himself  informs  us  that  he  had  five 
different  translations,  both  Latin  and  Dutch,  that  is  German,  be- 
fore him,  and  "  to  help  him  herein  ;"  and  though  he  certainly  does 
not  appear  to  have  venerated  these  "  interpreters"  as  authority^  he 
regarded  their  translations  with  "  gladness,"  and  therefore  could 
not  upon  all  occasions  be  free  from  some  degree  of  bias. 

But  we  are  now  advancing  into  the  year  1537,  and  yet,  if 
there  has  been  any  application  to  the  King  respecting  this  Bible, 
there  is  no  reply.  Not  a  single  petition  from  Crumwell  in  its 
favor  is  to  be  found.  A  printer,  however,  and  in  London  itself, 
iiow  appeared  in  furtherance  of  Coverdale's  design— James  Nycol- 
son in  St.  Thomas'  Hospital,  Southwark.  By  this  time  he  had 
reprinted  Coverdale's  Bible,  with  his  dedication  to  the  King  ;  and 
it  deserves  notice  that  there  were  other  copies  with  a  different 
title,  without  the  dedication.  Prom  the  spelling,  we  presume  the 
latter  to  have  been  the  first  expedient  for  royal  favor ;  but  this  is 
immaterial,  for  the  fact  is,  that  they  both  succeeded.  Both  titles 
bear  at  the  foot  of  the  page  these  words,  "/S'e/  forth  xoith  tlte 
Kynge's  most  gracious  licensed' 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  237 

But  when,  or  in  what  month  of  1537,  could  this  have  been  ob- 
tained ?  There  was,  as  aheady  hinted,  no  Convocation  ;  but  were 
the  Bishops  not  consuUed  ?  It  should  seem  not.  Their  Vicar- 
General  had  thought  it  unnecessary ;  for  he  it  was  who  had  ap- 
plied to  Henry  and  obtained  his  license.  Coverdale  himself  was 
now  in  London ;  and  though  there  be  not  a  word  yet  found  in 
favor  of  the  first  Bible  printed  in  1535,  he  now  applied  earnestly 
to  his  old  patron,  iox  farther  favor  to  Nycolson,  whom  he  was  em- 
ploying as  a  printer  of  several  smaller  things. 

Here,  therefore,  and  at  last,  it  will  be  presumed  by  all  that  the 
business  m  finished.  Coverdale  is  alive,  and  in  high  favor.  The 
King's  gracious  license  speaks  for  itself;  and  if  Crumwell  and 
Cranmer,  nay,  and  his  Majesty  be  gained  over,  what  hope  remained 
of  the  smallest  notice  being  ever  taken  of  Tyndale's  labors?  What 
hope  of  any  just  estimate  being  now  formed  of  his  merits  as  a 
Translator,  however  superior?  He  had  not  only  left  the  world, 
but  left  not  one  sohtary  friend  at  that  court,  where  his  name  had 
been  branded  with  infamy,  from  the  days  of  Vf  olsey  until  now  ; 
and,  therefore,  long  before  Coverdale  had  even  sat  down  to  his 
work.  Besides  this,  the  King  and  Crumwell,  and  Cranmer,  had, 
for  years,  fully  committed  themselves  against  Tyndale  ;  the  two 
former  by  the  most  violent  language,  and  Cranmer,  all  these 
years,  by  at  least  bowing  to  the  storm,  and  winking  hard  at  his 
martyrdom.  Nor  must  it  be  forgotten,  that  the  Primate,  in  his 
official  capacity,  in  company  with  his  brethren,  had  been  striving 
hard  after  some  translation  by  their  own  authority. 

Such  was  the  actual  state  of  matters,  down  to  the  beginning  of 
August  this  year ;  when,  as  far  as  it  is  yet  known,  not  one  man  in 
all  England,  from  the  King  downwards,  said,  or  even  imagined, 
that  any  change  was  at  hand  !  But  such  are  the  ways  of  Him, 
who  is  the  Governor  among  the  nations.  That  which  He  most 
highly  favors — that  which,  by  way  of  eminence,  is  his  own  cause, 
He  may  allow,  for  a  moment,  to  sink  into  forgetfulness,  or  in 
oblivion  die,  only  that  his  own  hand  may  be  the  more  conspicuous. 

In  England  itself,  by  this  time,  there  were  many  admirers  of 
Tyndale,  who  now  revered  his  memory  ;  many  who  had  read  and 
believed  the  truths  of  Scripture,  which  he  had  been  importing  into 
his  native  land  since  the  year  1526  ;  but  they  were  like  the  seven 
thousand  in  Israel,  in  the  days  of  Elijah.  The  printing  press  at 
home  was  fettered  in  the  hands  of  but  a  very  i^^v  individuals,  and 
there  was  no  man  of  sufficient  nerve  in  this  country  to  take  up 
the  cause.  Tyndale  himself,  too,  has  been  also  withdrawn  ;  but 
all  this  will  only  render  that  Providence,  with  whom  the  work 
had  begun,  still  more  conspicuous,  when  lending  the  finishing 
stroke  to  all  that  his  chosen  servant  had  translated.  This  then 
appears  to  have  been,  and  not  till  then,  the  proper  moment  for 
overruling-  the  men  in  England :  that  is,  after  all  the  three  influ- 
ential individuals,  the  King,  Crumwell,  and  Cranmer,  had  fully 
committed  themselves,  again  and  again  ;  and  before  any  "  injunc- 
tions" were  issued,  which  might  have  misled  the  people. 


238  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

As  there  was  one  man  to  whom  Tyndale  had  been  useful,  John 
Fryth;  who  had  first  stood  by  him  as  an  assistant,  and  then  pre- 
ceded him  to  a  better  world  ;  so  now,  there  had  been  a  second 
raised  up,  to  do  justice  to  liis  memory  as  a  translator.  This  was 
John  Rogers,  alias  Matthew,  a  native  of  Warwickshire,  born,  it  is 
most  probable,  about  the  year  1.500.  He  had  been  educated  at 
Cambridge,  and  having  come  to  Antwerp  while  Tyndale  resided 
there,  he  became  a  Chaplain  to  the  English  merchant-adventurers. 
By  his  intimate  conversation  with  our  Translator,  he  was  induced 
to  examine  the  Scriptvu"es  for  himself,  and  the  result  was  that  he 
embraced,  in  a  great  degree,  the  same  views  with  this  eminent 
man.  We  have  spoken  with  some  limitation,  as,  according  to 
Foxe,  in  future  years  he  had  not  even  then  understood,  so  clearly 
as  Tyndale,  the  subject  of  liberty  of  conscience,  which  indeed 
scarcely  any  man  then  did. 

Where  Rogers  sat  down  to  superintend  the  press,  remains  still 
only  a  matter  of  conjecture :  but  it  must  have  been  soon,  if  not 
inunediately  after  Tyndale  was  imprisoned  at  Vilvorde,  that  his 
friend  set  about  his  edition  of  the  Bible,  in  large  folio,  as  the  work 
was  finished,  and  ready  for  importation  to  England,  by  the  month 
of  July  1537. 

That  this  tribute  to  Tyndale's  memory  originated  in  the  indi- 
vidual zeal  of  his  friends,  there  can  be  little  or  rather  no  doubt ;  as 
Rogers  had  printed  more  than  the  half  of  the  entire  volume,  before 
we  have  any  evidence  of  the  men  coming  forward,  who  then  took 
up  the  work,  as  a  matter  of  business  or  trade.  These  were  Rich- 
ard Grafton,  and  Edward  Whitchurch,  so  well  known  afterwards, 
as  printers  of  London.  The  former  enjoyed  the  high  honor  of 
embarking  almost  his  all  in  the  undertaking ;  for  neither  Cranmer 
nor  Crumwell,  nor  the  King,  ever  contributed  one  farthing  of  the 
expense.  B}^  the  time,  therefore,  that  Rogers  had  got  to  the  be- 
ginning of  Isaiah,  these  two  individuals  having  embraced  the 
design,  on  that  page  the  numbers  begin  again,  with  a  title,  "TAe 
Prophetes  in  Englishe,'''  in  black  and  red  letters,  surrounded  by 
sixteen  wood-cuts  ;  and  on  the  next  page  there  is  printed  in  flour- 
ished text  capitals,  R.G.  at  the  top,  and  E.W.  at  the  bottom,  with  a 
large  wood-cut  between.  The  name  of  Tyndale  affixed,  would  have 
been  fatal  to  its  acceptance  with  Henry.  That  of  Thomas  Mat- 
thew, at  whose  instance  perhaps  the  undertaking  may  have  com- 
menced, was  therefore  printed,  in  the  title-page,  and  T.  M.  at  the 
end  of  the  dedication  ;  but  to  mark  Rogers'  connection  with  the 
book,  we  have  at  the  beginning,  "  An  exhortation  to  the  study  of 
the  Holy  Scripture  gathered  out  of  the  Bible,"  which  is  subscribed 
J,  R. :  and  what  is  singular,  at  the  end  of  the  Old  Testament,  we 
find  W.T.  in  very  large  flourished  text  capitals,  evidently  intended 
for  William  Tyndale.  Not  that  he  had  finished  the  whole,  the 
remainder  being  completed  as  we  shall  presently  describe.  The 
object  that  Rogers  had  in  view  was  to  forward  the  work,  and  do 
justice  to  the  labors  of  the  man  he  admired.  Accordingly,  the 
whole  of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  Old,  as  far  as  the  end 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE  239 

of  2d  Chronicles,  or  exactly  two-thirds  of  the  entire  Scriptures, 
are  Tyndale's  verbally,  with  an  occasional  variation  only  in  the 
orthography  ;  and  as  for  the  other  third,  while  Rogers  may  have 
taken  advantage  of  Coverdale's  printed  sheets,  he  evidently  had 
sat  in  judgment  on  every  page,  and  his  method  is  not  implicitly 
followed. 

When  referring  to  this  book,  Bale  has  said  that  "Rogers  trans- 
lated the  Bible  into  English,  from  Genesis  to  the  end  of  Revelation, 
making  use  of  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  German,  and  English 
(that  is  Tyndale's)  copies."  But  this  is  merely  a  specimen  of 
those  loose  and  inaccurate  statements  which  have  been  made  by 
him,  and  Johnson,  and  various  other  writers.  There  is  now  no 
question  that  Tyndale  translated  his  New  Testament  from  the 
Greek ;  and  the  Old,  as  far  as  he  had  gone,  from  that  Hebrew, 
which  he  so  admired.  What  Rogers  did  therefore,  was,  that  he 
adopted  Tyndale  as  far  as  he  had  proceeded  in  translating ;  and 
as  a  variety  of  passages  from  the  Old  Testament  had  been  not 
only  translated,  but  published  before  Coverdale's  Bible  saw  the 
light ;  so  it  must  be  presumed  that  there  were  other  chapters  in 
manuscript.  In  short,  Rogers  had  the  whole  of  Tyndale,  whether 
in  print  or  manuscript,  as  well  as  Coverdale's  sheets,  for  the  re- 
mainder, before  him  :  and  having  now  arrived  at  the  close  we  find 
these  words  :  "  To  the  honoure  and  prayse  of  God  tvas  this  By- 
hle  prynted,  and  fyncsshed  in  the  yere  of  oiire  Lorde  God,  a. 
MDXxxvii."  No  month  is  mentioned,  but  it  must  have  left  the 
press  by  the  middle  of  July,  if  not  in  the  end  of  June. 

Richard  Grafton,  therefore,  was  now  ready  ;  but  before  any  ap- 
plication is  made  to  England,  in  favor  of  that  Bible  which  was 
providentially  to  form  the  prototype  of  so  many  millions,  it  be- 
comes of  importance,  first  to  ascertain  the  precise  circumstances 
under  which  it  came  into  our  native  land. 

From  the  end  of  May  Cranmer  had  been  at  Lambeth  ;  Fox  of 
Hereford  was  living  at  Poplar,  and  Latimer  at  hand,  elsewhere; 
but  they,  with  "  other  Bishops  and  certain  learned  men,"  met  fre- 
quently, by  appointment,  at  Stepney.  They  w^ere  engaged  in 
long  and  harassing  discussion  over  the  terms  of  a  book,  which  was 
to  follow  up  their  "  articles"  of  last  year  ;  well  known  afterwards 
as  "  the  institution  of  a  Christian  man,"  frequently  styled  "  the 
Bishops'  Book."  For  a  season,  it  seemed  altogetlier  impossible  for 
them  ever  to  agree ;  and  we  need  only  refer  to  the  months  of  July 
and  August  in  illustration ;  the  one  preceding,  and  the  other  fol- 
lowing, the  reception  of  the  Bible.  Upon  a  Friday  in  the  month 
of  July,  Fox  of  Hereford  is  writing  to  Lord  Crumwell — 

"  Surely  if  it  might  so  have  stood  with  the  King's  pleasure  and 
yours,  I  would  to  God  you  had  been  here  \\'\\\\  us,  for  we  wanted 
much  your  presence.  Albeit,  sir,  we  have  done,  in  your  absence, 
the  best  we  could,  and  have  subscribed  all  our  books,  (their  opin- 
ions as  to  the  '  Institution,')  and  shall  send  them  to  your  Lord- 
ship to-morrow.  And  now^  if  it  shall  be  the  King's  pleasure  fo 
put  the  same  to  printing,  I  beseech  your  Lordship  to  know  his 


240  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

pleasure  for  the  inefaces  which  shall  be  put  unto  the  said  book  ; 
and  lohether  his  Highness  loill,  that  the  hook  shall  go  forth  in 
HIS  name^  according  to  such  device  as  I  once  moved  unto  your 
Lordship  ;  or  in  the  name  of  the  Bishops.  And  thereupon,  if  it 
shall  please  your  Lordship  to  cause  Mr.  Wriothsley  to  devise  the 
said  prefaces  and  send  them  hither,  I  shall  be  glad  to  employ  my 
diligence  to  the  speedy  setting  forth  thereof  to  the  uttermost  of 
my  power." 

This  book,  accordingly,  was  sent  to  Berthelet's  press,  and  on 
Monday  the  27th  of  August,  it  was  expected  to  be  finished.  In 
prospect  of  this,  on  the  Saturday  before,  Latimer  is  writing  to 
Crumwell — 

"  Upon  Monday,  I  think,  it  will  be  done  altogether.  As  for 
myself,  I  can  nothing  else  but  pray  God,  that,  when  it  is  done,  it 
be  well  and  sufficiently  done,  so  that  we  shall  not  need  to  have 
any  more  such  doings  ;  for  verily,  for  'my  part,  I  had  lever  (rather) 
be  poor  parson  of  poor  Kingston  again,  than  to  continue  thus. 
Bishop  of  Worcester.  Not  for  anything  that  I  have  had  to  do 
therein,  or  can  do ;  but  yet,  forsooth,  it  is  a  troublesome  thing  to 
agree  upon  a  doctrine,  in  things  of  sucli  controversy,  with  judg- 
ments of  such  diversity,  every  man,  I  trust,  meaning  v/ell,  and 
yet  not  all  meaning  one  way." 

The  device  to  which  Fox  alludes  in  July,  is  now  worthy  of  no- 
tice, as  not  unintelligible — 

"  It  may  have  been,"  says  Mr.  Jenkyns,  "  that  the  commission- 
ers should  send  a  letter  to  the  King,  respecting  their  proceedings, 
and  praying  for  his  Majesty's  sanction  ;  that  the  King  should  re- 
turn a  gracious  answer,  complying  with  their  request ;  and  that 
both  these  documents  should  be  printed  by  way  of  introduction  to 
the  book.  Such  a  letter  from  the  commissioners  was  actually  pre- 
fixed to  the  Institution,  and  a  minute  of  an  answer  from  the 
King  is  preserved  in  the  Chapter-house,  Westminster,  though  it 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  noticed  by  the  historians.  In  this,  he 
informs  the  Prelates,  that  he  had  not  had  time  to  overlook  their 
work  ;  he  trusted  to  them  for  its  being  according  to  Scripture  ;  that 
he  permitted  it  to  be  printed,  and  commanded  all  who  had  care 
of  souls  to  read  a  portion  of  it  every  Sunday  and  holiday  for  three 
years.  But  it  would  appear,  that,  cautiously  as  this  reply  was 
worded,  Henry  VIII.  did  not  choose  to  commit  himself  by  its  pub- 
lication ;  for  the  Institution  came  out  with  no  other  preface  than 
the  above-mentioned  letter  of  the  Prelates,  and  with  no  farther 
claim  to  royal  authority  than  was  implied  in  its  issuing  from  the 
press  of  the  King's  printer." 

Henry  was  a  being,  to  whom  no  man,  or  set  of  men,  must  dic- 
tate at  any  moment ;  nay,  they  might  fail,  any  day,  even  when 
they  approached  him  with  the  utmost  courtesy  ;  and  it  must  be 
obvious,  that  at  this  very  period,  a  company  of  "  Bishops  and 
learned  men  in  union,"  had  failed  in  gaining  all  they  wished,  if 
not  also  craved.  At  such  a  time  as  this,  therefore,  beyond  all  oth- 
ers, if  Grafton  has  arrived  with  his  Bible,  is  it  at  all  probable  that 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  241 

he  can  have  succeeded  ?  If  a  selected  body  of  commissioners, 
with  Cranmer,  and  even  Ciutnwell  at  their  head,  have  been  treated 
with  caution,  is  it  possible  that  Henry  has  been  overruled  with  re- 
gard to  all  that  Tyndale  had  translated  ?  Will  he  now  sanc- 
tion the  work  of  that  same  man,  against  whom,  he  and  his  Coun- 
cil have  been  fighting  for  more  than  ten  years  ?  We  shall  see 
presently. 

But  the  state  of  London  and  Westminster  must  not  pass 
unnoticed  ;  more  especially  as  it  was  so  expressly  marked  by  these 
Bishops,  and  had  already  excited  general  apprehension.  Thus, 
on  the  10th  of  August,  we  find  that  Tunstal  is  down  at  Laleham 
on  the  Thames  ;  and  though  sent  for  by  Crumwell,  he  is  afraid 
to  approach  the  capital.  It  was  the  jjlagiie,  which  had  again  ap- 
peared, as  it  had  done  last  year,  and  the  hand  of  God  lay  heavy 
on  the  metropolis  and  its  vicinity. 

"  On  Saturday  the  25th  of  August,"  says  Bishop  Fox  to  Crum- 
well, "  I  have  lain  out  of  London  myself  (at  Poplar)  more  than 
these  three  weeks  ;  and  the  most  part  of  all  my  servants  have 
lain  at  Ruyslip  (north-east  of  Uxbridge)  more  than  these  teji 
w^eeks.  Wherefore,  if  it  shall  please  your  Lordship  to  send  me 
word  of  the  King's  pleasure  concerning  my  return  to  the  Court,  I 
would  gladly  come  thither  on  Monday  or  Tuesday  next,  and  then 
I  shall  bring  with  me  the  book,  I  trust,  perfectly  printed." — "  Sir," 
says  Latimer,  on  the  same  day,  "  we  be  here  not  without  all  peril, 
for  two  have  died  of  my  keeper's  folks,  out  of  ray  gate  house  ; 
and  even  now  Mr.  Nevell  (Cranmer's  confidential  servant)  cometh 
and  telleth  me  that  my  under-cook  is  fallen  sick,  and  like  to  be  of 
the  plague.  Set  duodecim  sunt  hore  diei,  et  termini  vite  sunt  ab 
eo  constituti,  qui  non  potest  falli ;  neque  verius  est  tamen,  quod 
nascimur,  quam  quod  sumus  morituri." 

But  what,  then,  has  become  of  Cranmer  1  The  fact  was,  that 
Fox  and  Latimer  had  remained  where  they  were,  for  no  other 
purpose  than  to  superintend  the  printing  of  this  foresaid  book ; 
otherwise  neither  of  them  would  have  been  there ;  since  Cran- 
mer and  the  rest  had  taken  alarm  more  than  a  month  before. 
Thus  he  had  addressed  Crumwell  as  early  as  the  21st  of  July — 

"  I  with  other  Bishops  and  learned  men,  here  assembled  by  the 
King^s  coynmandment,  have  almost  made  an  end  of  our  determin- 
ations ;  for  we  have  already  subscribed  unto  the  declarations  of  the 
Paternoster,  and  the  Ave  Maria,  the  creed,  and  the  ten  command- 
ments ;  and  there  remaineth  no  more  but  certain  notes  of  the  creed, 
unto  which  we  be  agreed  to  subscribe  on  Monday  next ;  which 
all,  when  they  shall  be  subscribed,  I  pray  you  that  I  may  know 
your  mind  and  pleasure,  whether  I  shall  send  them  incontinently 
to  you,  or  leave  them  in  the  Lord  of  Hereford's  (Fox's)  hands,  to  be 
delivered  by  him  when  he  cometh  next  unto  the  Court :  Beseeching 
you,  my  Lord,  to  be  intercessor  unto  the  King's  Highness /or  us 
all,  that  we  may  have  his  Grace's  license  to  depart  for  this  time, 
until  his  Grace's  farther  pleasure  be  known :  for  they  die  almost 
everywhere,  in  London  a?id  Westminster ;  and  in  Lambeth  they 


242  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

die  at  my  gate,  even  at  the  next  honse  to  me.  I  would  fain  see 
the  King's  Highness  at  my  departing ;  but  I  fear  me  that  I  shall 
not,  because  that  I  shall  come  from  this  smoky  air ;  yet  I  would 
gladly  know  the  King's  pleasure  herein." 

The  next  day,  22d  July,  the  last  letter  which  Cranmer  wrote 
from  Lambeth  before  departing  for  Croydon,  was  one  already 
quoted,  on  behalf  of  that ''  very  honest  man,"  as  he  styled  him,  Mr. 
Theobald  !  On  Monday  the  28th,  and  Tuesday  the  29th  of  July, 
he  had  been  examining  Rowland  Phillips,  the  Vicar  of  Croy- 
don, that  steady  defender  of  the  old  learning,  and  an  enemy  to  all 
changes.  '•  I  beseech  your  Lordship,"  Cranmer  had  said  to  Crum- 
well  on  the  21st,  and  who,  as  Vicar-General,  it  seems,  must 
now  be  obsequiously  consulted  on  every  step,  "  to  send  me  word 
whether  I  shall  examine  the  Vicar  of  Croydon  in  this  presence  of 
the  Bishops,  and  other  learned  men  of  our  Assembly,  or  otherwise 
howl  shall  order  him;"  and  so  the  examination  was  held  before 
the  Archbisliop  himself,  on  these  two  days.  Some  years  before, 
this  Vicar  had  preached  at  Paul's  Cross  a  noted  Sermon,  one  say- 
ing in  which  has  been  often  repeated,  without  knowing  precisely 
from  whom  it  canne.  But  this  is  the  man — that  very  Vicar  of 
Croydon  who  had  declared,  with  no  inferior  sagacity — "  We  m.iist 
root  out  printing,  or  printing  iviil  root  out  us."  It  is  a  coinci- 
dence, therefore,  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  this  examination 
should  happen  to  haA'e  been  Cranraer's  veiy  last  occupation  before 
proceeding  into  the  country. 

Immediately  after  this,  Cranmer  hastened  farther  from  the 
plague,  into  Kent,  to  his  house  at  Forde  ;  so  that  if  Richard  Graf- 
ton has  arrived  in  London  from  the  Continent,  and  intends  to  apply 
to  the  Archbishop,  he  must  go  down  there  with  his  Bible  for  in- 
spection ;  and,  for  a  moment,  we  leave  Cranmer  looking  over  it. 

Already  we  have  done  full  justice  to  Coverdale.  He  had  stepped 
in,  and  occupied  the  field  of  iavor,  from  all  the  higher  powers — the 
King,  Crumwell,  and  Cranmer.  But  by  the  end  of  July  this  favor 
had  extended  a  little  farther,  and,  more  especially,  since  Gardiner 
was  not  in  England.  We  have  seen,  by  the  Archbishop's  own 
letter,  as  well  as  those  of  Latimer  and  Fox,  that  he  and  his  fellow 
commissioners,  after  a  tedious  war  of  words,  had  agreed  about  their 
book,  by  Monday  the  23d  of  July.  Their  preface  having  been  also 
prepared,  in  it,  as  a  body,  the  parties  thus  express  themselves,  with 
their  accustomed  flattery  : — 

"  We,  considering  the  godly  effect  and  intent  of  your  Highness' 
most  virtuous  and  gracious  counnandaient,  do  not  only  rejoice  and 
give  thanks  to  Ahnighty  God  with  all  our  hearts,  that  it  hath 
pleased  him  to  send  .■itich  a  king  to  reign  over  us,  which  so  earnestly 
mindeth  to  set  fort] i  among  his  subjects  the  light  of  Holy  /Script- 
ure, which  alone  sheweth  the  right  path  to  come  to  God,  to  see 
Him,  to  know  Him,  to  love  Him,  and  so  to  serve  Him,  as  He  most 
desireth." 

Coverdale,  as  well  as  Crumwell  his  patron,  could,  at  this  moment, 
desire  little  more.     Henry,  observe,  had  treated  the  Bishops'  book 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  243 

with  caution  ;  he  would  not  commit  himself  by  any  formal  gracious 
reply  ;  yet  has  he  permitted  these  words  to  jiass,  which  could  refer 
to  no  other  than  Coverdale's  Bible,  if  to  any  Bible  alread)^  printed 
at  all ;  but  they  will  acquire  double  emphasis,  when  the  course 
that  Cranmer  and  Crumwell,  and  even  Henry  pursued  in  a  few 
days  hence,  comes  to  be  observed. 

There  is,  in  short,  another  translation  of  the  English  Bible  com- 
ing from  abroad;  and,  it  is  true,  that  as  far  as  any  connection 
with  the  Continent  was  concerned,  the  reader  may  be  still  haunted 
by  the  recollection,  that  he  has  found  both  Cranmer  and  Crumwell 
in  busy  confidential  commuaication  with  such  an  unprincipled 
spy  as  Theobald ;  and  not  only  this  year,  but  throughout  the  next. 
This,  however,  we  can  neither  hel})  nor  soften.  Gross  inconsisten- 
cies of  character  must  stand  as  matter  of  history  ;  but,  in  the  pres- 
ent instance,  they  will  only  render  it  the  more  apparent,  icho  it 
was  that  gave  the  Bible  to  Britain.  To  the  people  of  this  Coun- 
try, it  is  of  infinite  moment  now,  that  they  should  see  more  fully 
into  the  Divine  character,  with  regard  to  an  event  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. 

The  laborious  exertions  of  Tyndale,  for  twelve  long  years, 
which  tbe  King  and  his  Councillors,  nay,  and  the  generality  of 
these  Bishops,  had  so  violently  opposed,  are  already  before  the 
reader ;  as  well  as  the  editions  of  his  New  Testament  and  Penta- 
teuch, which  had  been  introduced  into  England,  under  so  many 
proofs  of  their  hot  displeasure;  but  the  reader  may,  without  re- 
serve, admit  the  full  force  of  that  transient  favor  which  had  been 
now  shown  towards  Coverdale^s  translation.  Henry,  without  con- 
sulting either  Convocation  or  Parliament,  had  certainly  so  far 
sanctioned  it,  sometime  before  August,  at  least  in  the  instance  of 
Nycolson's  reprint. 

We  repeat,  however,  that  there  is  at  this  hour  another  Bible,  in 
folio,  coming  over  the  sea  to  old  England,  one  page  of  which  nei- 
ther Cranmer  the  Primate,  Crumwell  the  Vicar-General,  or  Henry 
the  King,  had  ever  beheld,  and  respecting  which  not  one  of  them 
had  ever  been  consulted.  Such  appears  to  have  been  the  exact 
state  of  matters,  iTumediately  before  all  that  Tyndale  had  ac- 
complished in  translating  the  Sacred  Volume  iras  laid  before  his 
Majesty. 

Grafton  therefore  having  arrived  in  England,  from  what  has 
now  been  narrated,  we  can  scarcely  make  any  mistake  with  re- 
gard to  Cranmer's  state  of  mind.  He  had,  in  trutli,  been  made 
as  sick  of  discussion,  as  he  had  been  afraid  of  the  plague,  and 
had  only  made  his  escape  from  both  ;  though  had  his  fellow-com- 
missioners but  once  suspected  at  the  moment,  what  efiect  this 
sickness  would  have  upon  him,  certainly  they  had  argued  less. 
Like  the  Jews  at  Rome,  of  old,  they  must  have  had  "  great  rea- 
soning among  themselves"  over  this  "  Bishops'  Book ;"  and,  in 
the  next  letter  from  the  Primate  to  Crumwell,  we  shall  see  whe- 
ther he  does  not  hint^  that,  in  his  apprehension;  there  would  be  no 
end  to  it. 


244  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

It  may  be  regretted  that  there  had  not  been  some  solitary  ex- 
pression of  sympathy  or  admiration  in  the  Translator's  hfetime  ; 
but  such  was  the  preparation  of  Thomas  Cranmer  for  the  sight 
of  Tyndale's  labors — such  the  moment  when  his  translation  was 
brought  before  him  !  Grafton  had  resolved  to  apply  first  to  the 
Archbishop,  perhaps  as  not  having  been  the  patron  of  Coverdale ; 
but  whatever  was  the  motive,  he  must  have  immediately  followed 
liim  into  Kent.  We  need  not  describe  how  he  sped,  as  the  fol- 
lowing letters  from  Forde  speak  more  forcibly  than  any  descrip- 
tion ;  but  before  quoting  them,  we  give  the  title  and  collation  of 
the  Book  which  Grafton  had  brought  home  with  him. 

Title. — "The  Byble,  which  is  the  Holy  Scripture:  in  which 
are  contayned  the  Okie  and  Newe  Testament,  truely  and  purely 
translated  into  Euglysh — ^by  Thomas  Matthew. — -mdxxxvii." 

Collation. — ^This  title  is  in  red  and  black  letters,  within  a  wood 
engraving,  filling  the  page;  and,  at  the  bottom,  in  large  letters, 
"Set  fortei  with  the  Kinge's  mo.st  gracyous  licence." 
A  Callender  and  Almanac  for  18  years,  beginning  1538,  4  pages. 
An  Exhortation  to  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  1  page;  hav- 
ing, in  large  flourished  capitals  at  the  bottom,  the  initials  of  the 
editor,  I.  R.  The  Summe  and  content  of  all  the  Holy  Scripture, 
2  pages.  Dedication  to  Henry  VIII.,  3  pages,  with  flourished 
capitals  at  the  beginning  and  end.  "  To  the  Christen  Readers,'' 
and  a  table  of  principal  matters  in  the  Bible,  26  pages.  The  names 
of  all  the  bokes  of  the  Bible,  and  a  brief  rehearsal  of  the  years 
passed  since  the  begynnynge  of  the  worlde,  unto  this  yeare  of  our 
Lord,  MDXXXVII,"  1  page.  "Genesis  to  Salomon's  Ballet,"  fol.  i. 
— -ccxlvii.  "The  Prophetes  in  English."  On  the  reverse  of  this 
title  is  a  large  woodcut,  between  R.  G.  and  E.  W.,  in  flourishing 
capitals — "  Esay  to  Malachi,"  fol.  i. — xciiii. ;  and,  at  the  end  of 
Malachi,  W.  T.  for  William  Tyndale,  in  large  flourished  text 
capitals.  The  Apocripha,  put  in  from  Coverdale's  Bible.  "  The 
Newe  Testament,  &c.,  printed  in  the  yere  of  our  Lorde  God, 
mdxxxvii.,"  in  red  and  black,  as  in  the  first  title.  "Matthew  to 
Revelation,"  fol.  ii. — cix.  Tables,  &c.,  fol.  cx.-cxi.  On  the  last 
leaf,  is  "  The  ende  of  the  Newe  Testament,  and  of  the  whole 
Byble." — "  To  the  honoure  and  prayse  of  God,  was  this  Byblc 
■prynted  and  fynesshed,  in  the  yere  of  our  Lorde  God,  a. 
mdxxxvii."     a  full  page  contains  60  hues. 

The  following  letters  are  all  addressed  to  Crumwell ;  and  they 
are  the  very  next  that  Cranmer  wrote  and  sent,  after  those  we 
have  quoted. 

"  My  especial  good  Lord,  after  most  hearty  commendations  unto 
your  Lordship ;  these  shall  be  to  signify  unto  the  same,  that  you 
shall  receive  by  the  bringer  thereof  a  Bible,  both  of  a  new  trans- 
lation, and  of  a  neio  print,  dedicated  unto  the  King's  Majesty,  as 
farther  appeareth  by  a  pistle  unto  his  Grace,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  book,  which,  in  jnine  opinion,  is  very  well  done ;  and  there- 
fore I  pray  your  Lordship  to  read  the  same.  And,  as  for  the 
translation,  so  far  as  I  have  read  thereof,  I  like  it  better  than  any 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  245 

other  translation  heretofore  made ;  yet  not  doubting  that  there 
may  and  will  be  found  some  fault  therein,  as  you  know  no 
man  ever  did  or  can  do  so  well,  but  it  may  from  time  to  time  be 
amended. 

''  And  forasmuch  as  the  book  is  dedicated  unto  the  King's 
Grace,  and  also  great  pains  and  labour  taken  in  setting  forth  of  the 
same,  I  pray  you,  my  Lord,  that  you  will  exhibit  the  book  unto 
tlie  King's  Highness,  and  obtain  of  his  Grace,  if  you  can,  a  license 
that  the  same  may  be  sold  and  read  of  every  j^erson,  without 
danger  of  any  act,  proclamation,  or  ordinance  heretofore  granted 
to  the  contrary,  until  such  time  that  we,  the  Bishops,  shall  set 
forth  a  better  translation,  lohich  I  think  rvill  not  he  till  a  day 
after  doomsday !  And  if  you  continue  to  take  such  pains  for  the 
setting  forth  of  God's  Word,  as  you  do,  although  in  the  mean 
season  you  suffer  some  snubs  and  many  slanders,  lies,  and  re- 
proaches for  the  same,  yet  one  day  He  will  requite  altogether. 
And  the  same  word,  as  St.  John  saith,  which  shall  judge  every 
man  at  the  last  day,  must  needs  show  favour  to  them  that  now  do 
favour  it.  Thus,  my  Lord,  right  heartily  fare  you  well.  At  Forde, 
the  4th  day  of  August,  [1537].  Your  assured  ever — -T.  Cantu- 
arien." 

So  far,  then,  from  Cranmcr  having  the  slightest  connection  with 
this  undertaking,  or  "  exerting  himself"  for  this  book,  as  Mr.  Todd 
has  imagined,  this  letter,  in  its  proper  connection,  clearly  shows 
that  it  came  upon  the  writer  in  the  way  of  delightful  surprise. 
No  doubt  he  had  v>^ished  for  a  Bible  :  bat,  after  vainly  toiling  with 
his  coadjutors  as  to  the  New  Testament  only,  he  now  very  candidly 
acknowledges  that  the  present  production  was  literally  beyond 
their  power,  as  a  body  of  men. 

Here  then,  and  at  last,  is  that  one  transaction  in  Cranmer's  life, 
which  those  who  must  ever  disapprove  of  many  other  things  in 
his  conduct,  should  therefore  never  forget.  Considered  in  itself 
and  in  its  consequences,  every  other  good  thing  he  ever  did  shrinks 
into  comparative  insignificance.  For  this,  all  who  have  prized 
the  Word  of  God,  or  now  do  so,  stand  indebted  to  him  as  an  in- 
strument. It  would  have  been  gratifying  could  we  have  fallen 
upon  some  distinct  testimony  from  his  pen,  at  an  earlier  season  ; 
for  it  is  passing  strange,  if  he  had  never,  till  this  late  period,  ex- 
pressed his  admiration  of  Tyndale's  translation  ;  but  such,  alas  ! 
may  have  been  one  effect  of  that  timidity  which  annoyed  him  all 
his  days.  The  conjunction  of  circumstances,  already  described, 
seems  to  have  emboldened  him,  and  better  late  than  never.  But 
be  this  as  it  may,  and  after  allowing  to  this  first  agent  at  home 
all  the  good  he  did,  the  reader,  as  he  goes  on,  will  lose  sight  of 
man  ;  and,  it  is  presumed,  will  not  be  slow  to  recognize,  above  all, 
that  unseen  hand,  so  conspicuously  displayed  throughout  the 
whole  affair,  of  which  this  is  nothing  more  than  the  first  move- 
ment. 

Grafton,  let  it  be  observed,  was  not  kept  long  in  suspense ;  the 
entire  request  of  Cranmer  was  immediately  granted ;  for,  though 


246  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

all  who  could  avoid  London  were  gone,  Ciumwell  had  reraained 
at  his  post — went  to  the  King,  and  succeeded.  Cranmer  had 
heard  of  this  in  less  than  eight  days  ;  for  thus  he  writes  again, 
on  Monday  week  after  his  last— 

"  My  very  singular  good  Lord,  in  my  most  hearty  wise  I  com- 
mend me  unto  your  Lordship.  And  whereas  I  understand  that 
your  Lordship,  at  my  request,  hath  not  only  exhibited  the  Bible 
which  I  sent  unto  you,  unto  the  King's  Majesty,  but  also  hath 
obtained  of  his  Grace,  that  the  same  shall  be  allowed  by  his  au- 
thority to  be  houglit  and  read  within  this  realm :  My  Lord,  for 
this  your  pain  taken  in  this  behalf,  I  give  unto  you  my  niost  hearty 
thanks  ;  assuring  your  Lordship,  for  the  contentation  of  my  mind, 
you  have  shewed  me  more  pleasure  herein,  than  if  you  had  given 
me  a  thousand  pounds.  And  I  doubt  not  but  that  hereby  such  fruit 
of  good  knowledge  shall  ensue,  that  it  shall  well  appear  hereafter, 
what  high  and  acceptable  service  you  have  done  unto  God  and 
the  King ;  which  shall  so  much  redound  to  your  honour,  that,  be- 
sides God's  reward,  you  shall  obtain  perpetual  memory  for  the 
same  within  this  realm-  And  as  for  me,  you  may  reckon  me  your 
bondman  for  the  same :  And  I  dare  be  bold  to  say,  so  inay  ye  do 
my  Lord  of  Worcester.  Thus,  my  Lord,  right  heartily  fare  ye 
well.     At  Forde,  the  13th  day  of  August"  [1537], 

The  gratitude  of  Cranmer  is  expressed  in  the  strongest  man- 
ner :  "  In  terms,"  says  Mr.  Jenkyns,  most  correctly,  "  far  too  warm 
to  admit  of  the  belief  that  the  general  use  of  the  English  Script- 
ures was  already  allowed.  There  was,  no  doubt,  something  in 
the  translation  itself,  that  at  once  caught  the  eye  and  the  appro- 
bation of  Cranmer  ;  but  it  was  this  step  in  advance,  this  "  general 
use,"  over  Avhich  he  also  exulted.  His  Majesty  had,  it  is  true,  ac- 
ceded, and  at  Crum well's  request,  to  Covcrdale's  Bible,  of  Ny col- 
son's  printing,  having  these  words  upon  it — "Set  forth  by  the 
King's  gracious  license ;"  and  Coverdale  had  requested,  that  this 
printer  might  have  the  monopoly  for  "  certain  years," — but  there 
was  no  reply  to  that  application.  Whereas  now,  the  tide  has  not 
only  changed,  but  it  has  begun  to  flow  in  another  direction ;  for 
this  Bible  is  not  only  to  be  stamped — Set  forth,  &c.,  but  it  is  to 
he  sold  and  read  of  every  person  without  danger  of  any  Act, 
Proclamation  or  Ordinance  heretofore  granted  to  the  contrary ! 
All  this  Cranmer  asked,  and  to  all  tliis  Henry  at  once  agreed  ! 
Cranmer,  in  short,  felt  like  a  man  when  every  hindrance  has  been 
removed:  and  escaped,  for  the  present,  out  of  the  paw  of  his 
brethren  on  the  Bench,  in  a  way  that  seemed  quite  marvellous  to 
himself;  so  moved  was  he,  that  fifteen  days  after  this,  in  his  very 
next  letter  to  Cramwell,  he  writes  absolutely  as  if  he  had  not  yet 
written  at  all.  Other  subjects,  indeed,  demanded  his  attention, 
but,  in  the  fulness  of  his  heart,  with  this  he  must  begin. 

"  My  very  singular  and  especial  good  Lord,  in  my  most  hearty 
wise  I  commend  me  to  your  Lordship.  These  shall  be  to  give 
you  most  hearty  thanks  that  any  heart  can  think,  and  that  in  the 
name  of  them  all  which  favoureth  God's  Word,  for  your  diligence 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  247 

at  this  time  in  procuring  the  King's  Highness  to  set  forth  the  said 
God's  Word,  and  his  Gospel,  by  his  Grace's  authority.  For  the 
which  act,  not  only  the  King's  Majesty,  but  also  you  shall  have  a 
perpetual  laud  and  memory  of  all  them  that  be  now,  or  hereafter 
shall  be,  God's  faithful  people,  and  the  favourers  of  his  Word.  And 
this  deed  you  shall  hear  of  at  the  great  day,  v.dien  all  things  shall 
be  opened  and  made  manifest,  for  our  Saviour  Christ  saith  in 
the  said  Gospel,  '  that  whosoever  shrinketh  from  Him  and  His 
Word,  and  is  abashed  to  profess  and  set  it  forth  before  men  in  this 
vrorld.  He  will  refuse  him  at  that  day  :  and  contrary,  whosoever 
constantly  doth  profess  Him  and  His  Word,  and  studieth  to  set 
that  forward  in  this  world,  Christ  will  declare  the  same  at  the  last 
day,  before  His  Father  and  all  His  angels  and  take  upon  him  the 
defence  of  those  men.'  Thus,  my  Lord,  right  heartily  fare  )^ou 
well.     At  Ford,  the  28th  day  of  August,"  [1537]. 

Grafton  seems  to  have  brought  only  one  Bible  with  him,  as  a 
specimen,  and  had  left  his  servant  to  follow  him  with  other  copies. 
The  fiist  he  had  presented  to  Cranmer,  who  sent  him  with  it  to 
Crumwell,  and  he  requested  six  copies  to  be  brought  to  him,  on 
their  arrival.  The  very  day  on  which  Cranmer  was  writing  his 
last  letter,  the  servant  had  arrived  ;  and  in  the  midst  of  the  plaguOj 
still  raging,  Grafton  sent  the  volumes  to  Crumwell,  with  the  fol- 
lowing letter, — 

"  Most  humbly  beseeching  your  Lordship  to  understand,  that, 
according  to  your  request,  I  have  sent  your  Lordship  six  Bibles  ; 
which  gladly  I  would  have  brought  myself,  but  because  of  the 
sickness  that  remaineth  in  the  City  ;  and,  therefore,  I  have  sent 
them  by  my  servant,  which  ihis  day  came  out  of  Flanders.  Re- 
quiring your  Lordship,  if  I  may  be  so  bold  as  to  desire  you,  to  ac- 
cept them  as  my  simple  gift,  given  to  you  for  those  most  godly 
pains,  for  which  the  Heavenly  Father  is  bound,  even  of  his  justice, 
to  reward  you  with  the  everlasting  kingdom  of  God.  For  your 
Ijordship's  moving  our  most  gracious  Prince  to  the  allowance  and 
licensing  of  such  a  work,  hath  wrought  such  an  act  worthy  of 
praise,  as  never  was  mentioned  in  any  chronicle  in  this  realm ; 
and  as  my  Lord  of  Canterbury  said,  the  tidings  thereof  did  him 
more  good  than  the  gift  of  £1000." 

In  grossness  of  flattery,  the  printer  exceeds  Coverdale,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  profanity  of  his  compliment,  betraying  his  igno- 
rance of  the  truth,  and  the  value  of  the  truth  contained  in  his 
Bible  :  but  then  his  language  shows,  that  some  great  and  unpre- 
cedented thing  had  taken  place  ;  and  thus  it  appeared  in  general 
estimation.  So  much  so,  indeed,  that  it  seemed  incredible.  With 
some  it  v/as  '•  too  good  news  to  be  true."  Others  demurred,  be- 
cause they  wished  not  to  believe  it :  and  Grafton  therefore  proceeds  : 

"  Yet  certain  there  are  which  believe  not  that  it  pleased  the 
King's  grace  to  license  it  to  go  forth.  Wherefore,  if  your  Lord- 
ship's pleasure  were  such  that  we  might  have  it  licensed  under 
your  Privy  Seal,  it  would  be  a  defence  at  this  present,  and  in  time 
to  come,  for  all  enemies  and  adversaries  of  the  same.     And  foras- 


248  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

much  as  this  request  is  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Lord's  Word, 
which  is  to  maintain  the  Lord  himself,  I  fear  not,  but  that  your 
Lordship  will  be  earnest  therein.  And  I  am  assured,  that  my 
Lords  of  Canterbury,  Worcester,  and  Salisbury,  will  give  your 
Lordship  such  thanks,  as  in  them  lieth.  And  sure  you  may  be, 
that  the  Heavenly  Lord  will  reward  you,  for  the  establishment  of 
his  glorious  truth.  And  what  your  Lordship's  pleasure  is  in  this 
request,  if  it  may  please  your  Lordship  to  inform  my  servant,  I, 
and  all  that  love  God  heartily,  are  bound  to  pray  for  your  preserva- 
tion all  the  days  of  our  hfe.  At  London,  the  28Lh  day  of  this 
present  month  of  August,  1.537.  Your  orator  while  he  liveth, 
Richard  Grafton,  Grocer.'''' 

The  message  in  reply  was,  that  Crumwell  thought  the  "  Privy 
Seal"  would  be  unnecessary  ;  but  Grafton's  anxiety  was  perfectly 
natural ;  for,  let  it  be  observed,  that  his  all  was  embarked  in  the 
undertaking,  amounting  to  above  c€500  sterling.  This  was  a  sum, 
equal  in  value  of  the  present  day,  to  more  than  as  many  thou- 
sands ;  and  some  would  say,  seven  thousand  five  hundred  at  the 
least !  No  wonder,  then,  that  he  should  very  soon  write  a  long 
letter  to  Crumwell,  under  the  apprehension  of  being  undersold  by 
an  inferior  article  from  the  German  press,  just  as  Tyndale  had  so 
often  been,  long  before  him. 

"Most  humbly  beseeching  your  Lordship  to  understand,  that 
according  as  your  commission  was,  by  my  servant  to  send  you 
certain  Bibles,  so  have  I  now  done,  desiring  your  Lordship  to  ac- 
cept them,  as  though  they  were  well  done.  And  whereas  I  writ 
unto  your  Lordship  for  a  Privy  Seal  to  be  a  defence  unto  the  ene- 
mies of  this  Bible,  I  understand  that  your  Lordship's  mind  is,  that 
I  shall  not  need  it.  But  now,  most  gracious  Lord,  forasmuch  as 
this  work  hath  been  brought  forth  to  our  most  great  and  costly 
labours  and  charges  ;  which  charges  amount  above  the  sum  of  five 
hundred  pounds  ;  and  I  have  caused  of  these  same  to  be  printed 
to  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  books  complete,  which  now,  by  rea- 
son that  of  many  this  work  is  hig'hly  commended,  there  are  that 
will,  and  doth,  go  about  the  printing  of  the  same  work  again,  in 
a  lesser  letter ;  to  the  intent  that  they  may  sell  their  little  books 
better  cheap  than  I  can  sell  these  great ;  and  so  to  make,  that  I 
shall  sell  none  at  all,  or  else  very  few,  to  the  utter  undoing  of  me, 
your  orator,  and  of  all  those  wy  creditors,  that  hath  been  my 
comforters  and  helpers  therein.  And  now  this  work,  thus  set 
forth  with  great  study  and  labours,  shall  such  persons,  moved  with 
a  little  covetousness,  to  the  undoing  of  others  for  their  own  private 
wealth,  take  as  a  thing  done  to  their  hands.  In  which  behalf 
the  charges  shall  not  come  to  them,  that  hath  done  to  your 
poor  orator.  And  yet  will  not  they  do  it,  as  they  find  it,  but 
falsify  the  text;  that  I  dare  say,  look,  how  many  sentences  are 
in  the  Bible,  even  so  many  faults  and  errors  shall  be  made 
therein.  For  their  seeking,  is  not  to  set  it  out  to  God's  glory, 
and  to  the  edifying  of  Christ's  congregation,  but  for  covetous- 
ness.    And  that   may    appear  by   the  former   Bibles,  [i.  e.,   the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  249 

New  Testaments,)  that  they  have  set  forth  ;  which  hath  neither 
good  paper,  letters,  ink  nor  correction.  And  even  so  shall  they 
corrupt  this  work,  and  wrap  it  up  after  their  fashions,  and  then 
they  rnay  sell  it  for  nought  at  their  pleasures.  Yea,  and  to  make 
it  more  truer  than  it  is,  therefore  Dutchmen,  dwelling  within  this 
realm,  go  about  the  printing  of  it ;  which  can  neither  speak  good 
English,  nor  yet  write  none  !  And  they  will  be  both  the  printers 
and  correctors  thereof;  because  of  a  little  covetousness,  they  will 
not  bestow  twenty  or  forty  pounds  to  a  learned  man  to  take  pains 
in  it,  to  have  it  well  done. 

"  It  were,  therefore,  as  your  Lordship  doth  evidently  perceive,  a 
thing  unreasonable  to  permit,  or  suffer,  them  which  now  hath  no 
such  business,  to  enter  into  the  labours  of  them  that  had  both  sore 
trouble  and  unreasonable  charges.  And  the  truth  is  this,  that  if 
it  be  printed  by  any  other,  before  these  be  sold,  which  I  think  shall 
not  be  these  three  years  at  the  least,  then  am  /,  your  poor  orator, 
utterly  undone^  (Even  Grafton  had  no  idea  of  the  prospect  now 
opening). 

"  Therefore,  by  your  most  godly  favour,  if  I  may  obtain  the 
King's  most  gracious  privilege,  that  none  shall  print  them  vmtil 
these  be  sold,  your  Lordship  shall  not  find  me  unthankful,  but 
that  to  the  uttermost  of  my  power,  I  will  consider  it :  and  I  dare 
say,  that  so  will  my  Lord  of  Canterbury,  with  other,  my  most 
special  friends  ;  and  at  the  last,  God  will  look  upon  your  merciful 
heart,  that  considereth  the  undoing  of  a  poor  young  man ;  for 
truly  my  whole  living  lieth  hereupon.  If  I  may  have  sale  of 
them  not  being  hindered  by  any  other  men,  it  shall  be  my  making 
and  wealth  ;  and  the  contrary  is  my  undoing.  Therefore,  most 
humbly  I  beseech  your  Lordship  to  be  my  helper  herein,  that  I 
may  obtain  this  my  request. 

"  Or  else,  if  by  no  means  this  privilege  may  be  had, — forasmuch 
as  it  hath  pleased  the  King's  Highness  to  license  this  work  to  go 
abroad  ;  and  that  it  is  the  most  pure  Word  of  God  which  teach- 
eth  all  true  obedience,  and  reproveth  all  schisms  and  contentions. — ■ 
It  may  therefore  be  commanded  by  your  Lordship,  in  the  name 
of  our  most  gracious  prince,  that  every  curate  have  one  of  them, 
that  they  may  learn  to  know  God,  and  instruct  their  Parishion- 
ers ;  yea,  and  that  every  Abbey  should  have  six,  to  be  laid  in  six 
several  places,  that  the  whole  Convent,  and  the  resorters  there- 
unto, may  have  occasion  to  look  on  the  Lord's  Law. — And  then 
I  know  there  would  be  enough  found  in  my  Lord  of  London''s 
diocese  to  spend  away  a  great  part  of  them. — And  I  know  that  a 
small  commission  will  cause  my  Lord  of  Canterbury,  Salisbury, 
and  Worcester,  to  cause  it  to  be  done  through  their  diocese ;  yea, 
and  this  should  cease  the  whole  schism  and  contention  that  is  in 
the  realm  ;  which  is,  some  calling  them  of  the  old  learning,  and 
some  of  the  new.  Now,  should  we  all  follow  one  God,  one  hook, 
and  one  learning :  and  this  is  hurtful  to  no  man,  but  profitable 
to  all. 

"  I  will  trouble  your  Lordship  no  longer,  for  I  am  sorry  I  have 


250  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

tioiiblec]  you  so  much :  but,  to  make  an  end,  I  desire  your  most 
gracious  answer  by  my  servant.  For  the  sickness  is  brime  (furi- 
ous) about  us,  or  else  I  ivoidd  wait  upon,  your  LordsJtrp  :  and  be- 
cause of  coming  to  your  Lordship,  I  have  not  suffered  my  servant 
with  me  since  he  came  over. — -Your  orator,  Richard  Grafton." 

From  this  letter  it  is  evident,  that  as  the  volume  had  come 
upon  Cranmer  by  surprise,  so  he  had  no  concern  whatever  with 
the  cost  incurred  ;  nay,  that  no  man  in  England  shared  in  the 
expense.  It  was  a  gift  from  abroad,  and  the  burden  lay  chiefly 
on  the  shoulders  of  this  individual,  as  a  man  ia  business. 

We  have  no  written  reply  to  this  letter,  which,  however,  does 
not  signif}^,  as  it  is  well  known  that  Grafton  succeeded :  but  as  to 
the  present  sudden  and  most  memorable  interposition  in  favor  of 
Tyndale's  exertions,  it  Avas  an  occurrence,  the  elTects  of  which 
reach  down  to  the  present  hour.  The  event  itself,  is  only  more 
extraordinary  than  the  fact,  that  it  should  never  have  been  even 
marked  as  it  ought  to  have  been,  and  muclr  less  dwelt  upon,  by 
any  previous  writer.  But  though  hitherto  buried  among  other 
casual  incidents,  it  would  be  unpardonable  nom  to  pass  on  without 
contemplating  an  occurrence,  in  which,  without  either  presump- 
tion or  enthusiasm,  the  overruling  hand  of  God  may  be  so  dis- 
tinctly traced.  There  is  here  no  interference  with  the  free  agency 
of  man,  but  one  of  the  most  complete  specimens  of  the  mode  in 
which  an  all-wise  Providence  governs  the  world.  Grafton,  indeed, 
and  his  co-partner  Whitchurch,  may  be  easily  disposed  of,  or  re- 
garded throughout  the  whole  affair  as  resembling  only  the  hewers 
of  wood  and  drawers  of  water,  in  ancient  time;  but  in  looking 
back  to  the  spring  of  1.526,  when  Tyndale's  first  efforts  were  so 
very  keenly  felt,  as  to  awaken  the  wrath  of  all  in  power ;  and 
following  the  ti'ack,  as  we  have  done,  down  to  the  month  of  Au- 
gust 1537,  w4iat  a  varied  scene  has  passed  before  us  !  The  hand 
of  the  Most  Higli  lias  been  visible  all  along ;  but  it  was  most  of 
all  conspicuous  now,  for  the  day  was  won  !  In  the  course  of  the 
long  conflict,  not  a  few  of  the  enemy  have  perished.  Two  Lords 
Chancellor,  an  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  besides,  at  least,  four 
noted  Bishops,  have  fallen  ;  to  say  nothing  of  other  two,  sent 
adrift  into  Italy.  Wolsey  and  Warliam,  West  of  Ely  and  Nix  of 
Norwich,  Slandi^jh  of  St.  Asaph  and  Fisher  of  Rochester,  as  well 
as  Dr.  Robert  Ridley  and  Sir  Thomas  More,  are  gone. 

But  what,  it  may  still  be  said,  does  all  this  signify  ?  There  are, 
at  least,  eight  or  ten  men  yet  alive  ;  and  except  it  be  the  King 
himself  transiently,  when  in  some  unwonted  mood,  not  one  of 
them  has  spoken  a  word  in  favor  of  Tyndale,  or  his  exertions,  up 
to  this  month  of  August ;  nay,  with  two  or  three  exceptions,  all 
the  rest  have  even  raged  against  him.  These  men  too,  occupy 
the  Privy  Council,  the  Senate,  and  the  Bench  ;  so  that  before  such 
an  event  as  the  present  could  possibly  have  taken  place,  every  one 
of  them  must  have  been  overruled.  And  accordingly  now,  within 
the  compass  of  ten  days,  each  day  for  a  year,  and  whether  pacified 
or  not,  they  have  all  been  overruled. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  251 

Yes,  the  King  himself,  and  his  Prime  Minister  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk  ;  Crumwell  his  Vicegerent,  and  Cranmer  his  Archbishop  ; 
Tunstal  of  Durham  and  Stokesly  of  London  ;  Longlcind  of  Lin- 
cohi  and  Gardiner  of  Winchester ;  nay,  Cov^erdale  and  his  friend 
Nycolson,  have  all  alike,  or  every  one  of  them,  been  disposed  of. 

For  where  is  the  individual  who  can  now  look  so  low,  as  to  trace 
this  change  to  Cranmer,  and  simply  say  that  he  was  the  cause  ? 
Already  we  have  given  him  full  credit,  as  well  as  done  him  amplo 
justice,  by  giving  his  own  letters  entire.  He  was  the  superintended 
agent,  and  let  it  only  be  the  more  observed,  the  udlling  instrument, 
for  certainly  he  did  all,  at  this  moment,  not  by  constraint,  but  of 
hearty  good  will ;  and  yet  it  must  be  clear  as  day,  that  of  all 
others,  he  v/as  most  under  the  influence  of  predoininant  power. 
The  step  he  took  was  a  bold  and  decided  one,  and  had  Crumwell 
been  the  man,  it  v/ould  have  been  in  perfect  character :  but  Cran- 
mer, though  withal  an  amiable  character,  was  by  constitution 
timid,  and  according  to  his  own  repeated  confession,  had  lost,  be- 
yond recovery,  in  his  youth,  every  spice  of  audacity  or  daring. 
Yes,  and  he  was  therefore  only  the  more  fit  to  be  emplo3'ed  as  aii 
instrument,  to  overrule  or  take  by  surprise,  all  the  rest.  After  a 
long  and  tedious  war,  the  bitter  though  fruitless  opposition  of 
eleven  years,  the  opportunity  for  dealing  Vvnth  crafty  opponents,  v/ith 
stitf-neckcd  and  rebellion-^  enemies  to  the  truth,  had  arrived  ;  the 
time  for  showing  "the  weakness  of  God  to  be  stronger  than  men." 
It  was  a  select  hour  for  choosing  a  cautious  and  a  timid  man  to 
sway  the  mighty  and  the  wayward.  He  himself,  irideed,  might  be 
doubtful  of  success  ;  for  he  said  to  Crumwell,  obtain  all  I  ask — if 
yon  can ;  but  what  was  the  result?  Take  up  the  men  individu- 
ally, and  see. 

In  so  sanctioning  this  prototype,  which  contained  the  transla- 
tions of  Tyndale,  the  Kbi.g  himself  was  overruled.  Witness  his 
violent  language  for  years,  employed  in  public  documents — his  in- 
terdict of  Tyndale's  version,  and  all  his  other  writings — his  com- 
missioning men  to  apprehend  him,  though  in  vain — and  his  cold 
indifference  at  the  end,  only  last  year,  respecting  liis  very  life.  On 
the  same  ground  stands  Crumwell ;  after  having  vilified  our 
Translator,  and  warned  the  English  Envoy,  Vaughan,  if  he  dared 
to  speak  favorably  of  him  ;  after  having  long  patronized  Cover- 
dale,  contributed  to  his  support,  nay,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt, 
to  the  cost  of  his  translation,  as  Avell  as  obtained  the  temporary 
assent  of  Henry  to  the  reprint  of  that  book.  As  for  the  others, 
who  had  been  sworn  enemies  all  along :  Tunstal,  notwithstand- 
ing his  raving  in  1526,  about  the  "  pestiferous  poison"  that  had 
infected  his  diocese  of  London,  he  is  now  in  alarm  as  to  other  in- 
fection. He  is  n.ow  absolutely  terrified  to  approach  the  capital, 
for  fear  of  the  plague  ;  and  besides,  he  is  under  marching  orders 
for  Newcastle,  as  President  of  the  Council  of  the  North.  Stokesly 
of  London,  after  all  his  bloody  deeds,  must  now  be  quiet,  although 
Grafton  be  proposing,  for  Ids  diocese,  such  a  plentiful  supply  of 
that  very  translation,  for  the  reading  of  which,  he  was  wont  to 


252  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

doom  the  party  to  the  flames.  Old  Longland  of  Lincoln,  who 
so  exulted  over  Wolsey's  "  secret  search,  and  at  one  time"  in  Lon- 
don, Oxford,  and  Cambridge,  for  books  to  be  burnt,  must,  for  the 
present,  also  ponder  over  the  change,  but  remain  neutral !  Gar- 
diner, when  at  home,  of  all  other  men,  wonderfully  contrived  to 
retain  the  King's  ear ;  but  that  shrewd  and  far-seeing  man,  the 
ablest  foe  of  all,  had  been  removed  to  a  distance.  As  Tunstal 
was  out  of  the  way,  in  iSpain,  when  the  New  Testament  first 
came, -so  was  Gardiner,  in  France,  when  the  Bible  arrived.  After 
displeasing  the  King  in  1535,  it  had  been  convenient  to  send  him 
into  honorable  exile,  as  Ambassador  to  Paris,  out  of  Crumwell's 
way,  and  he  was  not  to  be  recalled  for  a  year  to  come.  The 
Duke  of  Norfolk  too,  Gardiner's  dear  friend,  is  down  in  the  North; 
and  though  panting  to  return,  and  pestering  Crunuvell  with  let- 
ters for  this  end,  he  cannot  wend  his  way  to  London  till  relieved 
by  Tunstal,  who,  however,  is  slow  to  move.  But,  above  all  the 
rest,  no  one  was  more  signally  overruled  than  Crannier,  the  agent 
first  employed.  No  individual  in  England  had  striven  so  hard  for 
some  certain  translation,  to  be  sanctioned  by  his  fellows.  He  had 
got  them  to  petition  his  Majesty,  in  1534,  for  such  a  one.  In 
1535,  he  had  attempted  the  New  Testament  only,  but  failed  ;  and 
last  year,  in  Convocation  again,  he  had  not  only  petitioned  once 
more  for  the  same  thing,  but  acquiesced,  with  all  the  rest,  in  the 
King's  sacrament  of  penance ;  which  the  Bible  of  this  year,  over 
vvdiich  he  now  so  rejoiced,  will  not  sanction  !  And  finally,  as  for 
Myles  Coverdale  himself,  he  is  shortly  to  be  employed  in  correct- 
ing the  press  of  a  second  edition  of  this  very  Bible  which  Grafton 
had  thus  brought  into  England. 

In  short,  as  this  year  no  Parliament  was  assembled — no  Con- 
vocation held,  so  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  was,  or  could  be, 
consulted  on  the  subject !  The  Bishops,  as  a  body,  were  now 
scattered  by  the  plague,  "  every  one  to  his  own  ;"  while  Cranmer, 
who  has  just  fled  from  it,  and  in  total  despair  of  all  deliverance 
arising  from  that  quarter,  boldly  affirms,  that  a  better  translation 
of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  they  either  could  not,  or  would  not,  "  set 
forth,  till  a  day  after  doomsday  !"  To  this,  no  doubt,  the  best 
men  in  all  England  then  fully  responded  ;  and,  in  concert,  they 
might  all  have  said  or  sung,  in  the  language  of  their  own  Bible — 

O!  sinCT  unto  the  Lord  a  new  song, 

For  he  hath  done  marvellous  things  ! 
With  his  ou-ti  right  hand,  and  with  his  holy  arm, 
Hath  He  gotten  the  victory  ! 
The  Lord  is  King,  be  the  people  never  so  unpatient : 
He  sitteth  upon  the  Cherubims,  be  the  earth  never  so  unquiet. 

At  such  a  crisis,  when  the  country  was  in  danger  of  being 
deluged  with  corrupt  versions  of  His  own  blessed  Word,  it  was 
thus  shown,  in  the  most  striking  manner,  to  every  devout  and 
careful  observer,  that  the  God  of  Providence  is  the  God  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  ;  and  as  He  intended  the  version  now  given,  to 
remain  in  this  highly-favored  land  for  generations  then  unborn,  it 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  253 

was  fit  that  this  interference  sliould  take  place  at  the  beginnin"-. 
In  the  wide  compass  of  EngHsh  history,  a  more  signal  mterposi- 
tion  of  Divine  providence  on  behalf  of  His  own  Word  never  oc- 
curred since,  and  that  simply  for  this  reason,  it  was  never 
demanded  ;  the  present  sufficed  for  all  time  to  come.  This  same 
Monarch,  indeed,  and  some  of  his  wilfully  blind  Prelates,  may  yet 
rag-e  and  strive,  but  the  version  shall  never  be  banished  from  the 
land.  It  may  be  corrected  and  improved,  nay,  and  be  burnt  again ; 
and  seventy  years  after  this,  upwards  of  fifty  learned  men  may  be 
engaged  for  three  years,  in  order  to  make  it,  as  they  said,  "  more 
smootli  and  easy,  and  agreeable  to  the  text ;"  but  the  translation 
now  received,  shall  be  the  basis  of  all  future  editions.  And  well 
It  might;  for  after  all  this  labor,  and  after  all  due  praise  to  our 
present  version,  to  say  nothing  of  particular  words,  there  are  still 
happy  turns  of  expression,  which  had  better  have  been  retained. 
"  In  point  of  perspicuity,  and  noble  simplicity,  propriety  of  idiom. 
and  purity  of  style,"  it  has  been  said,  "  no  English  version  has  yet 
surpassed  it ;"  and  if  any  one  suspect  that  this  is  saying  too  much, 
let  him  first  peruse  Tyndale  for  himself,  and  then  observe  the  in- 
numerable passages,  which,  after  so  many  revisions,  are  verbally 
the  same  as  in  our  present  version. 

In  the  detail  thus  presented  to  the  reader,  he  cannot  fail  to  have 
observed  more  reasons  than  one  for  the  distinction  drawn  between 
the  translation  of  Tyndale  and  that  of  Coverdale.  He  has  seen 
that  the  powerful  effects  of  the  former  had  roused  Crumwell,  and 
led  him  to  employ  Coverdale  "  instantly,"  or  in  all  haste,  to  sit 
down  to  his  task  ;  and  the  task  performed,  before  it  could  have 
made  any  impression  on  England,  he  has  heard  Fox  of  Hereford, 
in  Convocation  last  year,  allow  or  rather  describe  the  glorious 
result  of  Tyndale's  primary  version—"  The  lay  people,"  said  he, 
"  do  now  know  the  Holy  Scripture,  better  than  many  of  us."  In 
one  word,  the  times  themselves  were  the  effect  of  Tyndale's  trans- 
lation ;  Coverdale' s  translation  was  only  one  effect  of  the  ti7nes. 

But,  independently  of  these  material  circumstances,  or  of  Tyn- 
dale's version  being  preferable,  for  his  choice  of  terms,  and  greatly 
superior  in  point  of  euphony,  there  is  a  far  more  important  dis- 
tmction  between  these  two  Bibles,  than  tliat  of  style  or  idiom  ; 
and  it  is  one  which  renders  it  still  more  extraordinary,  that  the 
unpatronized,  nay,  obnoxious  translator,  and  his  hitherto  obnox- 
ious translation,  should  have  gained  the  ascendency.  Instead  of 
describing  this,  the  better  way  will  be  to  exhibit  it. 

Tyndalk.  Coverdale. 

Printed  in  1525,  imported  152(5.  Printed  1535,  imported  1536. 

Repent,  the  Kyngdome  of  heven  is  at  Amende  your  selves,  the  Kynadome  of 

'^''^"'J'^-        ,     ,  heven  is  at  hande. 

Brynge   forth  therefore   the   frutes  be-  Beuarre,  bringe  forth  due  frutes  of  om- 

ionging  to  repentance.  naunce. 

And  they  went  forth  and  preached  that  And  they  went  forth  and  preached  that 

they  should  repent.  men  should  amende  them  selfes. 

Repent  and  beleve  the  gospell.  Amende    your  selves,    and   bcleve   the 

gospell. 


254 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


Tyndale. 

B,ut  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  in 
likewyse  perish. 

I  say  unto  you  that  likewyse  joy  ska  11 
be  heven  over  one  synner  that  repenteth, 
more  than  ov€r  ninerty  and  nine  juste  per- 
sons which  nede  no  lepentaunce. 

Lykewise  I  say  unto  you,  joy  shall  be 
in  the  presence  ot"tlie  angels  of  God.  over 
one  synner  that  repenteth. 

Rebuke  him,  and  if  he  repent,  forgive 
him. 

Peter  sayde  unto  them;  Repent  atjd 
be  ye  baptyzed  every  ooe  of  3'ou. 

Repent  ye.  th-erefore,  and  turne,  thai 
your  synnes  may  be  dene  away. 


COVERDALE. 

But  excepte  ye  amende  your  selves,  ye 
shall  perish  likewise. 

I  saye  unto  you:  Even  so  shall  there 
be  joij  in  heven  over  one  synner  that  doth 
pennaunce.  more  than  over  nyne  and 
nyentye  righteous,  V7hieh  nede  not  re- 
pentaunce.' 

Even  so  (I  tell  you)  shall  there  be  joye 
before  the  Angels  of  God,  over  one  synner 
that  doth  peunaunce. 

Rebuke  hyiu,  and  if  he  americie,  forgive 
him. 

Peter  said  unto  them;  Amende  your 
selfes,  and  let  every  oae  of  you  be  bap- 
tysed. 

Do  penaunce  now,  therefore,  and  turn 
3'ou,  that  your  synnes  may  be  done  awai. 


One  passage  may  be  quoted  in  full,  Acts  xxvi.  19-24,  not  only 
involving  the  same  distinction,  but  as  a  specimen  of  their  dilFerent 

s-tyles. 


Wherefore,  King  Agrippa,  I  was  not 
tlisobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision:  b«t 
shewed  fyrst  unto  them  of  Damasco,  and 
at  Jerusalem,  and  tliroughout  all  the 
coastes  of  Jewry,  and  to  the  gentyls,  that 
they  should  repent,  and  turne  to  God,  and 
do  the  ryght  workes  of  repentance.  Fo-r 
this  cause  the  Jewts  caught  me  in  the 
temple,  and  went  about  to  kvLl  me.  Nev- 
ertheless I  obtained  help  of  God,  and  con- 
tinue unto  thi.s  day,  witnessinge  both  te 
small  and  to  greate,  saying  none  other 
thingps,  than  those  whicii  the  prophetes 
and  Moses  d3'd  say  shuld  come,  that  Christ 
shuld  suflre,  and  that  he  shuld  be  the  fyrst 
that  shuld  ryse  t'rom  death,  and  shuld 
shewe  lyght  unto  the  people,  and  the 
gentyls. 


Wherefore  (O  Kynge  Agrippa)  I  was 
not  faith lesse  unto  the  heavenly  vysion, 
but  shewed  it  tyrste  unto  them  atDainas- 
con,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  the 
coastes  of  Jewrye,  and  .to  the  Heithen, 
that  they  should  do  penaunce,  and  turn  to 
God,  aiid  to  do  right  workes  of  penaunce. 
For  this  the  Jewes.teke  me  in  the  temple 
and  went  about  to  kyll  me.  But  thor- 
oughe  the  help  of  God  lente  unto  me,  I 
stonde  unto  this  daye,  and  testifye  both 
lUnto  small  and  greate,  and  saj'  none  other 
th3'nge,  then  that  the  prophetes  have 
sayde,  (that  it  shoulde  come  to  passe) 
and  Moses:  that  Chryste  should  suffre, 
and  be  the  fyrst  of  the  resurrection  irom 
the  dead,  and  shew  lyght  unto  the  people 
and  to  the  Heythen. 


We  need  not  therefore  now  alBrm,  that  the  two  productions  were 
very  distinct.  No  man  was  more  conscious  of  this  than  Coverdale 
himself;  and  the  modesty  with  which  he  speaks  of  his  own  per- 
formance, would  be  more  than  sufficient  to  have  dissuaded  from 
any  comparison,  if  the  interests  and  parity  of  Divine  Truth  were 
iiot  concerned :  but  Lewis,  in  his  "'  History  of  Translations,"'  has 
so  heedlessly  confounded  the  one  with  the  other,  and,  in  our  own 
day,  others  have  been  so  misled,  that  no  choice  is  left  to  any  im- 
partial writer.  After  comparing  Tyndale's  translation  of  one  pas- 
sage in  the  Pentateuch  with  that  of  Coverdale,  in  which  the  former 
is  best,  Lewis  then  adds, — "So  Matt.  iii.  is,  'sayinge,  Amende 
your  selves,'  as  it  is  in  Ti/ndale's  first  editiotis.^'  But  where  is 
there  any  such  expression  to  be  found  in  Tyndale?  Had  Lewis 
not  examined  the  lirst  editions?  Was  he  not  aware  that  they 
were  the  lirst  editions  that  Sir  Thomas  More  attacked,  and  that 
upon  this  very  point,  among  others  /  Or  had  he  not  read  Tyn- 
dale's able  and  animated  reply  in  1530,  when  he  answered,  wh]/ 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  255 

he  had  translated  love  and  not  charity — congregation  and  not 
church — re{3entance  and  not  penance  ?  Yes,  all  this  he  had  done, 
and  of  all  this  he  seems  to  have  been  aware,  and  yet,  strange  to 
say,  forgot  his  oivn  previous  history  !  No,  there  existed  in  Tyn- 
dale's  mind  a  very  different  feeling  from  that  which  would  have 
led  him  to  have  regarded  penance  and  repentance  as  synonymous 
terms ;  and,  more  especially,  since  the  sense  of  the  previous  term 
was  so  fully  known  and  felt  throughout  Europe,  when  "  the  scourge 
inexorable,  and  the  torturing  hour,  called  them  to  penance."  Cov- 
erdale,  on  the  other  hand,  in  obedience  to  the  dominant  power  of 
the  day,  falling  under  the  influence  of  expediency,  mixed  up 
those  terms  with  others  of  far  inferior  moment,  and  here  is  his 
explanation. 

"  Sure  I  am,"  he  says  in  his  epistle  to  the  reader,  ''  that  there 
cometh  more  understanding  and  knowledge  of  the  Scripture,  by 
these  sundry  translations,  than  by  all  the  glosses  of  our  sophistical 
doctors.  Be  not  thou  offended,  therefore,  good  reader,  though  one 
call  a  scribe,  that  another  calleth  lawyer;  or  elders,  that  another 
calleth  father  and  mother;  or  repentance,  that  another  calleth 
penance  or  amendment.  For  if  we  were  not  deceived  by  men's 
traditions,  we  should  find  no  more  diversity  between  these  terms, 
than  between  four-pence  and  a  groat !  And  this  manner  have  I 
used  in  my  translation,  calling  in  some  places  penance,  that  in  an- 
other I  call  repentance  ;  and  that  not  only  because  the  interpreters 
have  done  so  before  me,  but  that  the  adversaries  of  the  truth 
might  see  that  we  abhor  not  this  word  penance,  no  more  than  the 
interpreters  of  Latin  abhor  pccJiitere,  when  they  read  resipiscere." 
Now,  above  five  years  before  his  translation  was  printed.  Cover-* 
dale  must  have  been  perfectly  familiar  with  Tyndale's  strong  im- 
pression, as  to  the  vital  importance  of  this  word  Metanoia  being 
correctly  rendered — he  had  heard  him  saying  to  his  opponent,  the 
Lord  Chancellor — 

"  He  cannot  prove  that  I  gave  not  the  right  English  unto  the 
Greek  word  ;"  and  after  explaining  his  views,  had  heard  him  add 
— "these  things  to  be  even  so,  Mr.  More  knoweth  well  enough,  far 
he  understandeth  the  Greek,  and  he  knew  them  long  ere  L  So 
now  the  cause  why  our  prelates  thus  rage,  and  what  moveth 
them  to  call  Mr.  More  to  help,  is,  not  that  they  find  just  causes  in 
the  translation,  but  because  they  have  lost  their  feigned  terms, 
wherewith  Peter  prophesied  they  should  make  merchandise  of  the 
people." 

If,  therefore,  Coverdale  had  been  for  once  with  Tyndale,  at 
Hamburgh,  in  1529,  we  need  not  suppose  that  the  former  dissem- 
bled ever  after,  or  kept  in  secret  from  Tyndale  the  course  he  was 
pursuing.  No,  the  conclusion  to  be  drawn  is  this,  that  there  could 
have  been  no  familiar  intercourse  between  the  j>arties  ever  since 
that  period;  while  tliere  can  be  no  doubt,  that  had  Tyndale 
known  of  this  proceeding,  or  read  Coverdale's  lame  apology  for  it, 
the  voice  of  remonstrance,  nay,  and  of  strong  reprobation,  would 
have  been  heard  from  the  castle  of  Vilvorde. 


256  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

At  the  same  time,  a  distinction  so  systematic,  in  opposition  to 
all  the  editions  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  which  had  been 
imported  into  England  for  above  ten  years  past,  could  not  now 
have  been  adopted,  bat  under  the  sanction  of  Crumwell,  though 
he  must  by  no  means  be  allowed  to  bear  all  the  blame.  Long 
after  his  death,  this  particular  word  was  one  to  which  Coverdale, 
when  acting  for  himself,  pertinaciously  adhered.  Indeed,  of  all 
the  men  now  so  signally  overruled,  it  is  natural  to  suppose  that 
he  must  have  felt  the  greatest  mortification;  but  there  was  no 
help  for  him.  He  had  been  so  profoundly  obsequious  to  his 
Majesty  as  to  give  him  his  choice  of  putting  his  version  aside  alto- 
gether, and  so  it  has  come  to  pass.  He  must  of  course  therefore 
now  submit,  and  very  soon,  or  almost  immediately,  he  will  be  en- 
gaged to  superintend  the  press  of  a  second  edition  of  the  success- 
ful translation. 

On  reading  thus  far,  however,  it  is  by  no  means  improbable 
that,  owing  to  recent  circumstances,  a  few  questions  will  naturally 
occur  to  many.  Was  there  not  held  in  the  year  183.5  a  commem- 
oration of  the  4th  of  October  1535,  styled  "  the  third  Centenary 
of  the  English  Bible.''''  There  was.  And  was  it  with  reference 
to  Coverdale's  Bible  just  described?  Of  course  it  was.  But  were 
the  parties  aware  that  his  version  was  thus  laid  aside  ?  Were 
they  aware  that  it  was  not  only  superseded,  but  never  enjoined  to 
be  read  in  England,  or  that  it  stood  at  the  top  of  the  list  of  inter- 
dicted books  in  1546  ?  Above  all,  were  they  aware  that  this  was 
the  book,  which  contained  these  passages,  thus  rendered  ?  Surely 
they  were  not ;  for  if  they  had,  the  centenary  must  have  been 
postponed  ;  except  they  had  been  resolved  to  celebrate  the  wrong 
book,  and  rejoice  before  the  proper  time.  But,  again,  did  the  year 
1825  and  1826  pass  by,  without  any  notice  of  Tyndale,  three 
hundred  years  before  ?  They  did.  And  was  not  the  month  of 
August  1537,  far  more  worthy  of  joyful  commemoration  than  that 
of  October  1535,  when,  in  fact,  nothing  whatever  immediately 
followed  ?  Of  this,  we  presume,  there  can  be  no  question  now  ; 
but  it  also  passed  away  without  the  slightest  reference  to  Tyn- 
dale. The  first  introducer  of  penance,  as  printed  in  the  English 
tongue,  and  forty-seven  years  before  the  Rheniish  version,  was 
held  up  to  view  by  many,  though,  even  then,  not  by  all ;  on  the 
other  hand,  his  predecessor  by  ten  years,  and  the  first  able  ad- 
vocate of  "  Repentance  towards  God,"  has  been  allowed  to  sleep  in 
oblivion. 

These,  however,  it  is  acknowledged,  are  matters  of  but  small 
account,  compared  with  the  fact,  that  up  to  this  hour  the  hand  of  the 
Almighty  has  7ie?;er  been  distinctly,  and  therefore  duly  recognized. 
The  very  marked,  and  ever-to-be-remembered,  period,  when 
God,  by  his  overruling  providence  and  grace,  was  introducing  that 
inestimable  boon,  which,  as  an  instrument  in  his  hand,  has  made 
our  Country  what  it  is,  has  never  been  clearly  distinguished ; 
never  held  up  to  public  view  as  the  fit  season  for  grateful  and 
adoring  commemoration  !     It  is  one  proof,  among  two  many  others, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  257 

that  due  regard  has  not  yet  been  paid  to  the  history  of  our  Sacred 
Record. 

It  was  only  two  months  after  the  arrival  of  this  Bible,  when 
Henry  met,  most  unexpectedly,  with  what  was  calcidated  to  pro- 
duce some  permanent  impression  upon  him.  It  was  not  yet  seven- 
teen months  since  he  had  so  barbarously  put  his  Q,ueen  to  death. 
and  married  a  third  wife  the  next  day !  On  the  12tli  of  October 
U,ueen  Jane  Seymour  gave  birth  to  a  son,  but  in  twelve  days  after- 
wards sunk  and  died.  Whether  his  Majesty  was  long  or  deeply 
afflicted  by  his  loss,  as  historians  have  but  too  often  represented, 
will  appear  very  soon.  But  the  birth  of  this  amiable  child  follow- 
ing so  immediately  after  the  introduction  of  the  Scriptures,  it  may 
now  be  said, — ^^  about  which  ti?neliDWAROiv as  born.'^  Through- 
out his  brief  reign,  the  Word  of  the  Lord,  and  in  this  translation 
of  it,  will  be  treated  as  it  ought  ever  to  have  been,  whether  by  the 
prince  or  the  peasant. 

But  in  conclusion  of  this  present  year,  all  other  events  sink  into 
insignificance  when  compared  with  that  extraordinary  occurrence 
in  the  month  of  August.  Such  was  the  introduction  of  Tyndale's 
Bible  to  his  countrymen  ;  so  peacefully,  easily,  and  effectually  ac- 
complished, after  all  the  blood  and  turmoil  of  the  past.  The 
plague  Avas  raging  furiously  all  the  time  ;  yet  the  prototype,  the 
first  edition  of  our  English  Bible  must  be  then  and  so  introduced. 
Come  it  did,  at  a  season  so  rousing,  and  fraught  with  solemn  warn- 
ing. Not  to  increase  alarm,  even  Grafton  who  brought  it,  was 
cautious  of  approach.  Official  men  had  fled  for  safety  from  the 
Metropolis.  Not  so  Crumwell.  He  stood  firm  in  the  midst  of  the 
dying  and  the  dead.  It  was  chiefly  to  do,  what  he  did  in  this 
matter  ;  Avhile  all  other  men  of  power  and  pretension  have  appeared 
before  us,  onl}^  as  "  clay  in  the  hand  of  the  potter."  To  exempt 
any  individual,  would  be  historically  incorrect :  they  have  been 
overruled  to  a  man. 

If,  therefore,  there  be  any  importance  in  setting  an  example  ;  in 
exhibiting  a  pattern  after  which  others  may  work,  or  in  laying  the 
foundation-stone  of  a  great  enterprise  ;  if  it  be  easy  to  follow  where 
one  has  broken  up  the  way,  and  smoothed  it ;  and  if  the  first  indi- 
vidual who  strikes  out  a  new  and  untried  path,  in  which  his  coun- 
try, after  having  showed  great  resistance,  at  last  follows,  be  allowed 
to  discover  a  mind  above  the  common  order;  then,  so  far  as  human 
agency  was  concerned,  all  this  must  be  traced  to  one  man ;  and 
one  whom  now  we  need  not  name. 

But  above  all,  the  mode  of  the  Divine  procedure,  in  this  instance, 
deserves  special  regard.  In  studying  this,  whether  towards  the 
Christian  individually,  or  towards  a  people  as  such,  it  has  been 
said  tliat,  in  certain  cases,  something  may  be  discovered,  bearino- 
no  slight  analogy  to  the  principal  sound, — the  key-note  in  music  ; 
to  which  the  whole  piece  is  accommodated,  with  which  it  usually 
begins,  but  always  ends.  Now  if  the  Sovereign  disposer  of  all 
events  had  begun  to  discourse  with  the  higher  powers  in  thi^ 
country  after  this  fashion  ;  had  begun  by  an  instance  of  his  over- 

17 


258  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENOLISH    BIBLE. 

ruling  providence,  so  signal  as  the  present ;  it  remains  to  be  caia- 
tiously  observed,  whether  He  does  not  50  interpose,  again  and  again, 
in  favor  of  his  own  blessed  word.  Nay,  wdiether  He  has  not  once 
done  so,  even  in  our  own  tinaes,  and  may  yet  do  so.  once  more. 
At  all  events,  ancient  though  this  triumph  be,  hitherto  almost  un- 
observed, and  therefore  generally  disregarded,  it  may  yet  be  seen 
to  carry  a  firm  and  determined  aspect,  quite  beyond  our  own  event- 
ful day.  The  series  of  events  subsequently  to  be  recorded  should 
resolve  this  point.  But  they  will  at  least  prove  that  we  have  far 
more  to  do,  and  to  do  now,  with  the  history  of  the  English  Bible, 
than  the  great  body  of  those  who  at  present  profess  Christianity 
throughout  this  kingdom  have  imagined. 


BOOK  IL-ENGLAND. 

<REIGN    OF    HENRY    THE    EIGHTH. 


SECTION    I. 


THE    SECOND    YEAR  OF  TRIUMPH — THE  ENGLISH   BIBLE   PRINTING  IN  PARIS — PRESS 

INTERRUPTED INQUISITION    OVERMATCHED THE    BIBLE  FINISHED  IN  LONDON 

FIRST    INJUNCTIONS    FOR  TYNDALe's    BIBLE NEW"  TESTAMENTS,  FRESH  EDITIONS 

COVERDALE's    TESTAMENTS — THE    DESTITUTE   STATE  OF  ENGLAND JOT  OVER 

THE   SCRIPTURES RETROSPECT. 

The  Sacred  Scriptures,  in  the  English  tongue,  had  now  been 
introduced,  and  in  a  manner  so  remarkable  as  to  excite  curiosity 
with  regard  to  the  sequel.  The  victory  already  recorded,  great  as 
it  was,  would  not  yet  suffice,  if  there  was  any  spot  on  the  Con- 
tinent, where  opposition  to  Divine  Truth  had  been  most  of  all 
virulent,  that  will  be  the  proper  place  in  which  to  complete  the 
triumph  of  the  English  Bible.  Before  the  printing  of  tlie  Sacred 
Oracles  is  to  become  by  far  the  most  conspicuous  or  distinguishing 
feature  of  our  own  country,  another  conquest  had  been  determined. 
Tyiidale  had  toiled  and  died  on  the  Continent,  and  tliat  must  be 
the  seat  of  this  second  achievement.  It  comes  like  a  double  tes- 
timony to  the  work  of  his  hands  ;  but  the  story  Avill  appear  in  its 
proper  colors,  after  we  have  glanced  over  other  national,  though 
to  us  now,  subordinate  affairs. 

In  a  history  such  as  the  present,  the  year  derives  all  its  impor- 
tance from  its  being  that  which  immediately  followed  the  public 
sanction  of  the  Sacred  Volume  in  Enofland.  With  regard  to  the 
leading  sovereigns  of  Europe,  Henry,  Charles,  and  Francis,  they 
come  before  ns  precisely  the  same  men  they  have  ever  been.  The 
two  latter,  whether  as  rulers  or  as  men,  had  been  chastised  and 
humbled  in  succession,  by  their  endless  conflicts ;  and  Henry,  too^, 
since  the  rebellions  of  Lincoln  and  Yorkshires,  had  by  no  means 
sat  so  easy  on  his  throne.  As  for  his  being  now  a  widower,  we 
shall  find  that  this,  in  no  sense,  lay  heavy  on  his  spirits.  The 
Emperor  and  the  King  of  Prance  were  still  at  war ;  and  being  as 
nearly  balanced  in  point  of  power  as  ever,  the  King  of  England, 
by  throwing  his  influence  into  either  scale,  might  still  change  the 
■ciarrent  of  European  affairs;  but  the  steps  he  had  already  taken^ 


260  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

rendered  him  an  awkward  or  ticklish  ally  for  either  party.  This, 
of  course,  was  owing  to  a  fourth  power,  once  the  most  formidable 
in  the  world,  that  of  the  Pontiff,  to  whose  temporal  sovereignty,  at 
least,  Henry  was  as  much  opposed  as  ever ;  but  whom  neither 
Charles  nor  Francis  would  disregard,  whenever  it  seemed  likely  to 
serve  their  respective  political  purposes. 

On  the  first  of  March,  just  when  Francis  had  feigned  to  agree 
that  Henry  should  be  the  mediator  between  himself  and  the  Em- 
peror, and  charging  the  latter  with  deceit ;  Christopher  Mount,  a 
Clerman  frequently  employed,  and  Thomas  Paynel,  were  despatched 
into  Germany,  to  ascertain  precisely  who  the  German  confederates 
were,  then  assembled  at  Brunswick,  and  whether  their  league  was 
for  "  general  defence,"  or  for  matters  of  religion  only.  These 
States,  aware  of  the  Emperor's  feeling  respecting  them,  had  de- 
sired that  Henry  should  unite  with  them,  and  own  the  Augsburg 
Confession  of  Faith ;  Christian  HI.,  King  of  Denmark,  having 
just  united  with  them.  They  now,  therefore,  despatched  three 
individuals  on  an  Embassy  into  England,  namely,  Francis  Burg- 
hart,  Vice-Chancellor  to  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  George  a-Boyne- 
burg,  and  Frederick  Myconius.  These  men  arrived  in  England, 
on  the  12th  of  May,  the  first  of  them  bearing  a  letter  from  Me- 
lancthon  to  the  King.  His  Majesty  having  appointed  certain 
bishops  and  doctors  to  converse  with  them,  the  conferences  and 
debates  had  continued  for  three  months.  So  early  as  the  month 
of  June,  however,  the  King  grew  impatient  for  the  presence  of 
Tunstal,  who  was  still  at  a  distance  as  President  of  the  Council 
of  the  North.  This  was  a  bad  omen,  and  the  first  token  of  some 
approaching  change.  Crumwell,  however,  must  order  him  up, 
and  Tunstal,  far  from  reluctant,  gladly  replies  from  Newcastle  on 
the  27th  of  June,  that  he  is  coming  with  all  "convenient  diligence." 
The  King  therefore  employed  him  to  answer  the  German  Divines  ; 
but  by  the  15th  of  August,  their  patience  being  exhausted,  they 
had  resolved  on  returning  home.  From  all  that  had  transpired 
on  the  Continent,  Henr3^  by  this  moment,  was  suspicious  not  only 
of  treachery  at  home,  but  invasion  from  abroad.  He  was  himself 
gone  to  some  distance,  "  taking  special  care  of  the  sea-coasts,  and 
particularly  had  an  eye  to  the  actions  of  those  who  might  stir  in 
favor  of  Cardinal  Pole."  Cranmer,  therefore,  implored  the  Ger- 
mans to  remain  at  least  till  the  King's  return,  and  they  agreed  to 
abide  for  another  month,  in  the  faith  of  his  Majesty  writing  in 
excuse  of  their  long  delay.  The  Primate  then  most  earnestly 
turned  to  his  brethren,  the  Bishops,  but  they  were  not  to  be  moved 
now,  by  any  of  his  solicitations.  They  had  been  treated  as  men 
of  no  account,  ever  since  the  memorable  Convocation  in  1536 ;  so 
that  after  ten  days  he  must  inform  Crumwell,  that  he  now  saw 
"they  only  sought  an  occasion  to  break  the  concord."  They 
affn-med  besides,  that  "  they  knew  that  the  King's  Grace  had  taken 
upon  himself  to  answer  the  said  orators."  In  this  they  were  not 
far  from  the  exact  truth  ;  and  here  was  the  second  omen,  to  both 
Cranmer  and  Crumwell,  of  declining  influence.     To  the  German 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  261 

objections  against  the  half-communion,  private  masses,  and  the 
celibacy  of  the  clergy,  Henry  would,  on  no  account,  bow  ;  and 
having  employed  Tanstal  to  give  them  a  formal  reply  in  Latin, 
after  commending  the  Envoys  for  their  learning,  and  the  trouble 
they  had  taken,  to  the  great  disappointment  of  Cranmer,  his 
Majesty  then  dismissed  them. 

Before  the  Bishop  of  Winchester's  return,  there  was  one  man, 
who,  above  all  others,  had  excited  Henry's  warmest  indignation. 
This,  it  may  be  anticipated,  was  Cardinal  Pole.  By  the  month 
of  August,  this  year,  Tlreobald,  as  well  as  others,  had  afforded  in- 
formation of  his  very  courteous  entertainment  at  Nice ;  but  Gar- 
diner, who  cared  for  no  man's  life,  if  he  could  only  rise  in  royal 
favor,  and  undermine  all  other  advisers,  could  now  plentifully  fur- 
nish further  particulars.  He  had  joined  with  the  King  of  France, 
last  year,  in  banishing  the  Cardinal  from  Paris ;  and  as  he  ever 
considered  Pole  to  be  a  weak  man,  so  he  would  not  be  slow  now 
to  assist  the  King  in  regarding  him  as  the  original  author  of  the 
present  combination  on  the  Continent.  Such,  at  least,  was  Henry's 
persuasion  ;  and  it  must  have  been  greatly  strengthened,  by  the 
Cardinal  being  sent  in  November  as  Legate  to  Spain,  to  stimulate 
the  Emperor  to  invade  England.  His  relations  in  England,  as 
suspected  of  treason,  were  now  to  be  dealt  with.  His  brother,  Sir 
Geoffrey  Pole,  being  first  committed,  is  said  to  have  made  certain 
disclosures  to  the  Council,  when  Lord  Montacute,  another  brother, 
the  Countess  of  Salisbury,  their  aged  mother,  the  Marquis  and 
Marchioness  of  Exeter,  and  Sir  Edward  Neville,  were  arrested. 
On  the  31st  of  December  last,  the  Peers  were  arraigned,  and  on 
3d  of  January,  the  two  Knights.  Sir  Geoffrey  was  pardoned,  but 
the  other  three  had  suffered  at  Towerhillon  the  9th  of  that  month. 

The  present  year,  as  connected  with  Crumwell  and  Cranmer, 
now  demands  notice.  The  influence  of  Gardiner  and  Tunstal, 
they  being  at  last  united,  and  near  the  King,  was  far  from  being 
confined  to  foreign  politics.  It  was  still  more  apparent  in  their 
taking  advantage  of  what  had  been  done  in  Gardiner's  absence, 
and  now  artfully  turning  it  to  the  disgrace  of  those  they  either 
hated  or  persecuted. 

At  that  Convocation  in  1.536,  or  the  first  of  an  unprecedented 
character,  where  Crumwell  had  presided  as  Vicegerent,  and  with 
a,  high  hand  over  the  Bishops,  Cranmer  had  introduced  certain 
arlicies,  informing  all  present  that  the  Sacramenls  must  he  first 
settled  ;  and  as  the  creed,  whether  framed  by  himself  or  the  King, 
or  by  both  in  union,  was  guarded  by  sanguinary  penalties,  it 
formed  a  most  convenient  instrument  for  any  persecutor.  After 
this,  it  is  true,  by  his  zeal  for  the  Bible  of  1537,  Cranmer  would 
seem  as  though  he  had  either  questioned  or  undervalued  the  articles 
passed  and  subscribed  :  but  be  this  as  it  may,  he  had  been  evidently 
eager  to  receive  the  Germans  to  a  conference,  and  as  much  so  to 
have  retained  them  in  discussion.  Probably  he  thought,  that  as 
the?/  could  defend  their  own  faith,  under  safe-conduct,  and  so  boldly 
question  or  oppose  some  of  the  royal  dogmas,  thus  some  impression 


262 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


might  be  made  on  his  obstinate  and  self-willed  master.  In  this, 
however,  he  had  now  been  deeply  disappointed,  when  lo !  Stephen 
Gardiner  arrived  in  London. 

Gardiner  had  been  uniformly  opposed  to  all  this  courting-  of  the 
German  Confederated  States.  Even  when  abroad,  and  two  years 
ago,  he  had  strongly  advised  the  King  against  it ;  but  he  had  no\v 
an  opportunity  of  renewing  his  former  arguments,  and  the  crisis 
Vv^as  particularly  favorable  to  his  adding  "many  like  words."  He 
had  been  living  for  three  years  on  the  Continent ;  and  as  his  royal 
Master,  in  all  his  movements,  was  governed  solely  by  political  mo- 
tives, no  man  was  more  able  than  Gardiner  to  turn  his  intimate 
acquaintance  with  foreign  affairs  to  some  positive  account,  in  favor 
of  his  own  views.  These,  of  course,  were  diametrically  opposed 
to  the  policy  of  Crumwell  and  Cranmer.  Henry,  he  had  insinu- 
ated formerly^  was  a  Sovereign,  but  these  Germans,  very  inferior 
princes,  the  mere  subjects  of  the  Emperor;  and  it  was  below  the 
King's  dignity  to  form  any  league  with  them,  except  as  lord  of 
them  all.  He  was  "Head  of  the  Church"  in  his  own  kingdom; 
and  in  all  matters  of  faith,  they,  of  course,  ought  to  bow  to  him. 
Besides,  he  was  an  author  of  high  renown  ;  and  having,  by  his 
book  against  Luther,  gained  the  title  of  "Defender  of  the  Faith," 
it  was  now  of  more  importance  than  ever,  that  be  should  appear 
the  lord  and  master  of  all  sentiments  and  opinions  within  his  own 
dominions,  and  give  distinct  intimation  to  all  what  his  own  opinions 
were.  Pole  had  charged  his  Majesty  with  the  crime  of  changing 
his  religion;  whereas  now,  through  Tunstal,  not  only  private  masses, 
involving  auricular  confession,  had  been  maintained,  but  all  the 
w^onders  of  the  mass.  One  of  the  points  in  discussion  with  the 
Envoys  from  Germany,  had  related  to  the  Loid's  Supper,  and  the 
denial  of  the  cup  to  the  people  at  large  ;  but  in  the  iinal  reply  by 
Tunstal  and  Henry,  the  corporal  presence  and  concomitance  had 
been  affirmed  to  the  last  degree  of  incomprehensibility.  Should 
any  man  in  England,  therefore,  at  this  moment,  presume  to  ques- 
tion that  point,  a  fine  opportunity  was  presented  to  Gardiner  and 
Tunstal  for  using  all  their  address  and  sophistry.  The  King,  it 
has  been  said,  "  valued  Gardiner's  abilities  for  business,  saw  his 
meanness,  and  w'as  not  aware  that  he  himself  was  sometimes  in- 
fluenced by  the  fawning  subtilty  which  he  despised."  In  one  word, 
no  moment  could  be  more  favorable  for  bloody  purposes.  Henry 
w^as  chafed  by  the  policy  of  the  European  Sovereigns,  eiiraged  at 
Pole  as  Avell  as  at  his  pointed  charges,  if  not  also  irritated  by  the 
obstinate  adherence  of  the  Germans  to  their  Augsburg  Confession. 

The  creed  of  1536,  therefore,  (forming  the  first  articles  imposed 
upon  England,)  as  if  framed  for  the  occasion,  was  now  to  l>e  put 
in  operation.  The  King  had  entitled  it — "Articles  devised  to  es- 
tablish Christian  quietness  among  us  ;"  and  Cranmer,  in  bringing 
it  before  the  Convocation,  had  insisted  that  the  sacraments  must 
be ^r."?^  settled  ;  but  in  doing  this,  he  probably  little  dreamt  that 
two  of  those  very  articles  would  prove  the  first  occasion  of  his 
imbruing  his  own  bands  in  blood.     The  first  article  was  bapti&m, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLK.  263 

and  with  it  the  King  began.  Henry  had'  decreed  that  alt  his  peo- 
ple '•  ought  and  must  of  necessity^  believe  certainly,  that  baptism 
was  instituted  as  a  thing  necessary  for  the  attaining  of  everlast- 
ing life''' — "^that  by  this  they  shall  have  remission  of  sins,  and 
the  grace  and  favour  of  God'' — "that  this  promise  of  grace  and 
life,  which  is  adjoined  unto  baptism,  pertaineth  not  only  to  such 
as  have  the  use  of  reason,  but  also  to  infants,  who,  by  this  sacra- 
ment, be  made  thereby  the  very  sons  and  children  of  God — that 
infants  must  needs  be  christened,  because  they  be  born  in  origi- 
nal sin,  which  sin  cannot  be  remitted,  but  b/y  the  sacrament  of 
baptism." 

It  has  been  affirmed  that  there  were  many  in  England  who  de- 
nied the  gross  errors  here  propounded  ;  and  the  list  of  "  dogmata" 
presented  to  the  Convocation  in  1536,  as  prevailing  throughout 
the  country,  might  be  referred  to  as  provuig  this  ;  but  the  parties 
seized,  at  this  moment,  were  not  Henry's  people — not  his  own  sub- 
jects. The)'^  were  foreigners,  Germans,  Avho  had  fled  from  their 
own  country  to  avoid  persecution  there.  They  might  therefore 
have  at  least  been  first  warned  to  leave  the  kingdom.  But  no — 
the  King  must  speak  out,  in  no  unequivocal  term.s,  as  to  his  ortho- 
doxy ;  and  both  Cranmer  and  Cruaiwcll,  as  well  as  others,  now 
fall  in  with  the  stream  of  blood. 

On  the  first  of  October,  a  commission,  in  the  King's  name  was 
given  out  to  Cranmer,  Stokesly,  and  Samson,  as  Bishops,  includ- 
ing Heath,  Skip,  Thirlby.  Gvvent,  Robert  Barnes,  and  Edward 
Crome,  to  try  these  people  "  lately  come  into  this  realm,  where 
they  lurk  secretly  in  divers  corners  and  places."  There  is  no  evi- 
dence of  any  crime  wliatever,  save  the  denial  of  this  article,  or 
the  doctrine  contained  in  it ;  and  we  have  no  record  of  their  trial. 
Nor  is  this  surprising  ;  it  was  not  to  be  expected  ;  as  by  the  com- 
mission itself,  the  coimnissioners  had  authority  to  execute  the 
premises,  notiinthstanding  part  of  them  might  be  contrary  to 
the  customary  course  and  form,s  of  law !  This  most  humilia- 
ting document  for  Cranmer,  was  subscribed  by  Crumwell.  The 
result  was,  that  three  men  and  one  woman  bore  faggots  at  Paul's 
cross,  and  two  others,  a  man  and  a  woman,  were  consigned  to  the 
flames  in  Smithfield. 

But  another  article  of  the  creed  imposed,  furnished  ground  for 
a  far  more  conspicuous  tiiumph  to  the  Bishop  of  Winchester  ; 
when  a  more  miserable  spectacle  of  a  royal  tyrant  taunting  and 
worrying  his  victun,  Westminster  Hall  probably  never  witnessed, 
before  nor  since.  John  Lambert,  a  convert  of  Bilney's,  who  is 
said  to  have  associated  with  Tyndale  and  Fryth  when  abroad, 
had,  in  the  reign  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  been  brought  to  England ; 
and  before  Warham,  in  1532,  had  answered  to  not  fewer  than 
forty-five  articles  laid  against  him.  Warham,  however,  died  that 
year,  and  Lambert  was  discharged.  To  avoid  the  fury  of  perse- 
cution, he  then  clianged  his  name  to  Nicholson  ;  and  being  a  man 
of  learning,  he  had,  since  that  period,  earned  an  honorable  sub- 
sistence,   by  teaching  Latin  and  Greek.     This  year,.  Dr.  Joha 


264  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Tailour,  afterwards  Bishop  of  Lincoln,  had  been  preaching  at  St. 
Peter's,  Cornhill,  on  "  transubstantiation."  Lambert  or  Nicholson, 
after  hearing  him,  had  offered  civilly  to  argue  the  point,  but  Tail- 
our required  him  to  commit  his  thoughts  to  writing  ;  a  veiy  dan- 
gerous thing  in  those  times,  and  that  which  had  proved  fatal  to 
the  immortal  Fryth.  On  showing  the  paper  to  Robert  Barnes,  of 
whom  we  have  just  heard,  as  a  member  in  commission  with 
Cranmer,  he  advised  Tailour  to  lay  it  before  the  Archbishop,  now 
so  rigidly  observed  by  all  his  brethren  of  "the  old  learning." 
Lambert  once  brought  into  Court,  appealed  from  the  Bishops  to 
the  King  ;  when  Gardiner  suggested  that  a  fine  opportunity  was 
now  presented  to  his  Majesty,  for  putting  an  end  to  all  insinua- 
tions, foreign  or  domestic,  and  of  vindicating  himself  before  the 
world,  from  the  charge  of  favoring  heretics.  The  King,  in  perfect 
character,  taking  up  the  appeal  with  a  high  hand,  convoked  his 
Nobles  and  Prelates  immediately  to  repair  to  London,  and  assist 
at  the  triumph.  Upon  the  day  fixed  Henry  arrived,  with  a  nume- 
rous guard,  all  clothed  in  white,  and  a  cushion  of  white  cloth  of 
tissue  was  laid  before  his  Majesty.  On  his  right  sat  the  Bishops, 
and  behind  them  the  lawyers,  in  purple.  On  his  left  the  Peers,  in 
their  order,  with  the  gentlemen  of  the  Privy  Chamber  behind. 
The  King,  once  seated  on  his  throne,  Samson,  Bishop  of  Chiches- 
ter, by  command  declared  to  the  people,  the  cause  of  this  assem- 
bly.- 

"  The  King,"  he  said,  "  had  thrown  oil  the  usurpations  of  the 
See  of  Rome,  discharged  and  disincorporated  some  idle  Monks, 
who  lived  only  like  drones  in  a  bee-hive ;  he  had  removed  the 
idolotrous  regard  for  images  ;  published  the  Bible  hi  EngUsli  for 
the  instruction  of  all  his  subjects,  and  made  some  lesser  altera- 
tions in  the  Churcli,  which  nobody  could  deny  were  for  the  public 
interest.  But  as  for  other  things,  he  his  Majesty  was  resolved  to 
keep  constant  to  the  Catholic  faith  and  customs.  That  he  was 
very  desirous  the  prisoner  would  retract  his  errors,  and  return  to 
the  Catholic  communion :  That  for  this  purpose,  and  to  prevent 
the  extremities  which  would  otherwise  follow,  he  had  ordered  the 
appearance  of  these  grave  and  learned  men,  the  Bishops ;  hoping 
that  by  the  advantage  of  their  character,  and  force  of  their  rea- 
soning, they  would  recover  him  to  the  Church,  and  wrest  his  un- 
fortunate opinion  from  him.  But  in  case  he  was  not  to  be  re- 
moved from  his  obstinacy,  he  (the  King)  was  resolved  to  make 
him  an  example  ;  and  by  a  precedent,  of  his  own  setting,  acquaint 
his  judges  and  the  Magistracy,  how  tliey  ought  to  manage  heresy 
and  behave  themselves  upon  such  occasions  !" 

Henry  then  commenced,  and  with  "  brows  bent  unto  severity  ;" 
but  Lambert  at  once  denying  the  corporal  presence,  he  commanded 
Cranmer  to  answer  him.  With  his  characteristic  mildness  the 
Archbishop  began ;  but  very  soon  it  appeared  as  if  Lambert 
would  triumph  in  argument.  "  The  King,"  says  Foxe,  "  seemed 
greatly  moved — the  Bishop  himself  that  disputed  to  be  entan- 
gled, and  all  the  people  amazed ;"  when  Gardiner,  whose  cause  it 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  265 

truly  was,  before  Cranmer  had  finished,  and  who,  according  to 
previous  arrangement,  ought  not  to  have  spoken  one  word,  till 
four  others  had  finished,  kneeled  down  for  permission  to  break 
silence.  Henry  assenting  he  began — Tunstal,  Stokesly,  and  two 
others,  followed,  occupying  tlie  solitary  prisoner  for  five  hours,  or 
from  twelve  to  five  o'clock,  when  torches  were  lighted.  Lambert 
maintained  his  opinions  in  answer  to  them  all ;  but  observing  that 
there  was  no  hope  of  being  fairly  heard,  towards  the  close  had 
become  silent.  At  last,  Henry  inquired  whether  he  would  live  or 
die  ?  Lambert  threw  himself  upon  the  King's  mercy — that  King 
who,  in  his  anger,  never  spared  any  man.  He  replied,  that  he 
would  be  no  patron  of  heretics ;  and  then  commanded  Crumivell, 
as  Vicar-General,  to  read  the  sentence  of  death  !  Such  was  the 
pitiful  display  on  Friday  the  16th  of  November ;  and  on  Tuesday 
following,  the  20th,  Lambert  was  burnt  to  ashes,  with  circum- 
stances of  peculiar  barbarity.  His  last  words  were — "None  but 
Christ — ^none  but  Christ." 

On  Saturday  following,  the  foreigners  suffered  ;  and  by  Wednes- 
day the  28th  we  have  the  following  melancholy  proof  of  the  basest 
sycophancy,  on  the  part  of  Crurnwell,  now  striving  in  vain  to  re- 
tain his  influence  and  power,  in  the  face  of  Gardiner,  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  and  others.  He  is  writing  to  Sir  Thomas  Wyatt,  then 
ambassador  in  Spain. 

"  On  the  16th  of  this  present,  the  King's  Majesty,  for  the  reve- 
rence of  the  holy  sacrament  of  the  altar,  did  sit  openly  in  his  hall 
and  there  presided  at  the  disputation,  process,  and  judgment  of  a 
miserable  heretic  sacramentary,  John  Nicholson,  alias  Lambert, 
who  was  burnt  the  20th  of  this  same  month.  It  was  a  wonder  to 
see  how  princely,  with  how  excellent  gravity,  and  inestimable 
majesty,  his  Highness  exercised  there  the  vert/  office  of  a  supreme 
head  of  his  Church  of  England !  How  benignly  liis  Grace  as- 
sayed to  convert  the  miserable  man  ;  how  strong  and  manifest 
reasons  his  Highness  alleged  against  him !  I  wish  that  the  Prin- 
ces and  Potentates  of  Christendom  had  had  a  meet  place  for  them 
there,  to  have  seen  it !  Undoubtedly  they  should  have  much 
marvelled  at  his  Majesty's  most  high  wisdom  and  judgment,  and 
reputed  him  none  otlierwise,  after  the  same,  than,  in  manner,  the 
mirror  and  light  of  all  other  kings  and  princes  in  Christendom  !" 

Thus,  if  any  man  by  a  single  epistle,  ever  "  wrote  himself  down" 
in  the  eye  of  posterity,  which  any  man  may,  it  was  Crurnwell 
upon  this  occasion.  He  bad  not  only  read  the  burning  sentence, 
but  now  justified  the  execution,  and  eulogized  the  royal  murderer ; 
so  that  his  having  been  said  to  have  asked  forgiveness  of  Lambert 
before  death,  if  not  a  mere  gratuitous  assumption,  or  embellish- 
ment of  Foxe,  was  adding  insult  to  injury.  And  as  for  Crum- 
well's  motive  in  so  writing  to  the  Continent,  at  this  juncture,  if  it 
was  the  pitiful  timeserving  idea,  that  he  might  thus  raise  his 
cruel  master  in  the  estimation  of  the  Spanish  Court,  and  so,  in 
some  degree,  retain  his  own  popularity  or  power,  he  entirely  failed. 
With  regard  to  the  mock-trial  itself;  such  an  array,  to  browbeat 


266 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


and  overawe  a  poor  solitary  schoolmaster,  was  sufficiently  con- 
temptible. The  thing"  Avas  evidently  got  up  to  serve  some  purpose 
at  the  moment,  while,  like  many  other  bloody  steps,  it  proved  an 
entire  failure;  though,  after  all,  in  the  page  of  history,  the  event 
is  not  without  its  value.  Henry  had  assembled  all  his  authorities 
round  him,  and  thus  fully  displayed  what  was  actually  their  exist- 
ing- spirit  or  character,  as  well  as  his  oiun.  The  firm  faith  and 
fortitude  of  Lambert,  cleared  the  moral  atmosphere,  and  served 
to  show  the  entire  assembly  in  its  true  colors.  The  right  of  pri- 
vate judg-ment,  and  the  unfettered  freedom  of  religious  worship, 
were  not  understood,  of  course,  by  a  single  individual  there  pres- 
ent; but,  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  Sacred  Scriptures  be  actually 
now  printing,  and  at  the  instance  of  Crumwell,  one  of  these  very 
courtiers,  then  their  introduction  into  Kngland,  or  diffusion  there, 
is  a  cause  just  as  distinct  from  these  men,  except  as  mere  instru- 
ments, at  it  had  ever  been.  "And  should  another  edition  of  the 
Sacred  Volume,  and  that  a  larger  impression,  be  thus  advancing 
at  press,  it  becomes  doubly  interesting  to  inquire,  how  such  a 
thing  could  be  accomplished. 

The  two  cities  in  the  west  of  Europe,  or  indeed  an}ivhere  else. 
which,  as  cities,  had  discovered  the  fiercest  opposition  to  Divine 
Truth,  were  London  and  Paris.  The  former,  after  a  siege  of 
eleven  years'  duration,  had  now  been  taken.  A  succession  of 
sappers  and  miners,  by  means  of  the  New  Testament,  had  fully 
prepared  the  way.  The  same  gracious  Providence,  wliich  had 
been  so  conspicuous  from  the  begimiing,  at  last,  and  most  unex- 
pectedly, brought  the  Bible  entire,  when,  through  the  straitness 
of  the  siege,  and  the  force  of  overruling  local  circumstances,  all  at 
once,  Henry,  and  the  men  around  him,  without  one  breath  of 
hostility,  struck  tlieir  flag  of  defiance,  and  received  the  vilified  and 
long-rejected  version.  The  latter  city,  Paris,  though  assailed  as 
long  as  London  had  been,  was  alas  !  never  so  to  yield.  Francis, 
though  the  attached  brother  of  a  pious  sister  would  never  bow,  as 
Henry  had  been  obhged  to  do.  Of  the  two  cities  it  might  be  said 
— "  one  was  taken,  the  other  left." 

By  the  favor  of  God,  Britain  was  to  become  the  land  of  Bibles ; 
and  yet  the  next  edition,  after  the  imported  one,  was  not  to  be 
commenced  in  her  metropolis.  A  tribute  higher  still  miist  be  paid 
to  the  disinterested  patriotism  and  Christian  piety  of  our  first 
Translator.  London  did  not  then  afford  such  excellent  materials 
for  printing  as  Paris.  It  would  therefore  be  a  higher  display  of 
Almighty  power,  amidst  the  burning  hate  of  the  Parisians,  of  the 
King  himself,  and  even  in.  the  face  of  that  Inquisition,  which  had 
obtained  no  footing  in  England,  if  the  next  English  foho  Bible 
should  be  printed  by  Frenchmen;  and  in  Paris  itself!  It  will  not 
only  be  so,  but  under  the  eye  of  the  same  man  who  had  embarked 
his  all  in  printing  the  first  edition  ! 

Such  an  event  indeed  might  seem  impossible,  look  where  we 
may,  at  home  or  abroad.  Henry  himself,  in  eager  correspondence 
with  both  Spain  and  France,  is  observed  to  have  been  engrossed 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  267 

with  Continental  politics^  and  not  only  in  keen  piM'suit  after  a 
fourth  Q,ueen,  but  busy  in  proposing  matrimonial  alliances  for  his 
children,  or,  as  after  this,  in  sanctioning  bitter  persecution.  Cran- 
mer,  in  communication  with  German^y,  is  employed  in  discussk\i 
for  months  with  Envoys  from  that  coiuitry  ;  while  Crumwell,  ha- 
tween  them  both,  though  he  might ^seem  to  have  had  enough  to 
do,  is  alsO'  pursuing  vigorou-sly  his  own  course,  in  the  visitation  of 
Monasteries  and  Abbeys,  Images,  Crosses,  and  Shrines,  with  a 
view  to  their  common  overthrow.  The  harvest  months  are  marked 
by  cruel  preparations,  and  those  of  winter,  by  the  shedding  of  blood, 
both  foreign  and  domestic, 

Grafton's  edition  of  the  Rible,  so  singularly  introduced  last  year,. 
was  soon  found,  to  be  but  a  poor  supply,  and  a  second,  of  2500 
copies,  was  nov;  intended.  Grafton  may  have  suggested  Paris  »s 
the  best  place  for  printing  it,  as  well  as- for  superior  paper ;  and 
here  now  stood  Coverdale,  at  Crum well's-  command,  ready  to  ac- 
company him,  as  corrector  of  the  press  ;  but  how  was  it  possible 
for  the  work  to  be  executed  there  7  In  the  comm'-enccment  of  the 
year,  owing  to  the  feeling,  then  existing  between  Henry  and  Fran- 
cis, such  a  proposal  was  out  of  the  question.  The  latter  had  given 
great  otFence,  by  refusing  Mary  of  Guise  to  the  English  monarch, 
and  by  not  bowing  to  his  request  as  to  her  sisters.  Both  the  Em- 
peror and  Francis,  however,  in  order  to  gain  time,  were  alike 
deceiving  the  King  of  England  ;  and  by  the  end  of  February,  one 
of  the  French  King's  strokes  of  policy  was,  to  assent  to  Henry 
becoming  the  mediator  between  the  Emperor  and  himself;  nay„ 
before  the  end  of  April,  bx^,  had  offered  his  son,  the  Duke  of  Orleans, 
to  Mary  of  England.  Crumwell's  policy,  it  has  been  affirmed,, 
was  to  cultivate  frieiKlship  with  France,  and,  through  that  power, 
link  Henry  v/ith  the  German  States :  but  be  that  as  it  may,  here- 
vvas  now  an  opening  with  Paris.  At  this  moment,  therefore^ 
Crumwell  must  have  succeeded  in  getting  his  royal  Master  to  com- 
nmnicate  with  Francis  ;  as  it  was  expressly  in  consequence  of 
this  that  a  license  was  then  actually  granted  by  the  King  of  France 
to  Richard  Grafton  and  George  Whitchurch,  to  print  the  Scriptures, 
Now,  as  Francis  left  his  capital  about  the  first  of  June,  and  con- 
siderable progress  had  been  made  by  the  23d  of  that  month,  it 
may  be  safely  presumed  that  both  Grafton  and  Coverdale  had  ar- 
rived in  Paris  sometinie  in  Ma.y.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  the 
first  step  taken,  was  by  a  direct  communication  between  these  two 
monarchs,  Flenry  and  Francis  ;  for  Crumwell  would  not  stoop  to 
any  intercourse  through  Gardiner,  though  the  English  a)nbassa- 
dor  there,  who  was  a  noted  opponent.  Granting  the  request,  too, 
might,  and  probably  did,  serve  the  purpose  of  Francis  in  prolong- 
ing delusion,  who  was  just  then  setting  off  for  Nice,  where,  at  last, 
the  mask  of  friendship  was  to  be  thrown  off.  The  French  King,, 
therefore,  after  issuing  the  license^  haves  Paris,  and  Gardiner  offi- 
cially/o^/o//;5  him  ;  but  it  was  three  months  before  either  the  one 
or  the  other  returned  ;  and  thus  the  printing  of  this  Bible  for  Eng- 
land rapidly  proceeded  during  their  absence  !     When  the  English 


268 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


Scriptures  were  to  be  introduced  into  our  native  land,  the  Bishop 
of  Winchester  was  taken  out  of  the  way  ;  and  so  it  happened  when 
they  were  to  be  printed  in  Paris.  He  may  return  for  a  few  days 
in  September,  but  not  as  ambassador  :  his  influence  was  gone  ;  it 
was  merely  to  make  certain  arrangements  before  taking  his  de- 
parture for  England. 

Less  than  two  years  ago,  when  the  Doctors  of  Louvain  were 
wrangling  with  Tyndale,  and  thirsting  for  his  blood,  certainly 
there  was  nothing  within  the  range  of  possibiHty  so  improbable, 
as  that  his  translation  of  the  Scriptures  should  be  reprinting  at  a 
Parisian  press,  by  the  request  of  his  o^on  Sovereign,  and  with  the 
sanction  of  the  persecuting  French  King  himself;  but  so  it  was  ! 
For  while  the  common  enemies  of  sucli  a  measure  were  all  assem- 
bled at  Nice,  only  to  make  bad  worse,  Grafton  and  Coverdale  were 
busily  at  work!  Their  letters,  without  exception,  are  addressed 
to  Crumwell,  and  the  first  is  dated  the  23d  of  June — 

'■Aftermost  liumble  and  hearty  commendations  to  your  good 
Lordship.  Pleaseth  the  same  to  understand,  that  we  be  entered 
into  your  work  of  the  Bible ;  whereof,  according  to  our  most 
bounden  duty,  we  have  here  sent  unto  your  Lordship  two  ensam- 
ples ;  one  in  parchment,  wherein  we  intend  to  print  one  for  the 
King's  Grace  ;  and  another  for  your  Lordship  ;  and  the  second,  in 
paper,  whereof  all  the  rest  shall  be  made ;  trusting,  that  it  shall 
be  not  only  to  the  glory  of  God,  but  a  singular  pleasure  also  to 
your  good  Lordship,  the  causer  thereof,  and  a  general  edifying  of 
the  King's  subjects,  according  to  your  Lordship's  most  godly  re- 
quest. For  we  follow  not  only  a  standing  text  of  the  Hebrew, 
with  the  interpretation  of  the  Chaldee  and  the  Greek  ;  but  we  set 
also  in  a  private  (separate)  table,  the  diversity  of  readings  of  all 
texts,  with  such  annotations  in  another  table,  as  shall  doubtless 
elucidate  and  clear  the  same ;  as  well  without  any  singularity  of 
opinions,  as  all  checkings  and  reproofs.  The  pritit,  no  doubt, 
shall  please  your  good  Lordship  :  the  paper  is  of  the  best  sort  in 
France.  The  charge  certainly  is  great ;  wherein,  as  we  most 
humbly  require  your  favourable  help  at  this  present,  with  whatso- 
ever it  shall  please  your  Lordship  to  let  us  have ;  so  trust  we,  if 
need  require,  in  our  just  business,  to  be  defended  from  the  Papists 
by  your  Lordship's  favourable  letters — which  wc  most  humbly  de- 
sire to  have  by  this  bearer,  Wilham  Grey,  either  to  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  or  to  so77ie  other,  whom  your  Lordship  shall  think 
most  expedient.  We  be  daily  threatened,  and  look  ever  to  be 
spoken  withal,  as  this  bearer  can  farther  inform  your  Lordship  ; 
but  how  they  will  use  us,  as  yet  we  know  not.  Nevertheless,  for  our 
farther  assurance,  wherethrough  we  may  be  the  abler  to  perform 
this  your  Lordship's  work,  we  are  so  much  the  bolder  of  your  good 
Lordship ;  for  other  refuge  have  we  none,  under  God  and  our 
King,  whom,  with  noble  Prince  Edward,  and  all  of  you  their 
most  honourable  Council,  God  Almighty  preserve,  both  now  and 
ever,  Amen. — Written  at  Paris,  the  23d  day  of  June,  by  your  Lord- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  269 

ship's  assured  and  daily  orators — Myles  Coverdale — Richard 
Grafton,  Grocer." 

They  must  have  aheady  been  a  month  or  more  in  Paris  ;  but 
notwithstanding  those  fears  expressed,  they  were  not  impeded,  nor 
will  they  be  for  nearly  six  months  to  come.  Meanwhile,  Gre)'- 
went  into  England,  but  soon  returned.  After  him  a  servant  of 
Crumwell's,  named  Sebastian,  (elsewhere  styled  his  cook,)  who  had 
been  sent  over,  most  probably  with  money  and  letters,  upon  his 
return  brought  farther  sheets,  in  proof  of  their  progress  ;  and  their 
next  epistle  is  one  chiefly  of  explanation. 

"After  most  humble  and  due  salutation  to  your  good  Lordship. 
Pleaseth  the  same  to  understand  that  your  work  going  forivard, 
we  thought  it  our  most  bounden  duty  to  send  unto  your  Lordship 
certain  leaves  thereof,  specially  seeing  we  had  so  good  occasion, 
by  the  returning  of  your  beloved  servant  Sebastian;  and  as  they 
are  done,  so  will  we  send  your  Lordship  the  residue,  from  time  to 
time. 

"  As  touching  the  manner  and  order  that  we  keep  in  the  same  work, 
pleaseth  it  your  good  Lordship  to  be  advertised,  that  the  mark  tCj^ 
in  the  text,  that  upon  the  same,  in  the  latter  end  of  the  hook,  there 
is  some  notable  annotation;  which  we  have  written  without  any 
private  opinion,  only  after  the  best  interpreters  of  the  Hebrews,  for 
the  more  clearness  of  the  text.  This  mark  |  betokeneth  that  upon 
the  same  text  there  is  diversity  of  reading,  among  the  Hebrews. 
Chaldees,  and  Greeks  and  Latinists,  as  in  a  table  at  the  end  of  the 
hook  shall  be  declared.  This  mark  ^^x  sheweththat  the  sentence, 
written  in  small  letters,  is  not  in  the  Hebrew  or  Chaldee,  but  in 
the  Latin  and  seldom  in  the  Greek,  and  that  we  nevertheless, 
would  not  have  it  extinct,  but  highly  accept  it,  for  the  more  expla- 
nation of  the  text.  This  token  t  in  the  Old  Testament  giveth  to 
understand  that  the  same  text  that  foUoweth  it,  is  also  alleged  of 
Christ,  or  of  some  Apostle  in  the  New  Testament.  This,  among 
other  necessary  labours,  is  the  way  that  we  take  in  this  work; 
trusting  verily  that  as  Almighty  God  moved  your  Lordship  to  set 
us  unto  it,  so  shall  it  be  to  his  glor}^,  and  right  welcome  to  all  them 
that  love  to  serve  him.  and  their  Prince,  in  true  faithful  obedience, — 
at  Paris  the  9th  day  of  August  1538.  By  your  faithful  orators — 
Miles  Cov"dale.  Richard  Grafton.  Willm  Grey. — Su- 
perscribed to  the  Lord  Privy  Seal,  Crumwell." 

It  is  cm-ious  enough,  that  Francis  Regnault,  the  Paris  printer, 
in  whose  house  both  Coverdale  and  Grafton  were  now  lodging,  had 
for  many  years  printed  English  primers  and  missals  for  the  use  of 
the  Englisli  Churches.  But  the  times  were  changing  :  he  was 
overstocked  ;  having  had  no  such  sale  as  in  former  years,  and  more 
especially  as  the  London  booksellers  had  now  interdicted  him. 
To  get  rid  of  those  on  hand,  he  implored  the  kind  offices  of  his 
guests  and  present  employers  ;  and  on  the  12th  of  September  they 
address  Crumwell,  concluding  in  the  following  terms — 

"  He  is  also  contented,  and  hath  promised  before  my  Lord  elect 
of  Hereford,  that  if  there  be  found  any  notable  fault  in  his  books, 


270  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

he  will  put  tke  same  out,  and  print  the  leaf  again.  Thus  are  we 
bold  to  write  to  your  Lordship,  in  his  cause,  as  doth  also  my  Lord 
elect  of  Hereford,  beseeching  your  Lordship  to  pardon  our  bold- 
ness, and  to  be  good  lord  to  this  honest  man,  whose  servant  shall 
give  attendance  upon  your  Lordship's  most  favourable  answer.  If 
your  LiOrdship  show  him  this  benefit,  we  shall  not  fare  the  worse, 
in  the  readiness  of  this  )^our  Lordship's  work  of  the  Bible,  which 
goeth  well  forward  and  within  few  months,  will  draw  to  an  end 
by  the  grace  of  Almighty  God." 

Whether  this  suit  was  successful  does  not  appear  ;  but  most 
^providentially,  three  months  more  were  allowed  to  pass  av/ay,  be- 
fore any  serious  apprehension  was  felt  asto  the  safety  of  the  Script- 
ures already  printed.  By  this  period,  too,  the  impression  was  so 
far  advanced,  that  Coverdale  was  applying  earnestly  to  Crumwell 
respecting  the  printing  of  the  annotations.  Now  these,  it  Avill  be 
remembered,  were  to  be  put  at  the  end  of  tlie  book  ;  so  that  the 
Bible  itself  must  have  been  very  nearly  ^/»'67ietZ.  Thus,  the  liand 
of  the  enemy  had  been  restrained  from  touching  the  work,  for  more 
than  six  months ;  but  what  was  better  still,  though  not  observed 
by  any  historian  before,  anticipating  what  soon  happened.  Cover- 
dale,  and  through  Boitner  also,  conveyed  "  this  much  of  the  Bible" 
"beyond  the  reach  of  danger.  The  letter  to  Crumwell,  with  this 
intelligence,  is  "written  somewhat  ha.stily  at  Paris  the  13th  day 
-cf  December." 

-"  Right  honourable  and  my  singular  good  Lord,  after  all  due 
salutations,  I  humbly  beseech  your  Lordship,  that  by  my  Lord 
elect  of  Hereford,  I  n^ay  know  your  pleasure  concerning  the  anno- 
tations of  this  Bible,  whether  I  shall  proceed  therein  or  no.  Pity 
iit  were  that  the  dark  places  of  the  text,  upon  which  I  have  al- 
ways set  a  hand  03^,  should  so  pass  undeclared.  As  for  any 
private  opinion  or  contentious  words,  as  I  will  utterly  avoid  all 
such,  so  will  I  offer  the  annotations  first  to  my  said  Lord  of 
Hereford  !  to  the  intent  that  he  shall  so  examine  the  same,  afore 
they  be  put  in  print,  if  it  be  your  Lordship's  good  pleasure  that  I 
shall  so  do. 

'•  As  concerning  the  New  Testaments  in  English  and  Latin, 
whereof  your  good  Lordship  received  lately  a  book  by  your  servant, 
Sebastian  the  cook,  I  beseech  your  Lordship  to  consider  the  green- 
ness thereof,  which  for  lack  of  time,  cannot  as  yet  be  so  apt  to  be 
bound  as  it  should  be. 

"  And  whereas  my  said  Lord  of  Hereford  is  so  good  unto  us  as 
to  convey  this  much  of  the  Bible  to  your  good  Lordship,  I  humbly 
"beseech  the  same,  to  be  the  defender  g-nd  keeper  thereof:  to  the 
intent,  that  if  these  men  proceed  in  their  cruelness  against  us,  and 
confiscate  the  rest,  yet  this  at  the  least  may  be  safe  by  the  means 
of  your  Lordship,  whom  God,  the  Almighty,  evermore  preserve  to 
his  good  pleasure." 

The  Bible  itself,  however,  was  to  be  its  own  interpreter ;  and  of 
annotations  there  were  to  be  tione;  a  circumstance  far  too  re- 
markable to  pass  unnoticed,  for  they  were  never  added.    But  there 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  271 

stand  the  pointing  hands,  both  in  the  text  and  in  the  margin,  by 
which  the  edition  may  be  easily  distinguished. 

It  was  only  four  days  after  this  letter,  that  the  press  was  ar- 
rested in  its  progress.  An  order  from  the  Inquisition,  dated  the 
17th  of  December  1538,  and  subscribed  "  Le  Teilier,"  was  the  in- 
strument ;  citing  "  Regnault,  and  all  other  that  it  might  concern," 
to  appear  and  answer — inhibiting  at  once  the  printing  of  the  Bible, 
and  concealment  of  the  sheets  already  iinishedK,  As  this  body 
acted  under  roi/al  authority,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Fontiif,  some 
change  must  have  taken  place  in  the  mind  of  Francis,  before  sucii 
a  proceeding  could  have  been  winked  at ;  and  for  this  change  it  is 
not  difficult  to  account.  Bonner's  a,ppointment  was  lar  from  an 
acceptable  one  to  the  French  King.  Coming  as  he  did,  it  was 
impossible  to  regard  him  in  any  other  light  than  that  of  a  spy,  and 
as  a  spy  he  had  been  acting  most  vigilantly.  In  October  he  was 
at  St.  Quentin,  near  Cambray,  watching  and  reporting  a  suspicious 
interview  of  Francis  with  the  reigning  Princess  of  the  Nether- 
lands, the  sister  of  Charles  ;  and  at  Paris,  so  recently  as  the  last 
day  of  November,  he  writes  to  Crumwell — "  I  shall,  by  God's 
grace,  give  vigilant  eye  to  their  doings  here,  and  advertise  you. 
Hitherto  I  have  been  strangely  and  very  unkindly  used  in  my 
lodging,  having  no  Idnd  of  friendship  shewed  me  in  manner  that 
was  worthy — how  it  will  be  hereafter  I  cannot  telL"  Amono- 
other  points  which  Bonner  had  in  charge,  there  was  an  annual 
pension  by  Francis  to  Henry,  in  terms  of  a  treaty  between  them, 
which  was  now  in  arrear  for  four  years ;  and  the  zealous  Envoy 
had  begun  to  press  payment  in  a  style  which  finally  occasioned 
his  recall,  next  year. 

But  happily,  after  all,  the  Inquisitor  seems  to  have  been  more 
than  a  day  too  late.  The  entire  impression  of  the  Bible,  amount- 
ing to  2.5U0  copies,  could  not  have  fallen  into  his  hands.  We  have 
read  Coverdale's  information  of  the  13th  of  December,  and  as  the 
present  citation  was  the  second,  and  is  dated  the  17th,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that,  impelled  by  the  Jirst,  he  was  then  convejnng 
away  "so  much  of  the  Bible,"  as  had  been  ready  for  renjovai. 
Even  with  regard  to  the  sheets  seized,  there  was  considerable  re- 
covery;  for  having  been  condemned  to  be  burnt  inMaubert  Place, 
"  four  great  dry-fats  of  them"  were  regained  Ipy  purchase  This 
was  owing  to  the  cupidity  of  the  Lieutenant  Criminal  of  the  In- 
quisition, who,  instead  of  obeying  ordej's,  had  sold  them  to  a  hab- 
erdasher. 

Old  John  Foxe,  therefore,  though  others  have  followed  him,  was 
mistaken  in  supposing  that  these  books  were  lost,  and  so  was 
Lewis.  The  evidence  now  presented  looks  quite  the  otiier  way, 
and  the  copies  even  still  remaining  in  existence,  confirms  it  "  I 
am  inclined  to  think,"  says  Todd,  "  that  the  proprietors  lost  few 
copies  of  the  impression,"  And  who  were  these  proprietors  ?  For 
the  affair  was  by  no  means  to  end  here.  Henry  VIII.  himself, 
by  Crumwell's  request,  and  Crumwell  much  more  deeply,  were 
parties  concerned.     Whether,  therefore,  the  alarm  soon  subsided 


272  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

or  not,  or  any  means  were  taken  to  appease  the  Inquisitors,  it 
must  have  been  dangerous  and  impohtic  at  the  moment  to  thwart 
even  (he  Viceg-erent,  still  in  possession  of  great  power,  to  say  noth- 
ing of  his  imperious  master.  Crumwell  had  been  assisting  the 
undertaking  by  pecuniary  supphes  ;  the  King  himself  had  written 
to  Francis,  and  lie  had  fully  committed  himself  before  leaving 
Paris  for  Nice.  Since  then  the  Inquisitors  had  chosen  to  interfere 
in  his  absence — the  King  of  France,  nay,  and  the  Inquisition  to 
boot,  must  now  be  overruled  to  help^  instead  of  hindering  the  work. 
Persons  commissioned  by  Crumwell,  soon  returned  to  Paris,  and 
they  brought  away  with  them  the  printing  p7'esses,  the  ti/pes,  and 
even  the  loorknien.  In  short,  scarcely  six  weeks  could  have  been 
lost,  and  scarcely  a  sheet  could  have  been  missing,  as  in  two 
months  more,  the  Bible  entire  was  completed  in  London.  On  the 
last  leaf  they  printed,  ''  The  ende  of  the  New  Testament,  and  of 
the  whole  Byble,  fynished  in  Apryll  anno  1539.  A  Dfio  factu  est 
istud" — emphatically  acknowledging  Him,  whose  cause  it  was ; 
they  did  well  to  add,  A  Domino  factum  est  istud. 

It  will  certainly  be  very  observable,  if  this  interruption  actually 
promoted  the  design,  and  to  a  far  greater  extent  than  if  there 
had  been  none  whatever.  Had  there  been  none,  Coverdale  and 
Grafton  had  finished  their  task  in  Paris,  leaving  the  types  and 
w'orkmen  on  the  spot.  Meanwhile  a  hint  had  thus  been  given 
that  they  had  better  let  all  annotations  alone,  for  they  were  never 
printed  ;  leaving  the  Sacred  text  to  speak  for  itself.  But  above 
all,  it  will  appear  that  the  Parisian  types  had  come  in  far  larger 
quantity,  and  even  the  Frencli  iDorknien  in  greater  nimiber,  than 
has  ever  been  before  observed.  In  the  editions  of  the  Bible  from 
this  time  to  the  close  of  1541,  we  wait  to  discover  the  proof  of 
this.  At  this  crisis,  certainly  no  gift,  or  God-send,  to  old  England, 
could  have  been  of  more  value  than  these  types  and  printers. 
Very  different  employment  must  have  awaited  both,  had  they  re- 
mained in  Paris.  Tunstal  had  been  jocularly  advised  to  buy  the 
press  and  types  out  of  Tyndale's  way,  to  prevent  the  New  Testa- 
ment from  coming  into  England  !  Now,  the  authorities  are  im- 
porting both  men  and  types  to  jyrint  the  version. 

Grafton,  as  we  have  seen,  had  laid  down  at  the  press  two  copies 
of  this  Bible  in  velliun,  one  for  the  King,  and  another  for  Crum- 
well. The  sheets  of  both  had  been  saved,  as  both  are  understood 
to  be  in  preservation.  The  copy  once  belonging  to  Crumwell 
is  in  St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  and  has  been  described  long 
ago. 

"  We  have  such  a  Bible  printed  on  vellum,  and  embellished 
with  cuts,  illuminated,  the  leaves  gilt,  and  the  cover  embossed 
with  brass,  '  fynished  in  Apryll  anno  1539.'  The  frontispiece  is 
the  same  with  that  of  1540,  only  Crinnwell's  arms  are  left  there  a 
blank  ;  left  out  I  presume  upon  his  fall,  which  in  our  copy  has  his 
bearing  like  the  rest,  in  colors.  It  might  probably  be  the  same 
book  that  was  presented  to  Crumwell,  there  being  only  one  other 
that  we  can  hear  of,  that  is  the  King's,     But  how  it  came  to  us 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  273 

does  not  appear,  unless  from  the  late  Earl  of  Southampton,  who 
gave  us  most  of  those  manuscripts  we  now  enjoy." 

The  only  mistake  here  is  that  of  supposing  the  Royal  vellum 
copy  to  be  of  this  edition.  It  is  1540,  but  the  second  vellum  copy 
of  1539  is  still  understood  to  be  in  existence,  though  not  in  Peter 
College,  as  Lowndes  has  supposed,  yet  in  the  possession  of  a  pri- 
vate individual.  Of  the  copies  printed  on  paper,  there  are  not 
fewer  that  twelve  to  be  found  in  different  collections. 

Such  is  the  edition,  which,  on  the  authority  of  Coverdale's  and 
Grafton's  own  words,  ought  to  have  been  all  along  associated  with 
the  name  of  Crumwell,  and  never  with  that  of  Cranmer,  as  it 
has  too  frequently  been.  It  was  Crumwell's  undertaking  from 
beginning  to  end,  and  without  his  importation  of  types  and  men, 
Cranmer  afterwards  had  never  been  able  to  have  proceeded  as  he 
did.  Throughout  1538,  Cranmer  was  otherwise  engrossed  with  the 
German  connnissioners,  besides  other  business ;  in  the  whole  of 
his  correspondence  with  Crumwell,  throughout  1538,  there  is  not 
one  allusion  to  the  Bible  ;  and  although  Cranmer's  future  prologue 
or  preface  has  been  bound  up  with  some  copies  of  this  Bible,  it 
does  not  belong  to  the  book.  The  first  Bible  in  which  Cranmer 
took  an  interest  personally,  was  the  next  which  will  come  before 
us  ;  but  still,  the  materials  and  men  now  imported,  and  the  itn- 
peti/s  now  given  by  Crumwell,  will  be  found  to  prevail  throughout 
the  Bibles  of  1540,  and  extend  to  those  of  1541,  after  his  death. 
To  tire  Vicegerent  must  be  conceded  his  own  place  in  history, 
whatever  afterwards  may  become  of  his  general  character.  But 
for  Crumwell's  exertions  at  this  period,  it  is  next  to  certain  that  no 
snch  Bibles  could  have  appeared  in  1540  and  1541. 

We  have  now  returned  to  England,  and  ever  after  this  decsivie 
triumph,  shall  have  much  less  occasion  to  look  abroad.  We  have 
had  one  Bible,  wholly  imported  in  1537,  and  a  second,  redeemed 
from  destruction,  finished  in  London ;  and  notwithstanding  the 
political  frenzy,  as  well  as  all  the  cruelties  perpetrating  at  home, 
the  cause  of  truth  througliout  the  year  had  been  steadily  advanc- 
ing. Grafton,  on  proceeding  to  Paris,  had  left  his  first  impression 
of  1537  to  be  disposed  of,  without  any  risk  of  loss  or  delay  ;  and 
Crumwell  in  September  put  forth  his  first  injunctions,  in  innne- 
diate  reference  to  that  Bible.  This  he  did,  as  "  Vicegerent  unto 
the  King's  Highness," — "for  the  discharge  of  the  King's  Majesty," 
and  most  providentiall)^,  he  had  issued  his  orders  before  the  arrival 
of  Gardiner  from  France.  What  a  mighty  advance  had  been 
made,  since  he  left  for  Paris  in  October  1.535  !  Or,  more  properly 
speaking,  since  he  had  been  sent  out  of  the  way,  as  Tunstal  had 
been  before,  and  Bonner  will  be,  after  him.  Gardiner  might  de- 
part, rejoicing  that  Tyndale  was  at  last  in  prison,  and  then,  as 
perhaps  he  anticipated,  to  be  put  to  death.  But  now,  Gardiner 
had  been  removed  once  more  out  of  the  way,  even  from  Paris ; 
the  Bible  had  been  there  printed  before  Bonner's  own  eye,  and  it 
was  no  other  than  Tyndale's  long-traduced  version  of  the  Sacred 

18 


274  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Volume,  which  was  held  up  to  public  view,  by  injunctions,  to  be 
"observed  and  kept,  upon  pain  of  deprivation." 

"  Ite^n — That  ye  shall  provide,  on  this  side  of  the  feast  of  N. 
(Natalis,  Nativity  of  our  Lord,  25th  December)  next  coming,  one 
book  of  the  whole  Bible,  of  the  largest  volume  in  English,  and 
the  same  set  up  in  some  convenient  place  within  the  said  church, 
that  ye  have  cure  of,  where  your  parishioners  may  most  commo- 
diously  resort  to  the  same  and  read  it ;  the  charges  of  which  book 
shall  be  rateably  borne  between  you,  the  parson  and  parishioners 
aforesaid,  that  is  to  say,  the  one  half  by  you,  and  the  other  half 
by  them. 

"  Itetn — That  ye  shall  discourage  no  man,  privily  or  apertly. 
from  the  reading  or  the  hearing  of  the  said  Bible,  but  shall  ex- 
pressly provoke,  stir,  and  exhort,  every  person  to  read  the  same, 
as  that  which  is  the  very  lively  word  of  God,  that  every  Christian 
person  is  bound  to  embrace,  beheve,  and  follow,  if  they  look  to  be 
saved;  admonishing  them,  nevertheless,  to  avoid  all  contention  and 
altercation  therein,  but  to  use  an  honest  sobriety  in  their  inquisition 
of  the  true  sense  of  the  same,  and  to  refer  the  explication  of  the 
obscure  places  to  men  of  higher  judgment  in  Scripture." 

These  pointed  injunctions  to  the  country  at  large,  bore  solely 
upon  the  Bible  of  the  largest  volume,  the  very  first  time  this 
phrase  was  employed,  and  as  yet  there  was  but  one  such  edition, 
so  that  there  could  be  no  mistake.  They  may  have  been  ren- 
dered more  imperative  from  the  rumor  of  which  Grafton  had  fore- 
warned Crumwell,  viz.,  that  they  would  reprint  Matthew's  Bible 
of  1537  in  the  Low  Countries,  so  early  as  153S.  But  this  was 
only  a  rumor;  they  never  did;  as  the  Bible  marked  1538»in  our 
lists,  from  Lewis  down  to  Cotton  and  Lowndes;  is  a  mistake. 

At  home  however  now,  Tyndale  was  not  forgotten.  There 
were  two  editions  of  his  New  Testament  in  quarto  ;  one  printed 
in  Southwark  by  Peter  Treveres  ;  the  other,  which  seems  to  have 
been  finished  by  the  beginning  of  summer,  was  printed  by  Robert 
Redman,  next  door  to  St.  Dunstan's,  where  Tyndale  used  to 
preach,  "  set  forth  under  the  King's  most  gracious  license — cum 
privilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum."  It  is  in  parallel  columns  of 
Latin  and  English  ;  the  former,  be  it  observed,  not  the  Vulgate, 
but  the  Latin  of  Erasmus,  and  the  latter  that  of  Tyndale  or  of 
the  English  Bible,  now  enforced.  These  books  appear  to  be  a  set 
off  in  contrast  to  the  Testaments  of  Coverdale,  about  to  be  men- 
tioned, and  they  explain  the  injunctions  of  Cranmer,  preceding 
those  of  Crumwell,  already  mentioned. 

All  compliant  as  Coverdale  certainl)^  had  been  under  the  unex- 
pected change  which  had  taken  place  at  home,  it  is  curious 
enough  that  this  year  an  attempt  was  made  at  Antwerp  to  follow 
up  his  former  exertions,  by  reprinting  his  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  but  with  Tyndale's  prologues.  It  is  neatly  executed, 
in  small  black  letter  by  Matthew  Cromer,  with  numerous  and 
well-executed  wood-cuts,  marginal  references,  and  glosses.  Cro- 
mer even  repeated  this  in  a  larger  type,  with  different  cuts,  in 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  275 

1539,  leaving  out  the  prologue  to  the  Romans ;  but  it  abounds 
also  with  typographical  errors.  In  1537,  the  printer  might  not 
be  aware  of  the  change  which  had  taken  place  in  England,  but 
we  are  quite  unable  to  account  for  his  mistaken  zeal  in  1539. 
Yet  whatever  was  the  occasion  of  this  foreign  attempt,  at  home 
Coverdale  was  still  more  unfortunate  than  he  had  been,  even 
with  his  Bible.  In  the  early  part  of  this  year,  his  friend  Nycolson 
had  proposed  to  print  his  translation  and  tiie  vidgate  in  parallel 
columns.  And  previously  to  Coverdale  setting  off  for  Paris,  he 
had  drawn  out  another  of  his  characteristic  dedications  to  Henry 
VIII.,  trusting  to  Nycolson's  care  for  the  correcting  of  the  press. 
When  the  book  came  out  it  was  so  incorrectly  executed,  that  a 
copy  having  come  to  Coverdale's  hand  in  July,  at  Paris,  he  saw 
that  he  stood  'even  in  a  more  awkward  position  than  before. 
Grafton,  therefore,  on  the  first  of  December,  wrote  on  his  behalf, 
and  in  the  following  terms — 

"  Pleaseth  it  your  Lordship  to  understand,  that  it  chanced,  since 
our  coming  into  these  parts,  that  James  Nycolson,  dwelling  ia 
Southwark,  put  in  print  the  New  Testament  both  in  Latin  and 
English.  Which  book  was  delivered  unto  us  by  a  stranger;  and 
Avhen  Master  Coverdale  had  advised  and  considered  the  same,  he 
found  his  name  added  thereto  as  the  translator,  with  the  which  he 
never  had  to  do.  Neither  saw  he  it,  before  it  was  full  printed 
and  ended  ;  and  also  found  the  book  so  foolishly  done,  yea,  and 
so  corrupt,  that  it  did  not  only  grieve  him,  that  the  printer  had  so 
defamed  him  and  his  learning,  by  adding  his  name  to  so  fond  a 
thing,  but  also  that  the  common  people  was  deprived  of  the  true 
and  sincere  sense  of  God's  true  Word,  and  also  that  such  an  oc- 
casion was  ministered  to  the  enemies  of  God's  Word,  that  rather 
seek  occasions  to  rail  and  slander,  than  to  be  edified. 

"  And  therefore,  at  his  most  honest  and  lawful  request,  (al- 
though I  had  enough  to  do  beside,)  I  have  printed  the  same  again, 
translated  and  corrected  by  Master  Coverdale  himself.  Of  the 
which  books,  now  being  finished,  I  have  here  sent  your  Lordship 
the  first,  (and  so  have  I  sent  my  Lord  of  Canterbury  another,  and 
almost  to  every  Christian  Bishop  that  is  in  the  reahn ;  my  Lord 
of  Hereford,  also,  hath  sent  to  Mr.  Richard  Crumwell  one  of  the 
same,)  the  which  I  most  humbly  desire  your  Lordship  to  accept, 
having  respect  rather  to  my  heart  than  to  the  gift,  for  it  is  not  so 
well  done  as  my  heart  would  wish  it  to  be.  I  have  also  added,  as 
your  Lordship  may  perceive,  these  words,  "  Cum  gratia  et  jrrivi- 
legio  Reg-is." 

This  letter,  to  say  the  least,  was  certainly  a  very  awkward  one; 
since,  wherever  the  blame  lay,  it  was  sayiug  a  great  deal  too 
much.  It  by  no  means  corresponds  with  Coverdale's  own  lan- 
guage, in  the  dedication  of  his  Paris  Testament,  not  now  to  Henr}?^, 
but  to  Crumivell  himself,  and  actually  forwarded  with  this  letter! 

"  Truth  it  is,"  says  Coverdale,  "  that  this  last  Lent,  I  did,  with 
all  humbleness,  direct  an  epistle  unto  the  King's  most  noble 
Grace,  trusting  that  the  book  whereuuto  it  was  prefixed,  should 


276  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

afterwards  have  been  as  well  correct  as  other  books  be.  And  be- 
cause I  could  not  be  present  myself,  by  the  reason  of  sundry  notable 
impediments,  therefore  inasmuch  as  the  New  Testament,  which 
I  had  set  forth  in  English  before,  doth  so  agree  with  the  Latin,  I 
was  heartily  well  content  that  the  Latin  and  it  should  be  together : 
Provided  alway  that  the  coVrector  should  follow  the  true  copy  of 
the  Latin  in  any  wise,  and  to  keep  the  true  and  right  Enghsh  of 
the  same.  And  so  doing,  I  was  content  to  set  my  name  to  it : 
and  even  so  I  did  ;  trusting  that  though  I  were  absent  and  out  of 
the  land,  yet  all  should  be  well.  And,  as  God  is  my  record,  I 
knew  none  other,  till  this  last  July,  that  it  was  my  chance  here 
in  these  parts,  at  a  stranger's  hand,  to  come  by  a  copy  of  the  said 
print ;  which  when  I  had  perused,  1  found  that  as  it  was  disagree- 
able to  my  former  translation  in  English,  so  was  not  the  true  copy 
of  the  Latin  observed,  neither  the  English  so  correspondent  to  the 
same  as  it  ought  to  be ;  but  in  many  places  both  base,  insensible, 
and  clean  contrary,  not  only  to  the  phrase  of  our  language,  but 
also  from  the  understanding  of  the  text  in  Latin." 

But  again,  and  as  to  the  Latin  text  which  had  been  used,  and 
that  even  in  the  Testament  which  had  been  printed  at  Paris, 
under  his  own  eye,  in  his  preface  to  the  reader,  Coverdale  ex- 
presses himself  thus  : — 

"  As  touching  this  text  in  Latin,  and  the  style  thereof,  which  is 
read  in  the  Church,  and  is  commonly  called  St.  Jerome's  transla- 
tion, though  there  be  in  it  many  and  sundry  sentences,  whereof 
some  be  more  than  the  Greek,  some  less  than  the  Greek, 
some  in  manner  repugnant  to  the  Greek,  some  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  Latin  tongue,  and  to  the  right  order  thereof,  as  thou 
mayest  easily  perceive,  if  thou  compare  the  diversity  of  the  inter- 
preters together,  yet  forasmuch  as  I  am  but  a  private  man,  and 
Give  obedience  unto  the  higher  powers,  I  refer  the  amendment  and 
reformation  hereof  unto  the  same,  and  to  such  as  excel  in  author- 
ity and  knowledge." 

And  thus  once  more  are  we  constrained  to  observe  the  import- 
ant distinction  which  must  ever  be  drawn  between  Tyndale  and 
Coverdale,  whether  as  men,  or  as  translators.  They  travelled  in 
two  paths,  altogether  distinct.  The  latter  chose  to  express  him- 
self, in  his  dedications  to  Henry  and  Crumwell,  as  having  a  mind 
entirely  at  their  disposal ;  while  no  sentiments  could  be  more 
definite,  and  held  with  a  firmer  grasp,  than  those  of  the  first  noble 
and  independent  translator.  As  for  the  Greek  original,  he  had 
kept  a  vigilant  eye  on  the  successive  editions  of  Erasmus,  which 
Coverdale  had  not ;  and  with  regard  to  the  Hebrew,  after  quoting 
his  expressions  respecting  the  Hebraisms  to  be  found  in  Matthew, 
it  has  been  well  said — "That  a  person  who  could  thus  write  of 
St.  Matthew's  Hebraisms,  should  be  compelled  by  ignorance  to 
translate  fiom  the  Septuagint,  or  the  Latin  Vulgate,  is  perfectly 
incredible  ;  and  that  he  would  use  the  latter  from  choice,  is  incon- 
ceivable. We  ought  to  remember  that  this  translator's  troubles 
chiefly  arose  from  his  determination  to  resist  the  imposition  of  an 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  277 

authorized  version,  and  that  his  whole  hfe  was  a  series  of  hostil- 
ities against  the  defenders  of  the  Latin  Vulgate." 

As  for  the  blind  submission  of  his  translation,  therefore,  to  any 
man  living,  but,  above  all,  to  those  before  whom  Coverdale  bowed 
so  jDrofoundly,  against  this  he  had  boldly  published  his  dissent, 
above  seven  years  ago,  or  five  before  his  death,  and  it  had  circu- 
lated throughout  his  native  land. 

"  Under  what  manner,"  said  he,  ''  should  I  now  submit  this 
book  to  be  corrected  and  amended  of  them,  which  can  suffer 
nothing  to  be  well  ?  Or  what  protestation  should  I  make  in  such 
a  matter  to  our  Prelates,  which  so  mightily  fight  against  God, 
and  resist  his  Holy  Spirit,  enforcing,  with  all  craft  and  subtlety, 
to  quench  the  light  of  the  everlasting  Testament,  promises,  and 
appointment  between  God  and  us," 

Yet  is  this  the  very  translation  which  has  now  prevailed ;  so 
manifest  was  the  interposition  of  Providence,  in  every  point  of 
view. 

But  to  proceed.  Coverdale,  good  easy  man,  even  tried  to  screen 
his  former  friend,  the  printer,  if  not  the  corrector; — "As  for  my 
part,  though  it  hath  been  damage  to  my  poor  name,  I  heartily 
remit  it."  This  distinct  reprobation  of  Nycoison's  Testament, 
did  not  however  prevent  Nycolson  from  putting  forth  another  im- 
pression, to  which  he  affixed  the  name  of  Johan  Hollybushe. 
After  this  it  may  naturally  be  supposed  Coverdale's  countenance 
of  the  man  must  have  come  to  an  end.  He  is  said  to  have 
called  in  the  copies  v»^ith  his  name,  and  hence  they  are  so  very 
rare. 

The  tide  having  so  providentially  and  happily  turned  last  year, 
this  was  a  state  of  things  for  which  some  remedy  must  be  sought. 
And,  therefore,  before  Crumwell  knew  of  the  honor  intended  for 
him,  by  the  dedication  of  the  Paris  production ;  aiming  after  a 
fixed  standard,  and  that  the  translation  sanctioned  last  year,  an 
Inhibition  had  been  issued.  It  is  curious  that  it  should  have 
reached  Paris,  the  day  before  that  on  which  Grafton  wrote  his 
letter,  and  it  was  felt  as  if  applying  to  what  they  had  done,  though 
it  could  only  have  reference  to  Nycolson's  books,  and  to  prevent 
more  mischief 

"  The  day  before  this  present,"  says  Grafton,  "  came  there  a 
post  named  Nycolas,  which  brought  your  Lordship's  letters  to  my 
Lord  of  Hereford,  with  the  which  was  bound  a  certain  inhibition 
for  printing  of  books,  and  for  adding  of  these  words,  'cumprivi- 
legio.'  Then,  as  soon  as  my  Lord  of  Hereford  had  received  it, 
he  sent  immediately  for  Mr.  Coverdale  and  me,  reading  the  same 
thing  to  us  ;  in  the  which  is  expressed  that  we  should  add  these 
words,  '  ad  imiyrimendinn  solum,^ — which  words  we  never  heard 
of  before.  Neither  do  we  take  it  that  these  words  should  be  added 
in  the  Scripture,  if  it  be  truly  translated  ;  for  then  should  it  be  a 
great  occasion  to  the  enemies  to  say,  that  it  is  not  the  King's  act 
or  mind  to  set  it  forth,  but  only  to  license  the  printers  to  sell  such 
a's  is  put  forth.     Wherefore  we  beseech  your  Lordship  to  take  no 


278  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

displeasure  for  that  we  have  done,  for  rather  than  any  such  thing 
should  happen,  we  would  do  it  again,  but  I  trust  the  thing  itself 
is  so  well  done,  that  it  shall  not  only  please  your  Lordship,  but 
also  the  King's  Highness,  and  all  the  godly  in  the  realm. 

"  And  whereas  your  Lordship  has  added  in  the  said  Inhibition, 
that  your  Lordship,  and  all  the  King's  most  Honorable  Council, 
willeth  no  book  henceforth  to  be  put  in  print,  but  that  first  it  be 
allowed,  at  the  least,  by  one  Bishop,  we  most  humbly  beseech  your 
Lordship  to  appoint  certain  thereto,  that  they  may  be  as  ready  to 
read  them,  as  other  good  men  be  to  put  them  forth.  For  it  is 
now  seven  years  since  the  Bishops  promised  to  translate  and  set 
forth  the  Bible,  and  as  yet  they  have  no  leisure.'''' 

In  conclusion  of  this  year,  as  a  striking  illustration  of  the  times, 
and  as  one  proof  that  we  have  not  been  magnifying  the  importance 
of  the  labors  of  our  first  translator  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  the 
miserably  destitute  state  of  England,  with  regard  to  oral  instruc- 
tion by  preaching,  so  far  as  men  nominally  called  to  it  were  con- 
cerned, now  deserves  to  be  specially  observed. 

The  "ministry  of  the  Word  of  God,"  so  clearly  enjoined  in 
Scripture,  was  a  subject  not  comprehended  by  men  in  ofl[icial 
power ;  and  though  it  had,  the  men  who  were  in  charge  of  what 
were  termed  benefices,  or  cures,  glaringly  did  not  understand  it ; 
nay,  they  were  the  determined  adherents  of  a  system,  diametri- 
cally at  variance  with  that  imperative  commission  which  the 
Saviour  at  his  ascension  left  to  be  obeyed.  Instead  of  taking  up 
Christianity,  therefore,  as  a  system  of  belief,  to  be  drawn  fresh 
from  the  Oracles  of  God  alone,  and  received  into  the  heart  of  man — 
instead  of  recognizing  the  absolute  necessity  of  heartfelt  repent- 
ance towards  God,  and  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  the 
first  instance,  and  in  all  cases,  but  above  all,  in  men  denominated 
Ministers  of  Christ :  to  enforce  the  reading  of  what  was  not  be- 
loved, and  the  preaching  (if  they  could  preach)  what  was  not  be- 
lieved, the  Vicegerent  of  Henry  had  conceived  to  be  the  only  ex- 
pedient. It  was  not  the  public  sanction  of  the  Scriptures  last 
year,  that  would  ever  have  induced  these  official  underlings 
throughout  the  Counties  of  England,  even  to  have  looked  into  the 
Sacred  Volume.  To  pray  with  the  spirit  and  with  the  understand- 
ing also,  was  beyond  their  power,  and  to  preach  that  Gospel  which 
they  did  not  themselves  believe  or  comprehend,  might  have  seemed 
a  hopeless  task  to  enjoin.  Such,  however,  Avas  the  actual  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  with  regard  to  the  governors  and  the  governed, 
generally  speaking  ;  and  had  there  not  been  now,  as  we  have  traced 
all  along,  a  sacred  cause  independent  altogether  of  both  parties, 
nay,  in  spite  of  them,  there  would  have  been  no  reason  whatever, 
in  the  year  1538,  for  any  exultation  over  the  progress  of  events. 

Meanwhile,  the  injunctions  of  Crumwell,  already  quoted,  as  to 
the  Bible  itself,  (p.  33,)  had  been  thought  necessary,  on  account 
of  the  indifference  of  these  official  men  to  the  sanction  of  the  Sa- 
cred Volume,  and  therefore  the  entire  injunctions  were  thus  en- 
forced at  the  close — 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  279 

"All  which  and  singular  injunctions,  I  minister  to  you  and 
your  successors,  by  the  King's  Highness  authority  to  me  committed 
in  this  part,  wliicli  I  charge  and  command  you  by  the  same  au- 
thority to  observe  and  keep,  ^ipori  pain  of  deprivation,  sequestra- 
tion of  your  fruits,  or  such  other  coercion  as  to  the  King^s 
Highness,  or  his  Vicegerent  for  the  time  being,  shall  seem  con- 
ve?iient.'^ 

When  these  injunctions,  however,  did  come  abroad,  still  it  is 
impossible  to  condescend  upon  any  number,  however  small,  who 
were  qualified  to  obey.  Few  they  must  have  been,  and  far  be- 
tween. But  supposing,  for  one  moment,  that  the  orders  given  had 
been  literally  fulfilled,  and  that  all  who  were  enjoined  to  preach, 
had  actually  done  so;  how  far  did  the  injunction  itself  reach? 

"  Item — That  ye  shall  make,  or  cause  to  be  made,  in  the  said 
church,  and  every  other  cure  ye  have,  one  sermon,  everi/  quarter 
of  the  year,  at  least,  wherein  ye  shall  purely  and  sincerely  declare 
the  very  gospel  of  Christ,  and  in  the  same  exhort  your  hearers  to 
the  works  of  charity,  mercy,  and  faith,  especially  prescribed  and 
commanded  in  Scripture,  and  not  to  repose  their  trust  and  affiance 
in  any  other  works  devised  by  men's  fantasies  besides  Scripture ; 
as  in  wandering  to  pilgrimages,  offering  of  money,  candles  or  ta- 
pers to  images  and  relics,  saying  over  a  number  of  beads,"  &c. 

Happily,  however,  there  had  long  been  certain  other  men  in  the 
country,  and  readers  not  a  few,  besides  these  slumberers  whom 
Crumwell  v/as  now  striving  to  rouse;  nay,  and  olhev listeners  too, 
who,  far  from  looking  to  official  men,  who  could  not  teach,  and 
would  not  learn,  had  tarried  not  for  Henry  the  Eighth,  nor  waited 
for  his  Vicegerent.  No  sooner  do  we  turn  to  them,  though  long 
despised,  than  a  very  different  prospect  rises  to  view ;  the  vivid 
contrast  to  four  sermons  in  the  course  of  a  year  !  The  free  per- 
mission of  the  Scriptures  now  rendered  this  scene  more  visible  and 
striking.  It  is  from  a  contemporary  document  that  Strype  has 
drawn  it. 

"  It  was  xDonderful  to  see  ivith  what  joy  this  book  of  God  was 
received  not  only  among  the  learnsder  sort,  but  generally  all  Eng- 
land over,  among  all  the  vulgar  and  common  2:)eople  ;  and  with 
what  greediness  God's  Word  ivas  read,  and  what  resort  to  places 
where  the  reading  of  it  tvas  !  Everybody  that  could,  bought  the 
book,  or  busily  read  it,  or  got  others  to  read  it  to  them,  if  they 
could  7iot  themselves.  Divers  more  elderly  people  learned  to  read 
on  purpose ;  and  even  little  boys  flocked,  among  the  rest,  to  hear 
portions  of  the  Holy  Scripture  read^'' 

The  modern  reader  may  now  once  more  very  naturally  exclaim 
— "  Oh,  could  these  men  in  power  then  have  only  been  persuaded 
to  have  let  such  people  alone  !  Could  they  have  only  understood 
the  doctrine  of  non-interference  !"  Yes,  and  instead  of  encum- 
bering a  willing  people  with  help,  or  tormenting  them  by  interpo- 
sition, have  stood  aloof  in  silence,  and  permitted  these  groups  or 
gatherings  to  have  heard  the  unambiguous  voice  of  their  God,  and 
to  have  gazed  upon  the  majesty  and  the  meaning  of  Divine  Truth  ! 


280  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

The  Sacred  Scriptures,  however,  were  now  to  be  printed  in 
England  ;  nor  was  there  to  be  anothev  foreign  edition  of  the  vol- 
ume entire  for  more  than  twenty  years,  or  till  the  year  1560. 


SECTION    II. 

EVENTF0L   YEAR HENRY   STILL    A  WIDOWER PARLIAMENT    AND    CONVOCATION 

ROYAL    MESSAGE MITRED    ABBOTS DISSOLUTION    OF    MONASTERIES NEW    AR- 
TICLES— BILLS    OF     ATTAINDER THE    SIX    ARTICLES    APPLIED — FRUSTRATED 

CRANMER     SAFE LATIMER    IMPRISONED THE     TIDE     TURNING-^EXECUTION     OF 

ABBOTS CRUMWELL's    POLICY MONASTIC    SPOILS THE     SCRIPTURES    PRINTING 

IN    VARIOUS    EDITIONS CRUMWELL's    REMARKABLE     ENERGY    IN     THIS    DEPART- 
MENT  THE    KING    SWAYED    ONCE     MORE THE    CAUSE    IN    PROGRESS CRANMER 

BUSY    IN    PROSPECT   OF     HIS    FIRST     EDITION,    NEXT     SPRING IT     IS     DISTINCTLY 

SANCTIONED    BY    HENRY SINGULAR    PROCLAMATION ^HENRY    NOW    COMMANDING 

ALL    HIS    SUBJECTS    TO   USE    THE    SCRIPTURES    IN    ENGLISH. 

As  if  it  had  been  to  render  the  triumph  of  last  year  still  more 
conspicuous,  the  present  stands  distinguished  in  Henry's  reign,  for 
the  number  of  editions  of  the  Sacred  Volume  entire.  Not  fewer 
than  four  editions  of  the  Bible  issued  from  the  press,  and  a  fifth 
was  almost  ready ;  besides  three  editions  of  the  New  Testament 
separately.  The  compositors  and  printers  in  London  had  never 
before  been  so  engaged,  nor  so  hard  at  work  in  anj/  department, 
since  the  invention  of  printing  had  been  introduced  into  Eng- 
land. 

After  not  less  than  three  years  of  prorogation,  Henry  had  re- 
solved to  hold  a  meeting  of  Parliament  and  Convocation.  The 
subserviency  of  both  to  his  will  was  notorious,  and  in  this  it  ap- 
pears that  Crumwell  cordially  sympathized  with  him.  "  Amongst 
other  for  your  Grace's  Parhament,"  says  he  on  the  17th  of  March, 
"/  have  appointed  your  Majesty's  servant,  Mr.  Morisson,  to  be 
one  of  them.  No  doubt  he  shall  be  ready  to  answer,  and  take  up 
such  as  would  crack,  or  face  with  literature  of  learning,  or  by  u?i- 
directed  ways,  if  any  such  shall  be,  as  I  think  there  will  be  few 
or  none  ;  forasmuch  as  I,  and  other  your  dedicate  counsellors,  be 
about  to  bring  all  things  so  to  jjass,  that  your  Majesty  had  never 
more  tractable  Parliament .'"  As  for  the  Convocation,  since  it 
had  been  summoned  on  the  12th  of  March,  it  is  evident  that 
whatever  articles  shall  be  issued,  by  that  time  they  had  been  con- 
templated ;  and  Crumwell,  at  least,  is  either  preparing  to  swallow 
them,  or,  what  is  very  improbable,  must  have  been  profoundly  ig- 
norant of  what  was  before  him.  At  all  events,  for  these  three 
years  past,  as  there  had  been  no  such  assemblies  under  our  des- 
potic monarch,  they  were  always  ominous  of  some  strong  meas- 
ures. 

On  the  30th  of  March,  Tunstal,  usually  calm  and  still,  preached 
his  flaming  sermon  before  the  King ;  Gardiner  was  preparing  for 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  281 

Parliament  and  the  Convocation  ;  Norfolk  was  returning  from  the 
north ;  and  to  announce  his  approach,  by  way  of  firing  the  first 
gun,  only  about  one  fortnight  after  his  strange  letter  of  the  29th 
of  March,  already  quoted,  he  had  quarrelled  with  Crumwell  on  a 
subject  of  inferior  moment.  But  by  this  time  Crumwell  had  been 
taken  unwell,  and  had  become  so  seriously.  It  was  an  attack  of 
the  ague.  On  the  23d  of  April,  or  the  Wednesday  before  Parlia- 
ment was  to  sit,  he  had  made  himself  ready  to  wait  on  the  King, 
when  a  fit  came  on,  "  and  held  him  in  great  heat  about  ten  hours." 
"  The  pain  of  the  disease,"  said  he,  "  grieveth  me  nothing  so 
much  as  that  doth,  that  I  cannot  be  as  I  should  there  present,  and 
employ  my  power  to  your  Grace's  affairs  and  service,  as  my  heart 
desireth  to  do." 

Meanwhile  and  at  the  moment  when  Crumwell  was  writing, 
Mount  and  Paynell  arrived  from  Germany  accompanied  by  Burg- 
hart,  who  had  been  dismissed  in  September  last.  The  Emperor, 
it  was  said,  had  now  deprecated,  above  all  things,  the  German 
Confederates  receiving  any  others  into  their  league  ;  when  Crum- 
well did  not  fail  to  suggest,  that  "if  his  Majesty  would  only  join 
them,  the  other  party,  in  his  judgment,  would  be  half  in  despair." 
But  what  was  Henry  to  do  ?  He  was  now  fallmg  in  with  the 
counsels  of  Norfolk,  Gardiner,  and  Tunstal ;  Parliament  must  sit 
in  five  days  hence,  and  Crumwell,  in  poor  health,  is  but  ill  able  to 
attend  ! 

Accordingly,  on  Monday,  the  28th  of  April,  Parliament  sat 
down,  and  the  Convocation  opened  on  the  2d  of  May.  The  Duke 
of  Norfolk,  as  Prime-Minister,  had  been  commissioned  to  conduct 
the  business  in  the  House  of  Peers ;  and  Crumwell's  precedency 
as  Vicar-General  was  recognized,  but  he  could  no  longer  brandish 
his  rod  of  authority  over  the  Bishops,  as  he  had  done  at  their  last 
sitting,  three  years  ago ;  and  much  less  send  a  deputy  to  claim  his 
seat,  above  them  all.  Not  only  were  the  majority  his  opponents, 
but  the  Head  of  their  Church  had  changed  his  mind.  For  three 
years  had  Crumwell  and  Cranmer  enjoyed  ample  sway  ;  but  Gar- 
diner and  Tunstal's  day  had  now  come.  They  must  aim  at  re- 
taliation for  all  the  past,  and  no  time  was  lost  iDefore  the  strength 
of  parties  was  ascertained. 

On  Monday  the  .5th  of  May,  a  royal  message  to  the  House,  was 
announced  by  Audley  as  Lord  Chancellor.  His  Majesty,  being 
greatly  desirous  of  putting  an  end  to  all  controversies  in  religion, 
ordered  a  committee  to  examine  the  diversities  of  opinion — to 
draw  up  articles  for  an  agreement,  and  report !  Nine  individuals 
were  appointed,  viz.  Crumwell  as  Vicar-General,  and  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  with  Latimer  of  Worcester,  and  Goodrich  of  Ely,  on  the 
one  side ;  and  Archljishop  Lee,  with  Tunstal  of  Durham,  Aldrich 
of  Carlisle,  Clark  of  Bath,  and  Salcot  of  Bangor  on  the  other. 
While,  therefore,  these  men  are  left  to  warm  and  busy  discussion 
at  St.  Paul's,  if  we  turn  to  Westminster,  there  we  find  the  King 
engaged  in  reviewing  the  grand  muster  of  the  citizens  of  London. 

At  this  period  the  order  and  nature  of  events  strongly  suggest 


282  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  idea  of  a  laid  plan,  on  the  part  of  Henry,  and  one  class  of  his 
advisers,  in  which  every  movement  was  preparatory  to  measures 
already  determined.  They  were  measures  relating  to  money  and 
property  of  course  ;  for  as  to  faith  and  opinions,  among-  men  of 
sucli  licentious  habits  it  would  be  absurd  to  suppose  one  grain  of 
sincerity,  or  any  conscience.  To  raise  a  false  alarm,  was  the  ob- 
ject in  view.  Alarm  as  an  expedient,  was  altogether  unnecessary 
in  Crumwell's  opinion,  but  he  had  taken  special  care  to  obey  all 
orders.  Thus,  on  the  17th  of  last  month,  he  had  assured  his 
Majesty  of  there  having  been  no  lack  of  vigilant  preparation  for 
defence  against  all  foreign  aggression. 

The  fact  was,  that  a  muster,  equally  extensive  with  that  in 
Scotland,  or  of  all  men  from  16  to  60,  with  the  number  of  their 
harnesses  and  weapons,  had  been  ordered  ;  and  to  satisfy  the 
King,  London  is  now  displa3nng  what  she  had  done. 

Five  days  after  all  this  bustle  in  London,  the  subject  was  intro- 
duced to  the  House  of  Lords.  To  this  Parliament  all  the  mitred 
Abbots  had  been  summoned  of  course,  and  for  the  last  time.  It 
Avas  to  receive  final  judgment ;  for  howev^er  courteously  they  had 
been  spoken  of  three  years  ago,  when  the  lesser  monasteries  were 
dissolved,  their  day  of  doom  was  now  at  hand.  One  hundred  and 
fifty  abbots,  and  other  superiors  of  a  lower  grade,  had  surren- 
dered their  houses  and  lands  to  the  Crown  before  this  year  1539 ; 
a  step  taken  on  the  same  principle  with  that  of  the  unjust  steward 
in  the  parable.  They  acted  wisely,  as  they  thought,  for  them- 
selves, b}'^  making  the  best  co'npromise  they  could.  Still  all  such 
transactions  required  to  be  sanctioned  i)y  Parliament ;  and  so  now 
this  most  compliant  House  will  not  only  confirm  all  that  had 
passed,  but  secure  all  that  is  to  come.  On  the  13tli  of  May,  there- 
fore, a  Bill  was  brought  into  the  house  by  Lord  Chancellor  xiudley, 
vesting  in  the  Crown  all  the  property,  moveable  and  immoveable, 
of  the  monastic  establishments,  which  either  had  already  been,  or 
should  hereafter  be,  surrendered  or  suppressed. 

It  deserves  notice,  that,  at  this  juncture,  almost  all  the  disciples 
of  the  "  old  learning"  bowed  to  the  King's  lust  after  monastic 
property.  By  yielding  to  him  in  one  way,  they  might  calculate 
on  his  compliance  with  their  counsels  in  another.  The  mitred 
abbots  in  the  house  made  no  counter  motion.  Gardiner  was  even 
forward  in  declaiming  against  the  religious  houses,  and  commended 
the  King  for  suppressing  them.  His  friend,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk, 
had  already  purchased  the  monastery  of  Septon  in  Suffolk  ;  and 
there  was  now  opened  up  to  all  the  nobility  the  inviting  prospect 
of  easy  purchase,  advantageous  exchange,  nay,  of  free  gifts ;  and 
as  since,  if  war  ensued,  it  was  to  bring  no  additional  burden,  and 
even  pauperism,  as  well  as  taxation,  was  to  be  heard  of  no  more  ! 
— the  delusion  served  its  purpose,  and  the  Bill  passed. 

To  smooth  the  way  for  this  result  and  pacify  the  other  party, 
another  Bill  was  introduced  into  Parliament  on  the  23d  of  May 
by  Lord  Crumwell.  The  House  was  to  rise  next  day  till  the  30th 
of  the  month,  and  it  is  curious  enough  that  this  Bill,  which  was 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  283 

to  enable  the  King  by  his  letters  patent  to  erect  new  Bishoprics, 
was  read  the  same  day  three  times,  and  immediately  sent  down  to 
the  Connnons.  The  preamble  and  material  parts  of  this  act, 
drawn  by  the  King  himself,  are  still  extant  in  the  British  Museum, 
with  a  list  of  the  Sees  Intended.  But  it  is  equally  well  known 
that  there  was  a  failure  here  also.  Thirteen  are  noted  in  this  list, 
and  fifteen  or  sixteen  were  talked  of.  But  the  result  was  the  erec- 
tion of  only  six  ;  Oxford  and  Bristol,  Gloucester  and  Chester,  Pe- 
terborough and  Westminster,  the  last  of  which  was  soon  dissolved. 
But  however  bent  his  Majesty  now  was,  upon  what  he  chose  to 
style  unanimity  of  opinion,  it  was  soon  manifest  that  the  commit- 
tee of  Bishops  appointed,  could  never  agree. 

It  was,  as  we  have  stated,  on  the  5th  of  May  that  the  Commit- 
tee of  nine  had  been  appointed.  On  every  point,  they  divided 
regularly,  as  live  to  four,  Cranuier  and  Crumwell  being  in  the  mi- 
nority. Henry's  patience  was  very  soon  exhausted,  and  by  Friday 
the  16th,  Norfolk  was  ready  with  the  intended  remedy  for  diver- 
sity of  opinions.  The  King,  and  Winchester  no  doubt,  had  been 
preparing  it,  for  the  mouth  of  that  Premier ;  who,  on  the  30th  of 
March  last,  had  told  Crumwell,  that  he  had  been  "praying  to 
God,  that  he  would  give  the  King  of  Scotland  grace  to  do,  as 
Henry  had  already  done  !"  The  Duke  having  therefore  informed 
the  House  that  no  progress  had  been  made,  or  could  be,  by  the 
Committee  ;  proposed  six  questions  for  their  consideration.  They 
referred  to — 1.  The  Mass.  2.  Communion  under  one  kind,  or  the 
bread  without  tiie  cup.  3.  Private  masses.  4.  Tlie  celibacy  of 
the  Clergy.  5.  Auricular  confession,  and,  G.  Vows  of  chastity. 
Neither  Audley  nor  Crumwell  now  took  any  part  in  the  debate, 
nor  indeed  any  layman  ;  but  Cranmer  did,  and  with  all  his  powers  : 
for  it  is  certainly  going  much  too  far,  for  any  historian,  upon  a 
single  loose  anonymous  authority,  to  deny  him  the  credit  of  as 
much  lieroism  as  he  then  displayed.  For  three  days  the  discus- 
sion continued,  and  though  Henry  himself  had  the  effrontery  to 
come  down  unconstitutionally,  and  join  in  the  debate,  and  after- 
wards requested  Cranmer  not  to  appear  and  vote,  he  appears  to 
have  resisted  to  the  utmost  limits  of  his  personal  safety,  and  never 
gave  his  formal  consent.  True,  he  did  not  act,  as  Latimer  did 
afterwards,  for  that  was  not  in  the  man  ;  but  the  only  wonder  has 
been  that,  going  as  far  as  he  did,  the  King  was  not  mightily 
offended.     This,  however,  will  be  accounted  for  presently. 

Six  questions  were  tabled,  and  they  ended  in  one  act :  fre- 
quently denominated  afterwards  "  the  bloody  statute,"  and  at  other 
times,  "  the  whip  with  six  cords."  Such  was  the  remedy  of  Henry 
Vni.  for  diversity  of  opinions  ;  for  now,  as  he  allowed  his  subjects 
no  title  to  any  opinion  of  their  own,  they  must  all  believe,  or  pro- 
fess to  believe  in — 1.  Transubstantiation.  2.  That  communion 
under  both  kinds  is  not  necessary  to  salvation.  3.  That  Priests 
may  not  marry  by  the  law  of  God.  4.  That  vows  of  chastity  are 
binding.  5.  That  private  masses  ought  io  he  retained ;  and,  6. 
That  the  use  of  auricular  confession  is  expedient  and  necessary : 


284  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

while  the  penalties  annexed  illustrated  the  growing  brutality  of 
the  Sovereign.  Denial  of  the  first  profane  absurdity  subjected  the 
individual  to  death  by  the  flames,  for  an  authoritative  stop  was 
now  put  to  abjuration.  That  could  now  save  no  man's  life  ;  and 
as  for  the  other  five  points,  for  the  denial  of  any  one  of  them,  the 
party  was  to  die  as  a  felon,  or  be  imprisoned  during  his  Majesty's 
pleasure.  After  the  Parliament  resumed  on  the  30th  of  May,  tliis 
iDill  was  introduced,  though  it  was  not  read  for  the  first  time  till 
the  7th  of  June,  the  second  time  on  Monday  the  9th,  and  passed 
next  day.  On  the  following  Saturday  it  passed  the  Lower  House, 
and  receiving  the  royal  assent  on  the  28th,  its  pains  and  penalties 
were  to  be  inflicted  from  and  after  the  12th  of  July. 

This,  however,  is  not  the  full  amount  of  the  baseness  of  this 
Parliament.     At  its  opening,  instructions  had  been  given  to  pass 
bills  of  attainder  against  Margaret,   Countess  of  Salisbury,  the 
mother  of  Cardinal  Pole,  now  70  years  of  age ;  Gertrude,  widow 
of  the  Marquis  of  Exeter ;  and  a  young  boy,  son  of  Lord  Monta- 
cute ;  Sir  Adrian  Fortesoue,  and  Sir  Thomas  Dingley.     Exeter 
and  Montacute,  it  may  be  remembered,  had  already  sufl'ered  ;  but 
great  difficulty  was  felt  in  proceeding  with  these  two  ladies,  and 
especially  the  old  countess.     After  others  had  tried,  Crumwell, 
who  evidently  thought  himself  skilful  at  cross-examination,  "  as- 
sayed the  uttermost  of  his  power."     But  he  was  still  baffled  by  the 
Countess,  who  is  said  to  have  been  "  more  like  a  strong  and  con- 
stant man,  than  a  woman  ;"  after  which,  so  eager  was  the  sinking 
courtier  to  please  his  Master,  that  he  actually  called  up  the  judges 
and  inquired — "Whether  Parliament  might  condemn  persons  ac- 
cused of  treason,   without   any  j^^'^t^ioiis   trial  or  confession  ?" 
These  servile  and  unprincipled  men  replied,  "that  it  was  a  7iice 
question,  and  one  that  no  inferior  tribunal  could  entertain,  but 
there  was  no  doubt  that  the  court  of  Parliament  was  supreme ; 
and   that  any  attainder  by  Parliament,  (and  of  course   by  the 
present,)  would  be  good  in  law  .'"     Such  a  bill,   therefore,  they 
immediately  passed,  condemning  to  death  all  the  parties,  without 
any  trial  whatever  !     What  became  of  the  child  no  one  knows. 
Fortescue  and  Dingley  were  executed  on  tire  10th   of  July  ;  the 
Marchioness  was  pardoned  about  six  months  hence,  but  the  aged 
Countess  was   retained  in  prison  nearly  two  years,  till   another 
frenzy  having  seized  the  monarch,  she  was  dragged  from  her  dun- 
geon ;  but  pleading  innocence,  and  boldly  resisting  her  very  exe- 
cutioner to  the  last,  till  her  gray  hairs  were  covered  with  blood, 
the  head  was  severed  from  the  body  on  the  27th  of  May,  1541. 

Crumwell,  in  ambitious  pursuit  of  his  own  standing,  had  now, 
with  a  witness,  entered  into  the  field  of  temptation,  and  it  becomes 
difficult  to  hold  the  pen  ;  l)at  impartiality  forbids  that  he  should,  at 
such  a  moment,  be  the  only  man  in  view.  Among  those  signifi- 
cant "  Reme7nbrances,^^  so  strangely  left  behind  for  the  verdict  of 
posterity,  there  is  one  item  of  awful  import,  suggesting  the  idea 
that  Henry,  far  from  unconnected  with  this  tragedy,  had  been  the 
director  behind  the  scenes.     Item,  says  Crumwell,  in  his  own  hand- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  285 

writing,  "  to  remember  specially  the  Lady  of  Sarum,''^ — Salisbury  ; 
but  then  a  little  afterwards,  "Item — what  the  King  will  have 
DONE  with  the  Lady  of  /Sarum.^'  This,  it  may  be  presumed,  must 
have  been  written  before  the  judges  were  called ;  and  such  a 
Minister  !  such  a  Monarch  ! 

In  conclusion  of  these  miserable  proceedings,  the  Lower  as  well 
as  the  Upper  House  seems  to  have  been  willing  to  comply  with 
any  thing  which  might  occur  to  the  caprice  or  passion  of  the  reign- 
ing King.  His  Majesty  had  taken  offence  at  the  manner  in  which 
some  of  his  proceedings,  and  particularly  his  proclamations  had 
been  treated,  since  the  last  Parliament  in  1535.  An  act  was, 
therefore,  now  passed,  which  sets  forth  in  tiie  preamble,  "  the  con- 
tempt and  disobedience  of  the  King's  proclamations  by  some,  who 
did  not  consider  what  a  King  by  his  royal  power  mig-ht  do;  which 
if  it  continued  would  lead  to  the  disobedience  of  the  laws  of  God  ! 
and  the  dishonour  of  the  King's  Majesty,  who  may  full  ill  bear  it. 
Considering  also  that  many  occasions  might  require  speedy  reme- 
dies, and  that  delaying  these  might  occasion  great  prejudices  to  the 
realm — therefore  it  is  enacted,  that  the  King  for  the  time  being, 
with  advice  of  his  Council,  might  set  forth  proclamations  with 
pains  and  penalties  in  them,  which  w^ere  to  be  obeyed,  as  if  tliey 
were  made  by  an  act  of  Parliament !"  If  any  now  so  offended, 
and  in  further  contempt  went  out  of  the  kingdom,  they  were  to  be 
adjudged  as  traitors.  To  this  bill,  indeed,  some  opposition  was 
evinced,  but  it  passed  as  well  as  all  the  others. 

After  doings  so  notable  as  these,  and  affecting  so  many  parties, 
Parliament  rose  on  the  28th  of  June,  amidst  feelings  of  exultation 
on  one  side,  and  indignation  on  the  other ;  but,  as  far  as  "  the  six 
articles"  were  concerned,  the  pet  measure  of  the  Premier  and  his 
friends,  backed  as  they  were  by  the  bloody  statute,  they  were  not 
slow  in  proceeding  to  action.  This  statute  was  not  to  remain  a 
dead  letter.  Commissioners  were  instantly  appointed  to  act  upon 
it ;  that  is,  to  seek  out  victims ;  and  in  the  various  jurisdictions, 
a  Bishop  was  invariably  to  be  one  of  the  commissioners.  To  wit- 
ness the  commencement  of  operations,  we  require  to  proceed  no 
farther  than  the  metropolis.  The  inquisitors,  selected  with  satanic 
discrimination,  ignorant,  headlong,  and  blood-thirsty,  were  "such 
as  had  read  /lo  part  of  the  Scripture  in  English,  or  in  any  wise 
favored  such  as  had,  or  loved  the  preachers  of  it."  The  commis- 
sioners sat  in  Mercer's  Chapel,  close  by  the  old  Jewry,  Cheap-ide ; 
and  in  fourteen  days,  there  was  not  a  preacher  or  noted  individual 
ia  London,  known  or  suspected  to  have  spoken  in  any  way  derog- 
atory to  one  of  the  six  articles,  who  had  not  been  harassed ;  nay, 
overstepping  their  commission,  they  inquired  not  only  tvho  came 
seldom  to  the  church,  but  who  read  the  Bible  in  it ;  so  that  more 
than  five  hundred  persons  had  been  indicted,  and  it  became  evi- 
dent that  the  prisons  of  the  city  could  not  contain  all  those  whom 
they  thought  must  be  brought  to  trial. 

Thus,  if  the  character  of  Henry,  of  his  Bishops,  and  his  nobility 
had  been  evolved  in  Westminster  Hall,  last  November,  at  the  trial 


286  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  Lambert ;  so  we  have  now  at  least  five  hundred  witnesses  to 
the  tenets  for  which  Lambert  died.  But,  besides  these,  it  must 
be  remembered  that  many  a  man  who  could  do  so,  had  found  it 
convenient  at  least  to  leave  the  city  ;  though  as  the  facts  stand, 
we  have  here  one  of  the  clearest  testimonies  to  the  strength  of  that 
cause,  to  which  the  reigning  authorities  had  been  at  heart  opposed 
from  the  beginning.  The  Bishop  of  the  diocese,  Stokesly,  was 
here  setting  an  example  to  the  country  at  large,  worthy  of  his 
character  in  past  years.  He  was  now  indeed  actually  descending 
to  his  grave,  for  he  died  on  the  8th  of  September  ;  but  the  busy 
scene,  and  the  prospect  of  the  moment,  must  have  proved  like  a  re- 
viving cordial  to  his  drooping  spirits.  Beside  the  Bishops,  we  know 
that  the  Premier,  Norfolk,  who  had  introduced  the  questions,  was 
in  the  highest  spirits,  because  the  act  had  passed.  In  short,  the 
preparations  were  finished,  and  could  have  left  not  tlie  shadow  of 
a  doubt  that  England  was  about  to  become  a  field  of  woe,  if  not 
of  blood.  The  whole  scene  is  worthy  of  record  and  particular 
notice,  were  it  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  show  hovv^  remarkably 
a  gracious  Providence  interposed,  and  overruling  as  before,  "  made 
the  storm  a  calm,  so  that  the  waves  thereof  were  stilled." 

Blind  zeal  has  been  compared  to  the  haste  of  a  man  in  the  dark, 
who  knows  not  when  or  where  to  stop ;  and  shrewd  as  were  the 
leaders  of  the  old  learning,  they  had  gone  at  least  one  step  too 
far.  Both  Tunstal  and  Gardiner  had  distinctly  overshot  them- 
selves;  for  pride  of  understanding,  and  abundance  of  caprice,  had 
rendered  the  monarch  one  of  the  most  ticklish  of  all  leaders.  In 
the  course  of  the  discussions  in  Parhament,  it  so  happened  that  on 
'one  single  point  the  YsAng  agreed  with  Cranmer.  It  was  in  refer- 
ence to  "  auricular  confession,"  that  notable  device,  for  not  only 
enslaving  the  human  mind,  but  preventing  all  sense  of  direct  re- 
sponsibility to  God  alone.  Cranmer  had  maintained  that  it  was 
unnecessary,  by  any  Divine  precept,  and  in  this  Henry  chose  to 
support  him.  Nettled  at  only  one  point  out  of  six  being  contro- 
verted, Tunstal,  Gardiner,  and  Lee,  urged  that  the  resolution  of 
the  House  should  declare  auiicular  confession  to  be  "  a  command 
of  Christ,  and  part  of  the  sacrament  of  penance  ;"  but  the  monarch 
would  not  allow  one  jot  more  than  the  simple  declaration,  that 
such  confession  Avas  expedient,  and  necessary  to  be  retained. 
With  this  they  might  well  have  rested  satisfied,  but  no ;  Tunstal 
had  the  temerity  to  write  to  the  King  afterwards,  when  he  received  , 
a  thorough  set  down  for  his  presumption.  In  reply,  Henry  ex- 
pressed no  little  astonishment  at  his  writing  iion\  after  having 
been  overthrown  in  the  House  by  Cranmer  and  himself,  and  here 
simply  sending  to  him  a  few  texts,  which  "make  smally  or  noth- 
ing to  your  intended  purpose."  His  Majesty  closed  with  the  fol- 
lowing sentence — "  I  think  that  I  have  more  cause  to  think  you 
obstinate,  than  you  me,  seeing  your  authors  and  allegations  make 
so  little  to  your  purpose — And  thus  fare  you  well." 

The  same  parties  must  have  been  guilty  of  still  greater  precipi- 
tation in  proposing  their  "  Book  of  Ceremonies  to  be  used  in  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  287 

Church  of  England."  They  had  pressed  this  strange  and  super- 
stitious farrago  to  be  received  and  passed  as  tlie  act  of  Convoca- 
tion ;  but  the  project  completely  failed,  and  tlie  book  was  after- 
wards replied  to  by  Cranmer. 

But  even  though  neither  Tunstal  or  Gardiner  had  ruffled  his 
Majesty's  temper  in  the  slightest  degree,  perhaps  neither  of  them 
foresaw  that  there  was  one  point  still,  where  their  whole  pro- 
cedure might  be  arrested,  and  prove  a  failure.  Nor  let  it  pass  un- 
observed that  if  relief  be  obtained,  it  must,  in  part,  at  least,  be 
traced  to  the  noble  stand  made  by  the  immortal  Frylh.  Hence 
the  benefits  which  may  ensue,  long  after,  from  only  one  faithful 
martyr  "  resisting  unto  blood,  striving  against  sin."  As  he  was 
i\\Q  first  man  certainly  known  to  have  died  upon  English  ground, 
without  abjuration,  (which  was  not  now  to  be  admitted,)  so  he 
was  the  last  that  had  fallen  under  the  sovereign  power  of  the 
Bishops ;  and  it  may  be  remembered  that  in  the  very  next  session 
of  Parliament  after  his  death,  that  bill  was  passed,  which  took  all 
reputed  heretics,  ever  after,  out  of  the  hands  of  these  merciless 
men.  That  act  had  passed  in  Gardiner's  absence,  and  was  now  in 
force.  All  the  parties  now  apprehended,  therefore,  must  be  pro- 
ceeded against  forthwith,  by  two  witnesses,  and  in  open  court.  A 
Bishop,  indeed,  must  be  one  of  the  Commissioners  ;  but  then 
every  man  accused  is  entitled  to  a  trial  by  jury,  and  even  if  found 
guilty,  the  King's  writ  must  be  obtained,  before  any  sentence  can 
be  executed.  The  case,  in  short,  was  so  far  a  civil  one,  and  since 
these  London  Commissioners  have  run  after  their  prey,  as  if  the 
Act  passed  had  been  positively  a  retrospective  one  ;  in  the  midst 
of  their  dilemma,  application  must  be  made  to  the  Lord  Chancel- 
lor. Audley,  in  the  House  of  Lords  and  before  the  royal  disput- 
ant, had  been  silent,  but  now  that  it  came  to  his  turn  to  speak, 
perhaps  viewing  any  selection  as  difficult,  if  not  unjust,  and  the 
punishment  of  all  to  be  inhuman  if  not  hazardous,  so  it  was  that 
he  advised  the  reputed  criminals  should  be  pardoned.  Cranmer 
and  Crumwell  and  the  Unke  of  Suffolk  (Norfolk's  opponent)  con- 
curred, and  not  one  man  was  brought  up  to  trial !  Though,  there- 
fore, these  six  articles  remained  as  a  source  of  great  misery,  and 
were  employed  afterwards,  by  stretch  of  law,  as  the  occasion  of 
much  bloodshed,  at  this  momentous  crisis  "  the  wise  were  taken 
in  their  own  craftiness,  and  the  counsel  of  the  froward  was  car- 
ried headlong."  The  five  hundred  indictments  fell  to  the  ground, 
and  there  was  nothing  more  left  for  Stokesly,  just  before  going  to 
render  his  account,  than  to  reflect  on  his  past  cruelties.  He  was 
to  be  far  exceeded  by  Bonner,  his  successor ;  and  yet,  if  Foxe  be 
correct,  "at  the  point  of  death,  he  rejoiced,  boasting  that  in  the 
course  of  his  lifetime  he  had  burned  fifty  heretics." 

One  wonder  of  the  day  was,  that  the  King  was  not  offended 
with  Cranmer ;  and  as  it  has  been  a  mystery  to  others  since, 
some  explanation  is  necessary.  Perhaps  a  key  may  be  found, 
which  will  serve  for  this  and  all  similar  occasions,  in  time  to  come. 

The  fancy  of  the  moment  might  sometimes  be  favorable  to  an 


288  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

opponent,  or  the  oppressed,  generally  speaking,  never  did  the 
King  spare  any  man,  but  for  some  reason  personal  to  himself, 
involving  either  his  passions  or  his  safety.  His  clemency  to 
Cranmer  was  connected  with  both.  Henry  made  but  one  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  in  a  very  strange  way  ;  but  he  could 
not  have  made  a  second,  without  the  greatest  personal  hazard. 
Had  Cranmer  been  removed,  Tunstal  and  Gardiner  stood  in  the 
way,  and  could  not  have  safely  been  passed  over ;  but  though 
Henry  has  been  listening  to  their  insidious  advice,  he  had  no  con- 
fidence in  either.  Besides,  Bulls  could  not  now  have  been  obtained 
from  Rome ;  and  though  the  King  certainly  had  gone  a  great 
way  as  Head  of  the  English  Church,  an  Archbishop  of  his  mak- 
ing, without  them,  would  even  yet  have  stood  but  a  poor  chance 
for  acceptance  with  the  priests.  In  the  King,  therefore,  it  was 
nothing  more  than  policy,  to  uphold  his  Primate.  In  his  official 
capacity,  often  had  he  already  served  his  Majesty's  purpose,  and 
his  services  will  yet  be  needed  again  and  again.  His  official 
character  was  Cranmer's  safeguard,  and  this  will  preserve  him 
through  the  bloodiest  and  most  reckless  scenes  of  Henry's  remain- 
ing life.  It  was  his  post,  not  his  prowess,  or  his  personal  skill, 
which  enabled  Cranmer  to  ride  out  all  the  storm.  Should  any 
doubtful  reader  request  a  further  proof,  it  is  close  at  hand,  and  a 
striking  one — the  King's  inhuman  treatment  of  Latimer. 

Hugh  Latimer  in  his  day  had  the  honor  to  stand  alone. 
Though  not  a  faultless  character,  at  this  period  there  was  none 
like  him  in  all  England,  more  especially  on  the  bench  of  Bishops  ; 
and  he  seems  to  have  been  literally  the  only  man  who  ever  had 
the  courage  to  face  Henry  VIII.  Cranmer  had  found  it  very  con- 
venient to  employ  him  in  1536,  to  speak  out  before  that  Convoca- 
tion, as  he  had  boldly  done ;  but  he  could  not,  or  dared  not,  fol- 
low him  in  1539.  Latimer,  it  is  to  be  observed,  had  not  by  any 
argumentation  opposed  the  King,  as  Cranmer  had  ;  bvit  after  the 
bloody  Act  was  passed,  he  resigned  his  bishopric,  on  the  first  of 
July.  Laying  aside  his  robes,  he  leaped  for  joy,  and  said — "  I  am 
now  rid  of  a  great  burden,  and  never  felt  my  shoulders  so  light 
before."  Soon  after,  a  bishop,  supposed  to  be  Gardiner,  sent  foj- 
him,  and  expressed  his  surprise  that  Latimer  should  object  to  the 
traditions  then  enjoined  by  the  Council,  as  matters  of  belief ;  when 
he  nobly  answered — ^^  I  will  be  guided  hy  God's  book;  and  rather 
than  dissent  one  jot  from  it,  I  would  be  torn  by  wild  horses.'' 
He  then  retired  to  the  country,  intending  to  lead  a  quiet  Hfe  ;  but 
soon  after,  by  the  falling  of  a  tree,  he  was  bruised  so  severely, 
that  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  returning  to  London  for  sur- 
gical assistance.  It  was  not  difficult  to  vamp  up  a  case  against 
Latimer;  for  certainly  he  had  said  many  things,  which  to  all  that 
party  must  have  been  like  gall  and  wormwood.  There  is  no  record 
of  his  examination  extant,  but  there  is  reason  to  think  that  it 
took  place  in  the  royal  presence.  However,  whether  it  did  or  not, 
the  King  well  knew,  and  ultimately  sanctioned,  nay,  directed  all 
that  followed :  for  Latimer  was  committed  to  the  Tower  thus 


,  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  289 

unceremoniously,  and  there  he  lay  till  the  accession  of  Edward 
VI.  The  conscience  of  Henry  had  constrained  him,  on  different 
occasions,  to  mark,  if  not  revere  the  fidelity  of  this  man,  whom  he 
now  unwittingly  'promoted  to  be  a  prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  he 
could  manage  to  get  on  well  enough  without  a  Bishop  Latimer, 
though  not  without  his  own  Archbishop  of  Canterbury. 

It  was  now  the  month  of  August,  when  a  lurid  gloom  rested  on 
the  minds  of  many.  In  London,  itself,  there  was  a  pause ;  the 
commissions  under  the  persecuting  act  had  not  been  issued  for 
the  country  at  large,  and  they  never  were  ;  but  at  present  their 
issue  was  eagerly  anticipated  by  some,  and  dreaded  by  others,  as 
we  shall  see  presently.  Burghart's  return  from  Germany  was 
not  without  its  effect,  and  must  have  galled  the  other  party;  but 
still  the  needle  of  the  beam,  in  Henry's  hands,  oscillated  in  sus- 
pense, and  no  man  could  tell  which  scale  would  rise. 

But  the  great  question  is  soon  to  be  decided.  Anne  of  Cleves 
is  certainly  to  be  Queen  of  England.  On  Tuesday  the  16th  of 
September,  Duke  Frederick,  the  Count  Palatine  or  Palsgrave  of 
the  Rhine,  had  arrived  at  Windsor ;  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  and 
three  other  ambassadors  from  the  Duke  of  Cleves  followed,  and 
got  to  London  two  days  after.  Crumwell  immediately  prepares 
the  way  for  their  audience,  and  wrote  to  his  Majesty  on  the  20th. 
After  having  waited  in  painful  uncertainty  as  to  how  far  the  royal 
favor  would  ever  return  to  him,  with  what  delight  must  he  have 
received  such  a  reply,  and  on  the  same  day ;  while  the  King,  all 
sweetness,  goes  so  far  as  to  discover  the  most  tender  anxiety  for  the 
health  of  his  Lordship  ! 

"His  Majesty,"  says  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  "willed  me  to 
signify  to  you  that  he  takes  your  letter  in  marvellous  good  part, 
being  wonderful  glad  of  tlie  contents  thereof,  and  specially,  that 
the  Duke  of  Cleves'  men  have  commission  apart ;  most  heartily 
desiring  you  to  j)ut  all  other  matters  out  of  your  head,  saving 
ordy  this,  his  great  weighty  causes  ;  and  sharp  your  wit  to  attend 
only  unto  the  same.  And  I  assure  your  Lordship  he  said  these 
■words — '  I  would  for  no  good  his  mind  should  be  so  troubled,  that 
it  should  cast  him  into  any  disease'— which  words,  to  hear  him 
speak  them  so  heartily,  I  assure  you  did  my  heart  good.  Sir,  he 
eftsoons  desireth  you,  that  he  may  hear  from  you,  from  time  to  time." 

Although  this  was  literally  nothing  more  than  a  mere  gust  of 
royal  favor,  a  momentary  emanation  of  selfish  passion,  its  effect 
on  the  character  of  Crumwell  seems  to  have  been  melancholy  and 
most  injurious.  The  struggle  to  regain  his  Master's  confidence  or 
approbation  having  thus  far  succeeded,  the  wildest  anxiety  to 
please  him,  at  all  hazards,  immediately  ensued.  Any  man's  life 
which  came  in  the  way,  was  then  of  small  account  and  actually 
involved  very  little  else  than  a  line  or  two  among  the  base  items 
of  the  Lord  Privy  Seal.  That  book  of  "  Remembrances,"  that 
standing  witness  fo  the  writer's  character,  becomes  fearfully  illus- 
trative of  his  progress  in  blood  shedding. 

The  Marchioness  of  Salisbury,  as  well  as  others,  had  been  dis- 

19 


290  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE, 

posed  of  in  a  very  summary  style  of  injustice  ;  but  Crurawell  is 
now  ready  to  go  beyond  even  such  proceedings.  Tlie  monasteries 
being  dissolved,  the  abbots  and  priors  had,  in  general,  proved  so 
compliant  as  to  excite  astonishment ;  but  "  all  that  a  man  has,  he 
will  give  for  his  life."  There  w^ere,  however,  three  individuals, 
who  either  stood  out,  or  stood  in  the  King's  way  ;  the  Abbots  of 
Colchester,  Reading,  and  Glastonbury  ;  the  two  latter  beiilg  Lords 
of  Parliament.  They  had  been  attainted,  but  to  represent  them 
as  tried  afterwards  would  be  a  prostitution  of  the  terra.  No  rec- 
ord exists,  as  in  many  other  cases,  and  so  there  have  been  dilferent 
opinions  as  to  the  ostensible  grounds  of  proceeding  against  them  ; 
though  whether  they  were  charged  with  aiding  the  insurgents  of 
the  north,  or  stickling  about  the  King's  Supremacy,  or  both,  is  of 
little  moment.  The  men  were  inconvenient,  but  their  incomes 
quite  the  reverse ',  and  we  may  safely  presume,  that  here  lay  the 
chief  impelling  motive  to  action.  The  revenue  of  Colchester 
monastery  is  not  known,  but  excepting  St.  Peter's  Westminster, 
that  of  Glastonbury  was  the  largest  in  England  ;  or,  calculating 
according  to  the  2)resent  value  of  money,  above  £.50,000  an- 
nually ;  v>diile  that  of  Reading  Abbey  was  above  £30,000  a-year. 
Only  a  week  after  Cromwell  had  received  this  gracious  message 
from  his  Majesty,  or  the  28lh  of  September,  Messrs.  Pollard,  Moyle, 
and  Layton,  the  visitors,  were  down  at  Glastonbury;  and  busy 
selling  the  cattle  for  ready  money,  letting  out  the  pastures  and  do- 
mains from  Michaelmas  forward  ;  and,  speaking  of  the  house  in 
which  they  were,  they  say,  "  it  is  great,  goodly,  and  so  princely, 
as  we  have  not  seen  the  like."  It  was  not  till  four  days«//er  this 
that  they  had  "come  to  the  knowledge  of  divers  treasons  commit- 
ted by  the  abbot."  But  it  is  altogether  unnecessary  to  enter  into 
any  farther  detail.  We  have  only  to  glance  over  the  "Remem- 
brances" of  Crumwell,  and  there  we  find  the  following  autograph 
lines. 

'•'•Item. — Certain  persons  to  be  sent  to  the  Tower  for  the  fur- 
ther examination  of  the  Abbot  of  Glastonbury.^^ 

"  Itetn — The  Abbot  of  Reading  to  he  sent  dmon,  to  be  tried 
and  EXECUTED  AT  Reading,  rvith  his  complices  P^ 

'•'•Item — The  Abbot  of  Glaston  to  he  tryed  at  Glaston^  and 
ALSO  TO  BE  EXECUTED  TiiETiE,  7vith  his  co?nplices  !" 

"Counsellors  to  give  evidence  against  the  Abbot  of  Reading — 
Mr.  Hynde,  the  King's  Attorney." — "  Counsellors  to  give  evidence 
against  the  Abbot  of  Glaston — Richard  -Pollard,  Lewis  Forscew, 
Thomas  Moyle." 

"  Item— To  see  that  the  evidence  be  well  sorted^  and  the  indict- 
ments tre// c^ra^^-??.  against  the  said  abbots  and  their  complices !" 
These  fixed  and  fearful  purposes  of  his  Majesty's  Lord  Privy 
Seal,  expressed  in  terms  worthy  of  a  Turkish  Vizier,  or  the  Grand 
Inquisitor,  were 'literally  fulfilled.  The  abbots  of  Whalley,  Ger- 
veaux,  and  Sawley,  as  well  as  the  priors  of  Woburn  and  Burling- 
ton, had  been  executed  before  ;  but  John  Whiting,  the  abbot  of 
Glastonbury,  with  two  Monks,  and  Hugh  Faringdon,  the  abbot 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  291 

of  Reading-,  with  two  priests,  all  now  suffered  as  traitors,  and  in 
sight  of  their  own  abbeys, — the  latter  party  on  Thursday  the  14th, 
the  former  on  Friday  tlie  15th  of  November  ;  and  on  the  1st  of 
December,  John  Beach,  the  abbot  of  Colchester.  Thus  died  three 
of  the  richest  men,  just  as  if  to  mark  the  falling  of  the  curtain. 
The  larger,  as  well  as  the  smaller  monasteries,  were  now  no 
more. 

This  unprincipled  practice  on  the  part  of  Crurawell  of  appoint- 
ing men  to  be  tried  and  executed,  was,  however,  in  perfect  con- 
sonance with  the  taste  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  who,  in  all  his 
ways,  had  a  passion  approaching  to  extreme  nicety,  for  doing 
everything  under  the  form  of  law.  The  most  avaricious  or  cruel 
deeds,  must  always  appear  robed  in  legal  attire,  and  be  recorded 
scrupulously  as  actsof  perfect  justice.  Thus,  in  the  whole  process 
of  dissolving  these  houses,  the  first  step  was  to  obtain  by  some,  or 
by  any  means,  a  surrender  of  the  property,  then  denominated  a 
voluntary  act ;  the  second  was  to  vest  the  property,  by  Act  of 
Parliament,  iu  the  Crown;  or,  in  other  words,  first  fill  the  Court  of 
Augmentation,  and  then  secure  the  proceeds  thus  received  ;  from 
men  who,  strictly  speaking,  were  not  proprietors  but  only  tenants 
for  life.  Hence,  in  the  Act  of  Parliament  now  passed,  there  was 
no  occasion  for  the  term  dissolve,  nor  was  it  employed.  There 
was  only  to  come  to  his  Majesty,  all  that  had  been,  or  should  be, 
"suppressed,  relinquished,  forfeited,  or  given  up."  To  obtain  the 
property  by  "forfeiture,"  was,  of  course,  an  easy  step  to  him,  who 
could  define  treason  to  be  whatever  might  exactly  serve  his  in- 
tended purpose. 

This  determined  course  of  proceeding  with  the  monasteries, 
from  first  to  last,  involved  the  confiscation  of  property  amounting 
to  nearly  three  millions  annually  of  the  present  day  ;  besides  a  far- 
ther sum,  in  moveables,  or  money  and  plate,  equal  to  more  than 
two  millions  and  a  quarter!  The  entire  value,  however,  must 
liave  been  more  than  this,  as  the  Visitors  are  understood  to  have 
helped  themselves,  wherever  they  could  do  so  with  impunity  ;  but, 
at  all  events,  it  could  not  be  less,  though  an  exact  estimate  can 
never  be  attained. 

With  regard  to  the  express  history  of  the  English  Bible,  the  year 
1539  is  now  to  be  added  to  all  the  past.  But  let  the  movements 
of  time ;  the  tyrannical  procedure  of  the  reigning  Monarch  ;  the 
obsequious  deeds  of  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  lying  prostrate  at 
his  feet ;  the  notorious  complexion  of  his  Council,  iu  hostile  array 
against  the  progress  of  Divine  Truth.;  the  tottering  influence  of 
Crumwell,  once  so  resolute  ;  with  his  sad  and  bloody  footsteps  as 
a  Privy  Counsellor :  let  all  these  be  surveyed  in  succession,  and 
then  the  general  aspect  of  the  year,  with  regard  to  the  printing 
and  circulation  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  must  appear  so  extraordinary, 
as  to  be  almost  unaccountable. 

It  must  be  first  observed,  that  in  1539  both  Crumwell  and  Cran- 
mer  stand  before  us,  in  the  character  of  thwarted  and  disappointed 
men.;  severely  disappointed,  for  above  six  months  of  the  year. 


292  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Three  years  before,  in  conjunction  with  the  momentary  humor  of 
the  King,  Gardiner  being  abroad,  they  had  introduced  what  were 
denominated  "  Articles  ol'Rehgion"  to  the  notice  of  the  English  peo- 
ple ;  but  now  they  found,  to  their  bitter  mortification,  that  this  was 
assuredly  not  the  road  to  either  "  peace  or  co)itentation,"  or  "  unity 
of  opinion."  On  the  contrary,  the  mode  which  they  had  introduced 
in  1536,  furnished  the  precedent  which  tlieir  opponents  now  fol- 
lowed ;  or  the  ground  on  which  they  stood,  and  tried  to  overawe 
the  human  mind.  In  the  first  Convocation,  with  Crumwell  as 
Vicar-General,  so  far  as  the  King  and  Cranmer  had  professedly 
meddled  with  Christianity  at  all,  they  had  made  it  technical  and 
disputative.  It  was  not  the  voice  of  God,  as  contained  in  his 
Word,  with  which  they  began,  for  neither  Cranmer  or  Crumwell 
could  get  those  Bishops  to  assent  to  any  translation  of  the  Script- 
ures. Thus  before  the  authority  of  Divine  Truth  in  the  language 
of  the  people  was  recognized,  by  these  first  articles  a  certain  vocab- 
ulary had  been  introduced  ;  and  in  the  prospect  of  the  present 
Convocation,  Gardiner  and  his  party  were  by  far  too  shrewd  not 
to  take  advantage  of  the  precedent  set.  They  fought  and  baffled 
the  Archbishop  with  his  own  weapons,  while  my  Lord  Privy  Seal, 
Crumwell,  like  a  perfect  politician,  had  bowed  to  the  storm.  So 
no\v  when  the  tug  of  battle  came,  and  Crumwell  found  that,  as  an 
expedient  in  his  hands,  "  articles  of  religion"  must  be  given  to  the 
winds  ;  then  it  was  that  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone^  afforded 
him  the  only  prospect  of  turning  the  tide  upon  his  political  oppo- 
nents. Thus  singularly  shut  up  to  this  one  object,  he  was  not 
slow  to  improve  his  powers  ;  for  though  he  could  no  longer  shake 
his  rod  over  the  Bench  of  Bishops,  his  authority  and  precedence  or 
rank  as  Vicar-General  had  been  distinctly  recognized;  and  this  he 
could  exercise  still,  very  powerfully,  without  the  doors  of  the  Con- 
vocation, though  not  within  them  ;  while  the  dissolution  and  con- 
sequent dispersion  of  that  body,  was  analogous  to  the  breaking  up 
of  a  combination  against  him. 

The  operation  of  the  bloody  statute  being  now  also  stayed,  and 
no  commissions  issued  for  the  country  at  large  ;  Henry  too  having 
been  fully  apprised  of  how  odious  that  statute  was  to  his  intended 
matrimonial  connections,  here  was  a  favorable  crisis.  To  the 
printing  of  the  Bible,  therefore,  amidst  his  multifarious  engage- 
ments, Crumwell  lent  all  his  energy,  so  that  not  fewer  than  four 
editions  of  the  entire  Scriptures,  with  which  his  personal  influence 
was  connected,  now  issued  from  the  press. 

The  Bible,  described  last  year,  as  commenced  in  Paris,  and 
snatched  from  the  flames  of  the  Inquisition,  was  flnished  in  Lon- 
don by  the  month  of  April,  and  ready  for  circulation  under  the 
following  title,  before  the  meetings  of  Parliament  and  Convoca- 
tion : — 

'■'■The  Byble  in  En^-lyshe,  that  is  to  saye,  the  content  of  all  the 
holy  Scripture,  botlie  of  the  olde  and  Neive  Testament^  truly  trans- 
lated after  the  veryte  of  the  Hebrue  and  Greke  textes,  by  the 
dylygent  studye  of  diuerse  excellent  learned  men,  expert  in  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  293 

forsayde  tonges.  ar  Printed  hy  R3^chaid  Grafton  and  Edward 
Whitchurch.  Cum  priuilegio  ad  imprimendum  sohiuL"  The 
Colophon  is — "The  ende  of  the  new  Testamett  and  of  the  whole 
Byble,  Fynisshed  in  Apryll,  Anno  mcccccxxxix.  Adiio  factum 
est  istud." 

This  title,  as  well  as  the  representation  round  it,  ascribed  to 
the  pencil  of  Hans  Holbein,  it  is  now  abundantly  evident,  were 
alike  in  the  teeth  of  history  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  profanity  in- 
volved, in  which  the  Almighty  is  represented  as  saying  of  the 
King — "  I  have  found  a  man  according  to  my  own  heart,  which 
shall  fulfil  all  my  will !"  But  this  served  to  answer  the  purpose 
of  Crumwell  at  the  moment,  in  his  gross  flattery  of  the  reigning 
monarch.  Crumwell,  as  w-ell  as  the  King  and  Cranmer,  at  full 
length,  are  here  distinguished  also  by  their  respective  shields,  or 
coats  of  arms ;  and  this  same  engraving,  finely  cut  in  wood,  will 
be  employed  in  subsequent  editions,  though  the  arms  of  Crumwell, 
after  his  fall,  will  then  be  found  erased. 

This  Bible,  it  is  true,  exhibits  all  the  marks  of  a  signal  triumph, 
as  already  described;  but  let  the  men  in  Parliament  or  the  Con- 
vocation lae  busy  wnth  what  they  might,  this  one  edition  or  reprint 
will  not  suffice  to  meet  the  zeal  of  the  Vicar-General.  In  chron- 
ological order,  the  next  Bibles  that  were  ready  for  circulation  were 
two,  if  not  three  editions  of  the  entire  Bible,  by  other  printers,  as 
well  as  a  new  superintendent  of  the  press. 

And  here  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that  immediately  before 
entering,  upon  those  editions  of  the  Scriptures,  afterwards  set  forth 
by  Cranmer,  we  are  sunnnoned  to  look  back ;  and  back  to  the 
very  commencement  of  this  long  and  tedious  warfare.  Just  as 
though  it  had  been  intended  to  lend  unity  to  the  entire  procedure 
since  the  year  1526,  we  are  to  be  reminded  forcibly,  of  the  deep 
and  noisome  dungeon  under  Cardinal  College,  Oxford,  and  of  the 
interesting  young  men  there  immured,  at  the  first  burst  of  opposi- 
tion, after  the  arrival  of  Tyndale's  Testaments  in  England.  One 
of  those  youths,  it  may  be  remembered,  was  named  Richard  Tav- 
erner.  The  son  of  an  ancient  family,  born  at  North  Elmham,  in 
the  parish  of  Brisley,  Norfolk  ;  he  was  one  of  those  canons,  chosen 
by  Wolsey,  whom  he  had  intended  to  employ  in  opposing  the 
'•'  new  learning."  He  had  been  selected  from  Benet  College,  Cam- 
bridge, and  brought  to  Oxford.  Though  deeply  implicated  in 
1526,  as  already  mentioned,  he  was  more  gently  dealt  with  by  the 
Cardinal  on  account  of  his  voice,  or  skill  in  music.  He  was  then 
a  layman.,  studying  law,  and  abode  by  his  profession  through  life  ; 
which  renders  his  superintendence  of  the  Scriptures,  and  his  sub- 
sequently being  licensed  by  Edward  the  Sixth,  to  preach  through- 
out England,  the  more  remarkable.  Having  taken  his  degree  of 
A.B.  at  Oxford  in  1527,  and  that  of  A.M.  at  Cambridge  in  1530, 
he  removed  to  the  metropolis;  and  after  passing  through  an  Inn 
of  Chancery,  then  said  to  be  near  London,  (or  on  the  site  of  the 
present  Somerset  House  in  the  Strand,)  he  entered  the  Inner 
Temple.     To  the  Greek  language  he  had  paid  great  attention,  it 


294  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

being-  "  his  humor  to  quote  the  law  in  Greek,  when  he  read  any- 
thing thereof."  He  had  become  known  to  Crumwell,  and  in  1534^ 
after  he  was  chosen  principal  Secretary  of  State,  and  Chancellor 
of  Cambridge  University,  Taverner  came  into  attendance  upon 
him.  In  1537,  Crumwell  had  reconnnended  him  to  the  King, 
when  he  was  advanced  to  be  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  signet  in 
ordinary  ;  and  the  clerk  had  now,  in  1539,  turned  his  learning  to 
the  best  of  all  accounts.  For  a  considerable  time  past,  he  must 
have  been  working  under  orders,  and  very  busily  eng^aged,  as  the 
proof-sheets  of  two,  if  not  three  editions,  had  been  passing  through 
his  hands.  Taverner  prefixed  a  dedication  to  the  King",  telling' 
him,  that  "  he  never  did  anything  more  acceptable  to  God,  moVe 
profitable  to  the  advancement  of  true  Christianity,  moredispleasant 
to  the  enemies  of  the  same,  and  also  to  his  Grace's  enemies,  than 
when  his  Majesty  licensed  and  willed  the  most  sacred  Bible,  con- 
taining the  unspotted  and  lively  Word  of  God,  to  be  in  the  English 
tong"ue  set  forth  to  his  Highness'  subjects."  But  to  all  this  he  had 
been  encourag-ed  by  his  master,  Lord  Crnmwell,  as  it  will  appear 
presently  that  no  man  could  publish  the  Bible  at  this  period,  with- 
his  approving  sanction. 

His  first  edition  in  folio,  and  entitled — '-The  most  Sacred  Bible," 
&c.,  was  "  printed  at  London  in  Fleet  Street,  at  the  sign  of  the 
Sun,  by  John  Byddell,  for  Thonias  Barthlett ;"  or  Berthelet,  the 
King's  printer ;  "  Cum  privilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum."  The 
next  edition,  in  quarto,  was  executed  by  the  same  printer  ;  but 
there  seems  to  have  been  a  third,  printed  by  Nycolson,  also  in 
quarto.  These  Bibles  were  a  correction  of  Matthew's,  in  wdiich 
Taverner  adopted  a  large  proportion  of  the  marginal  notes,  and 
inserted  others  of  his  own  ;  yet  so  eag^er  was  Crumwell,  that  they 
were  "  allowed  to  be  publicly  read  in  churches." 

In  addition  to  these,  that  the  effort  now  made  was  a  bold  and 
determined  one,  appears  from  another  printer  still  having  his  hands 
filled  by  two  editions  of  the  New  Testament  by  Taverner.  This 
was  Thomas  Petit,  who  also  printed  for  Berthelet,  one  in  quarto, 
the  other  in  octavo. 

Now  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  year,  thoug'h  the  political  atmos- 
phere seemed  to  portend  nothing  whatever,  save  tempestuous  op- 
position to  measures  such  as  these  ;  preparatory  work,  it  is  evi- 
'  dent,  had  been  proceeding  with  great  vigor  within  doors  ;  and  by 
the  autujun,  that  same  Monarch,  who  had  hurried  the  "bloody 
Statute"  through  Parliament,  professed  to  be  all  zeal  for  the  print- 
ing of  the  Scriptures,  and  even  their  perusal !  The  prospect  of 
connection  with  Germany  had  wrought  wondrously,  and  a  change 
had  come  over  the  spirit  of  the  man.  And  as  for  Crumwell, 
though  he  still  stood  upon  slippery  ground,  he  could  scarcely  now 
think  so,  when,  so  far  from  frowning  upon  him,  the  King,  on  the 
20th  of  September,  had  expressed  himself  as  so  solicitous  about  the 
state  of  his  health.  At  all  events,  while  he  was  in  the  act  of  car- 
rying through  the  negotiation  respecting  Lady  Anne  of  Cleves, 
almost  anything  he  might  request  would  then  be  granted.     Apply 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  295 

to  his  Majesty  therefore  he  did,  and  successfully  ;  although  still,  it 
is  no  hypothesis,  to  say  that  both  the  one  and  the  other,  as  it  re- 
girded  the  Scriptures,  were  notiiing  more  than  overruled  men. 
The  king,  by  his  conduct  in  Parliament,  had  appeared  in  his  real 
character ;  while  Crumwell,  by  his  conduct  elsewhere,  has  posi- 
tively forced  us  to  place  him  on  the  very  lowest  ground  of  polit- 
ical expediency.  The  following  document,  however,  will  show 
that  there  was  no  hazard,  at  present,  of  any  of  these  Bibles  not 
getting  into  circulation. 

"Henry  the  Eighth,  &c. — To  all  and  singular.  Printers  and 
sellers  of  books,  within  this  our  realm,  and  all  other  Officers,  Min- 
isters, and  Subjects,  these  our  letters,  hearing  or  seeing,  greeting : 
We  let  you  to  wit,  that  being  desirous  to  have  our  people  at  times 
convenient,  give  themselves  to  the  attaining  the  knowledge  of 
God's  Word,  whereby  they  will  the  better  honour  him,  and  observe 
and  keep  his  comnrandments ;  and  also  do  tlieir  duty  better  to  us, 
being  their  Prince  and  sovereign  Lord  :  And  considering,  that  as 
this  our  zeal  and  desire  cannot,  by  any  mean,  take  so  good  effect, 
as  by  the  granting  to  them  the/yee  and  liberal  use  of  the  Bible  m 
our  own  maternal  En.glish  tongue :  so  unless  it  be  foreseen,  that 
the  same  pass  at  the  beginning  by  one  translation  to  be  perused 
and  considered ;  the  frailty  of  man  is  such,  that  the  diversity 
thereof  may  breed  and  bring  forth  manifold  inconveniences ;  as 
when  wilful  and  heady  folks  shall  confer  upon  the  diversity  of  the 
said  translations.  We  have  therefore  appointed  our  right  trusty 
and  well-beloved  Counsellor,  the  Lord  Crumwell,  Keeper  of  our 
Privy  Seal,  to  take  for  us,  and  in  our  name,  special  care  and 
charge,  that  no  manner  of  person,  or  persons,  within  this  our 
realm,  shall  enterprise,  attempt,  or  set  in  hand,  to  print  any  Bible 
in  the  English  tongue,  of  any  manner  of  volume,  during  the 
space  of  Jive  years  next  ensuing  after  the  date  hereof,  but  only  all 
such  as  shall  be  deputed,  assigned,  and  admitted  by  the  said  Lord 
Crumwell.  Willing  and  connnanding  all  Mayors,  Sheriffs, 
Bailiffs,  Constables,  and  all  other  our  officers,  ministers,  and  sub- 
jects, to  be  aiding  to  our  said  Counsellor,  in  the  execution  of  this 
our  pleasure,  and  to  be  conformable  in  the  accomplishment  of  the 
same,  as  shall  appertain.  In  witness  whereof — Witness  ourself 
at  Westminster,  the  fourteenth  day  of  November  1539. — Per 
ipsum  RegeinP 

The  style  of  this  public  document,  and  at  such  a  time,  is  pointed 
and  very  observable.  The  reader  cannot  fail  to  be  struck  with 
the  absence  of  all  reference  to  Henry's  Church  or  Convocation. 
The  Sacred  Volume,  first  printed  abroad,  it  will  be  remembered, 
had  been  sanctioned  without  any  consultation  of  that  body ;  and 
even  now,  after  a  flaming  Convocation,  they  are  to  be  passed  over 
once  more.  Above  two  years  ago,  the  King  had  been  overruled 
to  bow  to  the  translation  ;  and  last  year,  Crumwell  as  Vicegerent 
had  enjoined  the  Bishops,  on  pain  of  deprivation,  to  see  to  its  cir- 
culation ;  but  after  the  miserable  display  they  had  recently  given 
of  their  characters,  they  are  to  be  addressed  by  him  no  more.     No 


296  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

notice  whatever  is  therefore  now  taken  of  Bishop  or  Archbishop , 
Priest  or  Parson ;  unless  the  ambiguous  term  "  minister"  at  the 
very  end,  be  allowed,  by  courtesy,  to  include  them  all.  But  it  was 
the  civil  authorities  on  whom  Crumwell  now  called ;  it  was  the 
Mayors,  the  Sheriffs,  the  Bailiffs,  the  Constables,  who  were  so 
pointedly  enjoined,  and  by  the  King  himself,  to  aid  him  !  After 
having  been  so  treated  by  the  Bench,  of  which  he  was  the  Vicar- 
General  ;  as  long  as  he  remains  Lord  Privy  Seal,  he  was  not  to 
be  insulted  with  impunity ;  the  hour  for  retaliation  had  come ; 
and  as  he  had  given  up  "Articles  of  Religion"  in  despair,  so  it  is 
now  evident,  that  he  had  also,  as  a  body,  given  up  the  Bishops. 

Nor  was  such  a  document,  "  per  ipsum  Regem,"  tiow  to  be 
treated  with  impunity.  Little  had  they  dreamt  in  Parliament, 
which  would  be  the  very  first  statute  brought  to  bear  upon  his 
Majesty's  subjects  ;  for  "  the  bloody  statute"  had  been  stayed  in  its 
operation;  but  they  had  gone  so  far  as  to  pass  a  bill,  showing, 
"  ivhat  a  King  by  bis  royal  power  might  do ;"  and  '•  considering 
that  many  occasions  might  require  speedy  remedies,"  they  enacted 
that  the  King's  proclamation,  writ,  or  letters-patent,  were  to  be 
obeyed  "  as  if  they  were  made  by  an  act  of  Parlia7nent ;"  nay, 
and  if  any  after  that  offended,  they  were  to  be  judged  as  traitors. 
If,  therefore,  the  men  of  the  neiD  learning  had  l)een  terror-struck 
in  April,  the  men  of  the  old  might  now  well  stare  with  amaze- 
ment, but  there  was  no  remedy  ;  they  must  all  stand  aghast  for 
the  time  being,  and  make  way  for  the  Lord  Privy  Seal. 

It  is  curious  also  to  observe  the  efforts  now  made  to  place  Henry, 
if  it  had  been  possible,  in  a  fair  way,  once  more,  or  to  face  him 
out,  as  the  same  man — notwithstanding  his  recent  aberration,  or 
natural  leaning  to  his  beloved  associates  of  the  old  school.  At 
this  period,  a  long  and  strange  justification  of  his  proceedings  was 
written  out.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  State  Paper  Office,  and  has 
been  printed  entire  by  Collier.  The  following  statement  taken 
from  it,  though  far  too  strongly  expressed,  clearly  proves,  that, 
despite  of  Gardiner  and  all  his  associates,  the  Scriptures  already 
printed  had  not  been  laid  on  the  shelf. 

"Englishmen  have  now  in  hand  in  every  church  and  place,  al- 
most every  man,  the  Holy  Bible  and  New  Testament  in  their 
mother  tongue;  instead  of  the  old  fabulous  and  fantastical  books 
of  '  The  Table  Round,'  'Launcelot  du  Luke,'  '  Huco  de  Bourdeaux,' 
'  Bevy  of  Hampton,'  '  Guy  of  Warwick,'  and  such  others,  whose 
impure  filth  and  vain  fabulosity,  the  light  of  God  has  abolished 
utterly," — "Englishmen  stick  fast  to  the  doctrine  of  God  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  in  the  Old  conformable  to  the  New ;  and  do 
esteem  that  it  is  ^  Pons  aqiim  salientis  in  vitani  eternamJ  " 

In  short,  the  same  ardor  which  had  been  displayed  in  printing, 
seems  to  have  been  followed  by  a  kindred  zeal  for  distribution  and 
perusal ;  and  after  such  doings  in  Parliament,  the  opposite  party, 
and  all  who  loved  the  truth,  had  notable  reasons  for  improving 
their  time.  Crumwell  had  yet  eight  months  to  live  before  his 
arrestment,  so  that   here  was  a    fine    opportunity  presented  for 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  297 

vigorous  exertion,  to  every  man  who  estimated  the  value  of  the 
Scriptures.  How  very  unUkely  was  such  a  season  to  have  arrived, 
only  a  few  months  ago  ! 

Here,  then,  terminated  that  class  of  sacred  volumes,  which,  with 
considerable  propriety,  may  be  denominated  the  first  series  :  reach- 
ing from  Wolsey's  "  secret  search  at  one  time,"  in  London,  Oxford, 
and  Cambridge ;  or  from  the  dungeon  of  Cardinal  College,  down 
to  one  of  its  inmates  publishing  three  editions  of  the  Bible,  and  two 
of  the  New  Testament,  in  one  year ;  when  the  long  hostile  Mon- 
arch had  been  made  to  declare,  that  the  free  and  liberal  use  of  the 
Bible  in  our  oion  maternal  English  tongue  was  the  only  meaii  by 
whicli  his  subjects  could  comprehend  their  duty  to  God  or  man  ; 
and  when  his  counsellor,  the  successor  of  Wolsey,  to  save  his  popu- 
larity and  retain  his  place,  was  so  evidently  urging  the  printers  to 
speed  !  The  series  referred  to,  now  included  above  thirty  editions 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  five  of  the  entire  Bible,  which  for  four- 
teen years  had  formed  the  spiritual  nourishment  of  all  those  in  this 
kingdom  who  had  been  convinced  by  their  own  experience,  that 
'•man  liveth  not  by  bread  only,  but  by  every  word  that  proceedeth 
out  of  the  mouth  of  God." 

What  a  contrast,  therefore,  is  now  presented  between  William 
Tyndale  and  all  his  contemporaries,  who  have  generally  figured 
in  the  page  of  history,  and  so  filled  it,  as  to  prevent  posterity  from 
duly  estimating,  nay,  almost  seeing,  by  far  the  most  eminent 
benefactor  of  his  country. 

It  is  not  here,  however,  that  the  year  1539  terminates.  Tyn- 
dale's  translation,  or  the  Bible  of  1.537,  had  now  been  taken  up, 
personally,  by  another  individual,  who  has  perhaps  been  expected 
to  appear  before  this  time,  and  certainly  for  some  months  before 
Henry's  letters-patent  (of  the  14th  of  November,)  this  year,  he  had 
been  engaged  in  his  sphere,  behind  the  curtain,  perhaps  as  busily 
as  any  of  Crumwell's  printers  had  been.  This,  it  may  be  antici- 
pated, was  Thomas  Cranmer  ;  but,  although  it  has  been  often  done, 
with  no  previous  edition  can  his  name,  with  historical  propriety,  be 
associated. 

The  joy  expressed  by  him,  at  the  reception  of  the  Bible  in  1537, 
may  have  prepared  the  reader  ;  but  when  he  first  met  with  Cran- 
mer on  the  Continent,  seven  years  ago,  in  company  with  Sir 
Thomas  Elyot,  then  charged  by  his  Sovereign  to  seize  T3aidale, 
and  next  year  beheld  him  with  pain,  when  sitting  in  judgment  on 
the  translator's  bosom  friend,  Fryth  ;  he  certainly  could  not  have 
imagined  that,  six  years  afterwards,  the  Primate  himself  would 
have  been  so  busily  employed  in  superintending  an  edition  of  Tyn- 
dale's  translation.  But  so  it  was.  Cranmer,  as  well  as  Crumwell, 
had  now  given  up  the  Bishops  in  despair,  though  his  chief  oppo- 
nent, Gardiner,  will  not  fail  to  cross  his  path  presently,  and  try  to 
sway  the  King. 

It  is  singular  enough  that  it  should  have  been  on  this  same 
Thursday,  the  14th  of  November,  to  which  we  have  repeatedly 
alluded,  that  Cranmer  first  certainly  appears  to  have  been  thus 


298  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

engaged.  The  edition  he  had  been  bringing  forward  was  a  vei^ 
fine  one,  and  now  nearly,  if  not  entirely  finished  ;  but  he  had  re- 
solved, at  this  peculiar  crisis,  after  being  foiled  by  the  Bench,  to 
prefix  a  preface  to  the  reader,  of  his  own  composition.  This  he 
had  submitted,  for  his  Majesty's  approbation,  and  was  now 
anxiously  waiting  its  return,  when  he  sent  the  following  letter  to 
Crumwell : — 

"  My  very  singular  good  Lord,  after  my  most  hearty  commen- 
dations, these  shall  be  to  signify  unto  your  Lordship,  that  Barte- 
lett  and  Edward  Whitechurch  hath  been  with  me,  and  have  by 
their  accounts  declared  the  expenses  and  charges  of  the  printing 
of  the  Great  Bibles ;  and  by  the  advice  of  Bartelett,  I  have  appointed 
them  to  be  sold  for  13s.  4d.  a-piece,  (one  merk,)  and  not  above. 
Howbeit,  Whitechurch  informeth  me,  that  your  Lordship  thinketh 
it  a  more  convenient  price  to  have  them  sold  at  10s.  a-piece  ; 
which,  in  respect  of  the  great  charges,  both  of  the  paper,  which  is 
substantial  and  good,  and  other  great  hinderances,  Whitechurch 
and  his  fellow  (Grafton,  his  partner)  thinketh  it  a  small  price. 
Nevertheless,  they  are  right  well  contented  to  sell  them  for  lUs.,  so 
that  you  will  be  so  good  Lord  to  them  as  to  grant  henceforth  none 
other  license  to  any  other  printer  saving  to  them,  for  the  printing 
of  the  said  Bible  :  for  else  they  think  that  they  shall  be  greatly 
hindered  thereby,  if  any  other  should  print,  they  sustaining  such 
charges  as  they  already  have  done.  Wherefore  I  shall  beseech 
your  Lordship,  in  consideration  of  their  travail  in  this  behalf,  to 
tender  their  requests  ;  and  they  have  promised  me  to  print  in  the 
end  of  their  Bibles  the  price  thereof,  to  the  intent  the  King's  liege 
people  shall  not  henceforth  be  deceived  of  their  price. 

"  Farther,  if  your  Lordship  hath  known  the  King's  pleasure 
concerning  the  Preface  of  the  Bible,  which  I  sent  you  to  oversee  ; 
so  that  his  Grace  doth  allow  the  same,  I  pray  you  that  the  same 
may  be  delivered  unto  the  said  Wiiitechurch  unto  printing ;  trust- 
ing that  it  shall  both  encourage  many  slow  readers,  and  also  sta}'' 
the  rash  judgments  of  them  that  read  therein.  Thus  our  Lord 
have  your  good  Lordship  in  his  blessed  tuition. — At  Lambeth,  the 
14th  day  of  November  1539." 

This  Preface,  however,  demanded  cogitation.  Preferring  the 
words  of  John  Chrysostom  and  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Cranmer  had 
now  ventured  to  go  to  the  full  extent  of  truth  and  dut)^,  as  Tyn- 
dale,  in  his  own  name,  had  so  often  done,  on  behalf  of  the  people 
of  England.  Cranmer  now  at  last  pled,  but  through  his  ancient 
authors — 

"  That  every  man  should  read  by  himself  at  horns,  in  the  mean 
days  and  time,  between  sermon  and  sermon — that  Avhen  they  were 
at  home  in  their  houses,  they  should  apply  themselves,  from  time 
to  time,  to  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For  the  Holy 
Spirit  hath  so  ordered  and  attempered  the  Scriptures,  that  in  them, 
as  well  publicans,  fishers,  and  shepherds,  may  find  their  edifica- 
tion, as  great  doctors  their  erudition.  But  still  you  will  say,  I  can- 
not understand  it.     What  marvel?     How  shouldst  thou  under- 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  299 

stand,  if  thou  wilt  not  read  nor  look  iijDon  it?  Take  the  books 
into  thine  hands,  read  the  whole  story,  and  that  thou  understaml- 
est,  keep  it  well  in  memory;  that  thou  understandest  not,  read  it 
again  and  again.  Here  may  all  manner  of  persons:  men^ivonien: 
youngs  old;  learned^  unlearned;  rich,  'poor ;  prie.'iis,  laymen; 
lords,  ladies ;  officers,  tenants;  and  mean  men;  virgins,  wives, 
loidoios ;  lawyers,  merchants,  artificers,  hushamlmen,  and  all 
manner  of  persons,  of  what  estate  or  condition  soever  they  be- ; 
may  in  this  Book  learn  all  things,  wliat  they  ought  to  believe, 
what  they  ought  to  do,  and  what  they  should  not  do,  as  well  con- 
cerning Almighty  God,  as  also  concerning  themselves,  and  all 
others."  "This  one  place  of  John  Chry&ostom,"  said  Cranm,er, 
"is  enough,  and  suilicient  to  persuade  all  them  that  be  not  fro- 
wardly  and  perversely  set  in  their  own  wilful  opinion." 

These  were  sentiments^  certainly  by  far  too  strong  to  pass  m 
high  places,  in  those  days,  without  murmuring  and  disputation ; 
nor  in  all  probability  would  they  .have  been  allowed  to  pass,  bitt 
for  the  conjunction  of  circuiiistances,  already  so  far  explained. 
Henry,  as  we  have  seen,  had  softened,  even  towards  Crumwell, 
and  he  was  more  likely  to  have  done  so  towards  Cranmer.  He 
had  thwarted  him  in  the  Convocation,  but  then  his  official  situa- 
tion, as  Primate,  was  not  to  be  trampled  on  :  and  the  King  had 
therefore  set  him  up  again,  by  commanding  his  highest  counsel- 
lors afterwards  to  go  and  dine  with  him.  The  vv^ind,  in  short,  had 
changed  in  the  fall  of  the  year.  Henry  is  now  on  the  tip-toe  of 
expectation  as  to  his  intended  Glueen,  and  the  Archbishop,  of 
course,  must  perform  the  intended  marriage  ceremony.  No  mo- 
Jiient  could  be  more  favorable  for  Crann^er  asking  any  favor. 

But  (hen  it  so  happened,  that  not  only  this  preface,  but  the  Bible 
itself,  had  beeii  l)rought  before  his  Majesty,  and  hence  still  farther 
delay;  for  though  Cranmer  be  almost  ready,  and  is  now,  in  No- 
vember, pressing  the  return  of  the  preface  for  the  press,  the  vol- 
ume did  not  appear  till  April  following.  The  fact  was,  that 
Henry  had  consulted  certain  Bishops,  not  forgetting  Mr.  Stephen 
Gardiner. 

"  After  the  book  Avas  finished,"  says  Fulke,  "  and  presented  to 
King  Henry  the  Eighth ;  and  by  him  committed  to  diverse 
Bishops  of  that  time  to  peruse,  of  which  (as  I  ren-iember)  Steven 
Gardiner  was  one  :  after  they  had  kept  it  long  in  their  hands,  and 
the  King  was  divers  times  sued  unto  for  the  publication  thereof, 
at  the  last  being  called  for  by  the  King  himself,  they  redelivered 
the  book :  and  being  demanded  by  the  King  what  was  their 
judgment  of  the  translation,  they  answered  that  there  were  many 
faults  therein.  'Well,'  said  the  King,  'but  are  there  any  heresies 
maintained  thereby  V  They  answered,  '  there  were  no  heresies 
that  they  could  find,  maintained  thereby.'  'If  there  be  no  her- 
esies,' said  the  King,  (in  his  own  profane  and  impatient  manner.) 
'  then,  in  God's  name,  let  it  go  abroad  among  our  people.'  Accord- 
ing to  this  judgment  of  the  King  and  the  Bishops,  M.  Coverdale 
(who  had  been  corrector  of  the  press,)  defended  the  translation, 


300  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

confessing  that  he  did  now  himself  espy  some  faults,  which  if  he 
might  review  it  once  over  again,  as  he  had  done  twice  before,  lie 
doubted  not  to  amend :  but  for  any  heresy,  he  was  sure  there 
was  none  maintained  by  the  translation." 

Only  six  months  ago  the  gentlemen  of  "  the  old  learning,"  with 
the  Duke  of  Norfolk  at  their  head,  had  been  in  high  glee  ;  but  of 
late  it  had  come  to  tlieir  turn,  to  feel  no  small  disappointment,  if 
not  alarm  :  and  Gardiner  is  understood  to  have  exerted  all  his 
powers  to  influence  the  King,  by  persuading  him  that  it  must  be 
his  duty  not  to  allow  the  people  to  read  the  Bible  by  their  own 
fire-sides,  or,  as  Cranmer  expressed  it,  at  home.  One  day  these 
two  men  met  in  the  presence  of  his  Majesty,  when  he  engaged 
them  in  discussion.  After  descanting  on  the  danger  of  allowing 
the  people  at  large  to  read  the  Scriptures,  Gardiner  chose  to  affirm 
that  what  were  called  the  Apostolic  Canons,  were  of  equal  au- 
thority with  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and  challenged  Cranmer  to 
disprove  this.  Cranmer  did  so,  and  to  Henry's  satisfaction.  The 
disputation  is  said  to  have  lasted  for  some  time,  when  the  King 
abruptly  addressed  Gardiner, — "such  a  novice  as  you,  had  better 
not  meddle  witii  an  old  experienced  Captain,  like  my  Lord  of 
Canterbury  ;"  and  then  remarked,  that  "Cranmer  was  too  experi- 
enced a  leader,  to  be  defeated  by  a  novice." 

As  for  Cranmer's  first  edition,  therefore,  since  it  did  not  appear 
till  April  next  year,  it  will  come  before  us  in  due  time.  But  in 
the  meanwhile,  and  independently  of  all  such  skirmishing  before 
the  King,  the  otlier  editions  which  had  been  sanctioned  by  Crum- 
well,  without  any  formal  reference  to  his  Majesty,  must  not  be 
forgotten,  nor  the  New  Testaments  which  had  been  printed  at 
home,  nor  the  numerous  foreign  editions.  This  is  a  period  noted 
by  Strype,  as  one  in  which  "  the  people  greedily  bought  up  and 
read  the  Holy  Scriptures."  The  trutli  is  that,  however  other 
matters  might  proceed,  whether  in  Court  or  Parliament,  the  peo- 
ple had  been  all  along  reading,  without  asking  his  Majesty's 
leave.  He  little  thought  that  he  was  led  on  by  a  current  far  too 
strong  for  his  resistance.  Yet  in  the  course  of  such  a  year  as  the 
present,  in  wliich  the  King  was  so  surrounded  by  hostile  parties 
ever  whispering  in  his  ear ;  who  would  have  imagined  that  he 
should  have  so  sanctioned  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures?  This, 
however,  he  had  actually  done,  and  done  more  emphaticallj-  than 
ever  before  !  Some  complaints  having  reached  him  through  the 
enemy,  that  the  reading  of  the  Bible  or  New  Testament  in  public, 
was  often  in  a  voice  so  loud,  that  it  threatened  to  drown  if  not 
expel  the  mass  ;  Henry  by  proclamation  ordered  a  lower  tone,  and 
that,  while  mass  was  going  on,  reading  should  be  suspended  ;  as 
well  as  that  no  man  should  "  teach  or  preach  the  Bible,"  except 
such  as  were  admitted  by  hhnself,  or  Crumwell,  or  a  Bishop. 
But  then  he  added,  what  was  of  far  greater  moment,  though  it 
must  have  been  like  an  additional  dose  of  wormwood  to  the  gen- 
tlemen of  "  the  old  learning" — 

"  Notwithstanding  his  Highness  is  pleased  and  contented,  that 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  301 

such  as  can  and  will  in  the  Enghsh  tongue,  shall  and  may  quietly 
and  reverently  read  the  Bible  and  New  Testament  by  themselves 
secretly  at  all  times  and  places  convenient^  for  their  own  instruc- 
tion and  edification,  to  increase  thereby  godliness  and  virtuous 
learning." 

Finally,  the  Monarch  must,  in  effect,  tell  posterity  that  in  thus 
acting  he  was  still  nothing  more  than  a  man  overruled  ;  since, 
with  mingled  pride  and  profanity,  he  adds — ■ 

''  His  Highness  signifieth  to  all  and  singular,  his  loving  and 
obedient  subjects,  that  his  Majesty  was  not,  nor  is  compelled  by 
God's  Word,  to  set  forth  His  Scripture  in  English  to  his  loyal  sub- 
jects ;  but  of  his  own  liberality  and  goodness  was  and  is  pleased, 
that  his  said  subjects  should  have  and  read  the  same  in  conven- 
ient places  and  times— Wherefore  his  Majesty  chargelh  and  com- 
mandeth  all  his  said  subjects  to  use  the  Holy  Scripture  in  Eng- 
lish, according  to  his  godly  purpose  and  gracious  intent,  as  they 
would  avoid  his  most  high  displeasure  and  indignation,  beside  the 
pain  above  remembered." 

The  hand  of  Crumwell  is  very  visible  in  all  this  ;  and  if  the 
proclamation  "  came  out  about  May,  being  now  equal  with  the 
law,"  as  Strype  has  told  us,  it  shows  what  confusion  had  been 
shed  into  the  Council  of  his  Majesty;  but  followed  as  it  was,  in 
the  close  of  the  year,  by  the  decided  approval  of  Cranmer's  preface, 
we  have  only  one  proof  more  of  the  truth  of  Solomon's  proverb — 
"The  King's  heart  is  in  the  hand  of  the  Lord  as  the  rivers  of 
water;  He  turneth  it  whithersoever  he  will." 

In  conclusion,  therefore,  as  already  stated,  we  come  to  the  end 
of  what  may  be  styled  the  first  series  of  Bibles  and  Testa- 
ments. Last  year,  indeed,  we  looked  at  them  as  divided  into  books 
printed  abroad,  and  then  begun  to  be  printed  at  home.  But  at 
present  we  nllude  to  all  that  had  issued  from  the  press  before  the 
first  edition  by  Cranmer  was  put  forth.  Of  the  whole  anay  the 
reader  may  form  a  distinct  idea,  on  consulting  our  list  of  Bibles 
and  Testaments  at  the  end  of  this  volume. 

Now,  if  it  be  observed  that  even  by  this  early  period,  such  a 
number  of  editions  of  the  Nev/  Testament,  of  all  descriptions,  as 
well  as  of  the  Sacred  Volume  entire,  had  passed  through  the 
press ;  and  that  Divine  Truth  had  obtained  a  footing  in  our  land, 
from  the  moment  of  its  entrance  in  1526 ;  he  will  allow  that  in 
these  fourteen  years,  a  great  work  had  been  accomplished  ;  and 
greater  still  when  he  comes  to  see  all  that  had  been  going  on  in 
Scotland,  as  well  as  in  England.  The  full  effects,  though  no  his- 
torian can  ever  detail  them,  must  have  been  far  gi'eater  than  has 
hitherto  been  supposed.  Yet  is  it  but  little  more  than  two  years 
since  the  adversary  lowered  his  colors,  and  gave  in.  Up  to 
August,  1537,  in  England,  we  have  witnessed  only  one  uninter- 
rupted battle,  without  a  solitary  truce  ;  and  since  then,  as  far  as 
Crumwell  was  concerned,  we  have  seen  him,  in  his  ardor,  officially 
pushing  on  the  work.  When,  once  on  a  time,  writing  so  bitterly 
against  Tyndale,  he  little  thought  that,  in  the  very  height  of  his 


302  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

career,  though  loaded  with  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  he  would  tax 
himself,  and  strain  every  nerve,  in  the  very  direction  which  the 
Translator  had  so  long  pointed  out ;  no  object  appearing  to  him- 
self, even  as  a  politician,  of  greater  importance.  He  is  now,  how- 
ever, soon  to  be  called  away  from  the  field  of  action,  leaving  the 
cause  to  that  unseen  hand  which  had  guided  it  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  which  will  employ  or  overrule  others,  as  it  had  done 
himself  Crumwell's  energetic  influence  is  not,  however,  3^et  par- 
alyzed. He  lias  six  months  to  live,  and  the  Bible,  printed  still 
more  magnificently,  v^ill  be  in  circulation  before  then.  In  cora- 
mon  justice,  therefore,  to  the  only  Vicegerent  that  Henry  ever  had, 
and  with  regard  to  any  of  those  volumes  already  published  on 
English  ground,  including  the  Bible  which  was  nearly  finished  in 
Paris,  it  should  be  observed,  that  when  Cranmer's  name  has  been 
associated  with  them,  in  any  degree,  whether  as  to  preparation  or 
printing,  this  appears  to  have  been  historically  incorrect.  We 
have  seen  him,  for  the  first  time,  engrossed  with  one  book,  but  the 
pubhcation  of  it  belongs  to  next  3^ear. 


SECTION    III, 

POLITICAL    AFFAIRS HENRY's    FOURTH    MARRIAGE GARDINER    AGAINST    BARNES 

AND    GARRET PARLIAMENT    OPENED CRUMWELL    NDVV  EARL    OF    ESSEX THE 

USE  ALL  ALONG  MADE  OF  HDI  BY  HENRY HENRY  HAS  TAKEN  OFFENCE CRUM- 
WELL   APPREHENDED PARTIES    OPPOSED    TO    HIM FIRST    CHARGES BILL    OF 

ATTAINDER HENRY's  FOURTH   MARRIAGE  ANNULLED FINAL  CHARGES  AGAINST 

CRUMWELL HIS  DEATH  AND  CHARACTER MORE   EXECUTIONS HENRY's  FIFTH 

MARRIAGE TME  OLD  LEARNING  PARTY  IN  TRIUMPH THE  LARGE  FOLIO  BIBLES, 

IN  SIX  EDITIONS THE  FIRST  OF  CEANMEr's A  DIFFERENT    EDITION THE    SEC- 
OND   OF    cranmer's THE    THIRD    PREPARING,  TO    BE    ISSUED    NEXT    YEAR,  BUT 

WITH  A  DIFFERENT  TITLE QUARTO  NEW  TESTAMENT, 

The  second  series  of  Bibles  and  Testaments,  commencing  with 
the  first  of  Cranmer's  editions,  will  reach  to  the  end  of  the  reign 
of  Edward  the  Sixth,  embracing  the  next  twelve  years  and  a  half, 
to  July,  1553.  At  the  best,  it  will  be  a  strange  and  varied  scene  ; 
but  at  present  our  attention  must  be  confined  to  the  first  of  those 
eventful  years.  It  was  the  year  of  Crumwell's  downfall  and  death, 
a  siabject  which  has  been  allowed  to  pass  without  due  investiga- 
tion, and,  consequently,  has  been  misunderstood- 
It  will  be  remembered  that,  in  September  last,  Henry  had  or- 
dered Crumwell  to  "put  all  other  matters  out  of  his  head,  saving 
only  the  negotiations  for  that  great  affair — his  marriage  ;  and, 
since  then,  his  impatience  for  the  approach  of  his  intended  Q,ueen 
had  risen  to  its  utmost  height.  The  Lady  Anne  of  Cleves  having 
arrived  in  England,  had  reached  Rochester  on  the  31st  of  Decem- 
ber. Upon  New  Year's  day,  therefore,  Henry,  and  actually  in 
disguise,  set  off  to  obtain  a  sight  of  his  intended  consoi-t.     The 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  303 

first  glance  was  enough.  He  chose  to  express  himself  as  disgusted. 
It  was,  "woe  that  ever  she  came  into  England,"  and  he  began  to 
ruminate  whether  or  how  he  could  break  oiY  his  engagement. 
"  But,  considering  again,"  says  Lord  Herbert,  "  that  this  would 
make  a  ruffle  in  the  world,  and  drive  the  Duke,  her  brother,  into 
the  Emperor's  or  French  King's  hands,"  he  said,  "  it  was  too  far 
gone."  Had  it  not  been  for  this  apprehension,  Henry  would  have 
immediately  sent  her  back.  On  the  6th  of  January,  therefore, 
after  expressing,  repeatedly,  the  strongest  reluctance,  he  was  mar- 
ried by  Cranmer  at  Greenwich ;  having  resolved  to  confederate 
with  the  Princes  of  German}'".  The  ceremony  once  performed, 
"  as  if  in  judgment,"  it  has  been  said,  "  for  his  cruel  and  capricious 
conduct  to  his  first  and  second  Q,ueens,  Henry  was  now  linked  to 
one  whom  he  abhorred." 

Foreign  affairs  had  not  been  the  only  source  of  anxiety  to  both 
the  King  and  Crumwell.  During  all  this  spring,  matters  at  home 
had  been  proceeding  from  ^ad  to  worse.  Bonner,  who  had  re- 
turned from  France  in  the  early  part  of  the  year,  and  was  now 
Bishop  elect  of  London,  yet  still  professedly  eager  to  please  Crum- 
well, had  appointed  three  individuals  to  preach,  during  Lent,  at 
Paul's  Cross — Dr.  Barnes,  Thomas  Garret,  one  of  the  first  dis- 
persers  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  now  Rector  of  All  Hallows 
in  Honey  Lane,  of  both  of  whom  we  have  often  heard  before,  and 
William  .Terome,  Vicar  of  Stepney.  Barnes  was  to  commence  on 
the  first  Sunday  of  Lent,  or  the  14th  of  February.  Gardiner, 
however,  now  in  high  favor  with  Henry,  sent  a  message  to  Bon- 
ner, his  old  acquaintance,  and  with  whom  he  had  quarrelled  so 
bitterly  in  France,  that  he  intended  to  preach  there  himself  on  thai 
day,  and  this  he  accordingly  did.  "  From  an  accomplished  scholar," 
says  Mr.  Todd,  "  as  Gardiner  certainl}^  was,  one  could  hardly  have 
expected  such  worthless  oratory.  It  might  indeed  be  intended  as 
a  sharp  defiance  to  the  men  of  the  '  new  learning,'  though  they 
must  have  despised  it." 

A  fortnight  elapsed,  when  Barnes  officiated  at  the  same  place, 
and  taking  the  same  text  preached  the  opposite  doctrine ;  but 
very  foolishl}^  descending  also  to  low  wit,  he  made  some  unhand- 
some references  to  Gardiner's  person,  and  even  played  upon  his 
name.  Garret  and  Jerome  also  preached,  but  made  no  personal 
reflections  on  any  man.  The  friends  of  Gardiner  then  conq^lained 
to  the  King  of  the  "  iasufitrable  arrogance"  of  the  first  preacher. 
His  Majesty,  interesting  himself  in  the  affair,  called  Barnes  before 
him.  He  was  overawed ;  signed  a  renunciation  of  the  articles 
informed  against  him ;  confessed  that  he  had  overshot  himself ; 
and  promised  ever  after  to  beware  of  such  rashness.  In  this  he 
was  followed  by  Jerome  and  Garret.  Henry,  however,  commanded 
all  the  three  to  preach  at  the  Spittle,  and  recant  what  they  had 
said;  while  Barnes  there  in  public,  and  in  Gardiner's  presence, 
must  ask  his  forgiveness.  This  he  did,  on  what  they  called  "  Low 
Sunday,"  or  the  4th  of  April ;  but  he,  as  well  as  the  other  two, 
having  reasserted  or  justified  in  one  part^  what  they  recanted  in 


304 


HISTORt    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


another,  his  Majesty  ordered  them  all  to  the  Tower,  there  to  await 
his  decision. 

Barnes,  for  years  in  the  confidence  of  Crumwell,  had  not  only 
been  before  employed  by  him  in  Germany,  but  more  recently  in 
the  ill-assorted  neg'otiations  respecting^  Anne  of  Cleves.  It  was, 
therefore,  positively  presumed,  that  the  disgrace  of  the  one  might 
bring  the  other  into  disrepute  or  suspicion,  and  the  votaries  of  the 
old  learning  were  indulging  hopes  of  Crumwell's  fall.  So  confi- 
dent indeed  were  they,  that  his  office  of  Vicar-General  they  had 
bestowed,  by  anticipation,  on  Tunstal  Bishop  of  Durham,  and 
that  of  Lord  Privy  Seal  upon  Clerk,  Bishop  of  Bath.  At  this 
moment,  however,  they  were  completely  mistaken  in  their  calcu- 
lations ;  nor  is  there  one  particle  of  evidence  that  such  an  idea 
had  as  yet  entered  into  Henry's  mind,  as  that  of  the  destruction 
of  Crumwell;  and  far  less  that  he  ever  intended  to  have  another 
Vicar-General,  for  he  never  had.  On  the  contrary,  Crumwell  is 
just  about  to  be  raised  still  higher,  and  actually  to  have  fresh 
honors  and  more  power  conferred  upon  him  ! 

Upon  Monday  the  12th  of  April,  Parliament  was  opened,  where, 
for  the  first  time,  there  was  no  Abbot  or  Prior  present.  After 
Audley,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  had  addressed  the  house  on  civil 
affairs,  Crumwell  rose,  as  Vicar-General,  and  introduced  a  message 
from  the  King,  lamenting  the  religious  dissensions  by  which  the 
country  was  still  agitated;  so  that  neither  the  first  "Articles"  by 
Cranmer,  nor  the  second  by  Gardiner,  had  produced  either  "  peace" 
or  "  contentation."  His  Majesty,  said  Crumwell,  "leaned  neither 
to  the  right  or  left,  neither  to  the  o)ie  party,  nor  to  the  other  !— 
but  to  remove  or  root  out  at  once  all  evils,  he  had  appointed  two 
sets  of  prelates  and  doctors  ;  one  to  reform  the  tenets,  and  the 
other  the  ceremonies  of  the  Church  !"  In  other  words,  they  were 
to  try  and  draw  out  another  form  of  faith  and  practice  for  the 
people  of  England,  to  be  imposed  upon  them  once  more.  They 
were  to  sit  three  days  entire  in  each  week,  and  the  half  of  the 
other  three,  and  proceed  with  deliberation.  The  whole  address, 
from  such  a  man  as  the  King,  and  to  such  a  House,  was  literally 
nothing  short  of  profanity  ;  while  amidst  all,  so  strange  was  the 
mixture,  the  Scriptures  themselves  were  not  overlooked — his  Maj- 
esty demanding  the  aid  of  both  Houses  to  enact  penalties  against 
such  as  treated  the  Sacred  Volume  with  irreverence,  or  explained 
rashly  and  erroneously  the  Holy  Scriptures.  From  the  men  thus 
appointed  by  the  King,  we  need  scarcely  add,  that  nothing  save 
greater  confusion  and  perplexity  were  the  results.  Their  proceed- 
ings ended  in  the  publication  of  what  they  styled  "  The  necessary 
Erudition  of  a  Christian  Man,"  above  two  years  after.  It  was  a 
confused  and  heterogeneous  compound,  in  wdiich,  says  Burnet 
truly,  "  both  parties  found  cause  afterwards  for  both  joy  and 
sorrow." 

On  Wednesday  the  14th,  the  Convocation  assembled,  and  at  the 
close,  both  Houses  adjourned  till  Saturday  the  17th,  which  was 
the  last  day  in  which  the  Vicar-general  sat  as  Baron  Crumwell. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  305 

It  SO  happened  that  last  month  Henry  had  been  deprived,  by 
death,  of  two  of  his  nobihty.  The  first,  Bourchier  Earl  of  Essex 
was  killed  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  on  the  12th  of  March  ;  and 
within  a  week  after,  died  "  the  great  Chamberlain  of  England," 
Vere,  Earl  of  Oxford ;  and  as  if  my  Lord  Privy  Seal  and  Vice- 
gerent were  not  only  overloaded  with  both  honor  and  office,  his 
Majesty  had  actually  resolved  to  combine  those  of  both  rnen  in 
the  person  of  Crumwell !  After  Parliament  rose,  therefore,  on  the 
17th,  or  as  Halle  has  it,  next  day  the  18th,  Sunday,  Crumwell  was 
not  only  created  Earl  of  Essex,  but  appointed  Great  Chamber- 
lain ;  and  on  Monday  he  entered  the  House  of  Lords,  where  his 
name  stands  at  the  head  of  the  roll — ''  Vicesgerens  Regius,  Thomas 
Essex  comes."  The  former  Earl  having  died  without  heirs,  the 
King,  gave  him  at  the  same  time,  all  that  fell  to  the  Crown.  He 
was  now  in  possession  of  all  his  honors,  which  in  number,  if  not 
in  emolument,  far  exceeded  even  those  of  Wolsey ! 

It  is  apparent  to  any  intelligent  observer  that  Henry  used  Crum- 
well only  as  an  instrument  to  get  money  for  himself.  No  other 
man  in  his  dominions  had  the  capacity  to  raise  such  sums,  and  to 
make  him  more  powerful  and  successful,  the  king  heaped  honors 
after  honors  upon  his  head.  But  there  was  one  point  beyond  which 
even  Crumwell  could  not  go  with  impunity.  He  came  to  the 
House  and  demanded  an  enormous  subsidy  in  the  shape  of  a  tax 
on  the  income  of  the  members.  This  exasperated  the  House  and 
the  people.  But  the  bill  was  passed,  and  on  the  same  day  a  bill 
of  permutation,  or  exchange  of  some  property,  between  the  King 
and  Crumwell,  liad  been  brought  in  and  read  a  first  time,  so  that 
every  thing  seemed  to  be  proceeding  successfully — -but — next 
morning  arrived,  and  what  is  this  ?  For  some  cause  or  another, 
his  Majesty  is  now  seriously  offended,  and  this  is  the  first  positive 
intimation.  It  was  only  three  weeks  since  he  had  heaped  honor 
upon  the  man ;  he  has,  since  then,  carried  through  money  mat- 
ters, of  which,  perhaps,  no  one  else  would  have  risked  even  the 
suggestion  ;  and,  besides,  this  is  Sunday.  No  matter,  Henry  must 
write  immediately,  and  here  is  his  letter:— 

''  Henry  V^,.  By  the  King. 

"  Right  trusty,  and  right  well-beloved  Cousin,  we  greet  you  well ; 
signifying  to  you  our  pleasure  and  commandment,  is,  that  forth- 
with, and  upon  receipt  of  these  our  letters,  setting  all  other  affairs 
apart,  ye  do  repair  unto  Us,  for  the  treaty  of  such  great  and  weighty 
matters,  as  whereupon  doth  consist  the  surety  of  your  person,  the 
preservation  of  our  honour,  and  the  tranquiUlty  and  quietness  of 
you  and  all  other  our  loving  and  faitliful  subjects,  like  as  at  your 
arrival  here,  ye  shall  more  plainly  perceive  and  understand.  And 
that  ye  fail  not  hereof,  as  We  specially  trust  you.  Given  under 
our  Signet,  at  our  Manor  of  Westminster,  the  9tli  day  of  May." 

It  is  singular  that  the  first  precise  cause  of  offence,  so  strongly 
marked  in  this  letter,  has  never  transpired  ;  though,  after  this,  it 
must  be  evident  that  Crumwell  could  not  have  passed  one  easy 

20 


306  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

hour.  Still,  upon  Monday,  the  Earl  appeared  among  the  Lords 
as  usual,  when  his  hill  of  permutation  with  the  King  was  read 
and  passed  ;  but  the  very  next  day  Parliament  was  proi^offued  till 
the  25th  of  May,  and  this  was  ominous.  On  Wednesday,  however, 
the  Vicar-General  attended  Convocation,  and  Jinished  the  business 
of  the  subsidy  there  also. 

The  displeasure  felt  all  around,  on  account  of  these  enormous 
levies,  joined  with  the  displeasure  of  the  King,  which  nuist  have 
soon  been  whispered,  furnished,  during  the  recess,  a  fine  opportu- 
nity for  getting  up  the  bill  of  accusations  against  Crumweli,  which, 
no  doubt,  was  skilfully  improved ;  but  Tuesday  the  25th  arrived, 
Parliament  sat,  and  the  Earl  was  there  as  before  !  Bills  of  at- 
tainder without  any  trial,  according  to  the  shocking  precedent 
which  Crumweli  himself  had  introduced  last  year,  were  passed 
again  and  again  in  this  Parliament,  against  a  number  of  individ- 
uals ;  and  now,  at  last,  he  is  himself  about  to  become  the  victim 
of  his  own  measure ;  though  still,  every  day,  or  as  duly  as  the 
House  assembled,  there  was  the  Earl,  and  so,  generally  speaking, 
was  Cranmer.  Thus  it  happened  on  Thursday  the  10th  of  June, 
and  after  Parliament  adjourned  at  Westminster,  there  was  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Privy  Council;  Crumweli  was  present,  but  not  Cran- 
mer. The  Duke  of  Norfolk  and  his  party  were  now  ready.  The 
Duke,  for  particular  reasons  then  high  in  the  King's  favor,  preferred 
against  the  falling  Minister  the  charge  of  high  treason.  His  des- 
potic Majesty,  of  course,  liad  been  consulted,  and  had  concurred ; 
and,  therefore,  Audley,  as  Lord  Chancellor,  having  arrested  him, 
he  was  forthwith  conducted  as  a  prisoner  to  the  Tower.  Thus 
the  man  who  had  sat  on  high  in  Parliament  in  the  morning,  by 
three  o'clock  was  regarded  as  a  traitor,  and  is  said  to  have  been 
even  insulted  on  his  way  to  the  Tower  in  the  afternoon  ! 

That  very  night  one  party  "  banqueted  and  triumphed  to- 
gether, many  wishing  that  that  day  had  been  seven  years  before ; 
while  some,  fearing  lest  he  should  escape,  though  imprisoned, 
could  not  be  merry.  But  otliers,  who  knew  nothing  but  truth 
by  him,  both  lamented,  and  heartily  prayed  for  him." 

The  step  thus  taken  has  been  long  very  loosely  ascribed  to 
Henry's  recent  marriage  ;  but  that  event  could  never,  of  itself, 
have  led  to  this.  Crumweli  would  have  outlived  that  vexation 
of  his  royal  Master,  by  at  once  putting  an  end  to  it.  A  better  key 
to  the  secret  may  be  found.  Serving  a  capricious  monarch,  some- 
times pleased,  and  soon  angry,  the  eager  and  too  ambitious  ser- 
vant must  have  been  often  at  a  stand.  His  own  course  was  er- 
ratic. To  pull  down  an  ambitious  man  with  safety  suddenly. 
Lord  Bacon  has  said,  that  the  only  way  is  the  interchange  con- 
tinually of  favors  and  disgraces,  whereby  he  may  not  know  what 
to  expect,  and  be,  as  it  were,  in  a  wood.  Now  although  Henry, 
it  is  most  probable,  had  no  fixed  intention,  only  a  month  since,  it 
is  certain  that  Crumweli  had  been  first  in  favor  then  in  disgrace, 
or  first  elevated,  then  depressed,  as  his  Majesty  had  both  smiled 
and  frowned,  in  the  short  compass  of  three  weeks.     No  wonder, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  307 

then,  if  Crumwell  had  found  himself  before  now,  but  especially  of 
late,  "  as  it  were,  in  a  wood."  Too  much  elated  by  the  favor  of 
the  King,  his  arrogance,  in  the  possession  of  so  much  power  and 
authority  seems  to  have  increased.  He  has  been  said  to  have 
treated  all  the  men  of  the  old  learning,  whether  clergy  or  noljility 
with  equal  haughtiness,  and  even  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  his  chief 
rival,  he  had  threatened  with  the  royal  cUspleasure.  Though, 
therefore,  the  immediate  occasion  of  Cromwell's  arrest  has  never 
been  pointed  out,  it  may  now  be  very  safely,  if  not  clearly  traced, 
to  certain  Bishops,  headed  by  his  Grace  of  Norfolk. 

About  the  month  of  August  last  year,  Crumwell  had  been  in- 
censed by  one  of  these  men,  Richard  Sampson.  Bishop  of  Chiches- 
ter, as  playing  false  with  the  King,  having  a  secret  favor  for  the 
Roman  Pontitf,  with  special  good  will  to  the  old  learning  and  all 
its  ceremonies.  Correspondence  and  personal  communications 
had  passed  between  them,  but  up  to  the  day  of  his  own  arrest,  the 
tokens  of  Crumwell's  displeasure  had  not  been  removed.  The 
fact  was,  that  the  Bishop,  in  company  with  Dr.  Nicholas  Wilson, 
he  had  committed  to  the  Tower.  There,  in  trouble  and  dejection, 
if  not  fear  of  his  life,  Sampson  had  made  certain  disclosures — con- 
fessing a  combination  between  himself,  Tunstal  Bishop  of  Durham, 
and  Stokesly  of  London,  lately  deceased.  They  were  to  do  their 
utmost  to  preserve  the  old  doctrines  with  all  their  appendages. 
Upon  this,  Crumwell  made  no  scruple  to  charge  Tunstal  with 
what  he  had  heard ;  but  he  denied  it.  On  Monday,  the  7th  of 
June,  therefore,  only  three  days  before  the  arrest,  Dr.  Peter,  and  a 
Mr.  Bellows  were  sent  to  Sampson  to  signify  this,  on  which  he  sat 
down,  and  in  writing  addressed  to  Crumwell  an  ample  and  decided 
confirmation  of  all  he  had  confessed.  To  refresh  Tunstal's  mem- 
ory, if  not  confound  him,  Sampson  pointed  distinctly  to  a  certain 
period,  when  tiiey,  the  Bishops,  were  busy  with  the  Germans  and 
the  Bishop's  Book ;  he  described  graphically  the  doings  of  both 
Stokesly  and  himself— repeating  that  "  Tunstal  will  not  say  other- 
wise, but  that  he,  and  the  late  Bishop  of  London  were  fully  bent 
to  maintain  as  many  of  the  old  usages  as  they  might,  and  so  they 
said  it  was  necessary  to  do."  Here,  in  short,  were  the  authors  of 
"  the  Book  of  Ceremonies,"  to  which  we  referred  last  year.  But 
this  was  not  the  whole  confession  now.  "  Winchester,"  said 
Sampson,  "was  not  tJcen  here,  but  the  encouragement  he  had  given 
him  was  now,  lately" — "  not  to  fear  to  help  things  forward,  for  the 
King's  Highness  was  very  good  Lord  in  them."  Gardiner  wished 
him  to  be  diligent  in  ceremonies  and  to  leave  none.  Heath,  too, 
whom  Gardiner  had  just  consecrated  Bishop  of  Rochester,  had 
turned,  and  was  of  the  same  mind.  In  short,  "  Winchester  told  him 
that  they  were  all  of  one  mind,  very  few  excepted." 

To  be  thwarted  in  Parliament  as  to  their  Book  of  Ceremonies 
had  been  grievous  enough,  but  to  have  its  secret  history  thus  fully 
exposed  to  Crumwell,  was  more  vexatious  still.  Tunstal  and 
Gardiner,  in  their  true  characters,  stood  fully  before  him.  Now, 
all  this  happened  on  Monday,  or  only  three  days  before  the  arrest. 


308  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

By  this  moment,  Henry  was  sick  of  all  confabulation  about 
Germany ;  being  secretly,  and  to  his  dying  day,  a  votary  of  the 
old  ceremonies.  The  niece  of  Norfolk  had  caught  his  eye  ;  while 
the  alleged  treason  and  inal-adniinist  ration  of  C  rum  well  were 
poured  into  his  ear ;  and  these  were  charges  to  which  his  Majesty 
at  this  moment  was  all  alive.  Meanwhile,  the  new-n^ade  Earl 
had  already  secured  the  subsidies,  and  would  now  inherit  all  the 
odium,  or  like  the  scape-goat  carry  it  away  from  the  King.  After 
such  a  pointed  written  disclosure  on  Monday,  no  wonder  if  high 
Avords,  for  the  last  time,  had  again  escaped  from  Crumwell  on 
Tuesday  or  Wednesday  :  and  on  Thursday  he  was  laid  low. 

Next  day  the  event  was  known  to  all,  when  the  time-servers 
were  busy  in  changing  sides.  Among  others,  Bonner,  formerly  so 
compliant,  so  zealous  for  tlie  Scriptur3s  and  full  of  promise,  when 
at  Paris,  who  had  been  solely  indebted  for  his  elevation  to  the  un- 
happy prisoner  in  the  Tower,  had  already  wheeled  round.  "  As 
soon  as  ever  Crumwell  fell,  the  very  next  day  he  shewed  his  in- 
gratitude, and  how  nimbly  he  turned  with  the  wind.  For  Grafton, 
the  printer,  (so  intimate  with  Bonner  in  France,)  meeting  him, 
said,  he  was  very  sorry  for  the  news  he  had  heard  of  Crumwell's 
being  sent  to  the  Tower.  Bonner  answered,  '  It  had  been  good  he 
had  been  despatched  long  ago.'  So  the  other  shrunk  away,  per- 
ceiving the  change  tliat  was  in  him." 

In  short,  of  all  the  friends  that  once  so  courted  the  friendship 
of  Thomas  Crumwell,  there  was  only  one  solitary  individual  left, 
and  this  was  Cranmer ;  at  least  he  was  the  only  man  who  said 
anything  at  the  moment.  The  certainty  seems  to  be,  that  Cran- 
mer was  not  present  when  Crumwell  was  arrested ;  that  he  heard 
this  day,  at  the  Privy  Council,  the  grounds  of  his  arrest,  and  on 
the  morrow,  or  Saturday,  sent  his  letter  to  the  King.  The  follow- 
ing fragment,  as  given  by  Lord  Herbert  from  the  original,  is  all 
that  remains : — 

"  I  heard  yesterday  in  your  Grace's  Coiuicil,  that  he  (Crumwell) 
is  a  traitor ;  yet  who  cannot  be  sorrowful  and  amazed  that  he 
should  be  a  traitor  against  your  Majesty  ?  He  that  was  so  ad- 
vanced by  your  Majesty  ;  he  whose  surety  was  only  by  your 
Majesty  ;  he  who  loved  your  Majesty,  as  I  ever  thought,  no  less 
than  God;  he  who  studied  always  to  set  forwards  whatsoever  was 
your  Majesty's  will  and  pleasure  :  he  that  cared  for  no  man's  dis- 
pleasure to  serve  your  Majesty  ;  he  that  was  such  a  servant,  in  my 
judgment,  in  wisdom,  diligence,  faithfulness  and  experience,  as  no 
Prince  in  this  realm  ever  had;  he  that  was  so  vigilant  to  preserve 
your  Majesty  from  all  treasons,  that  few  could  be  so  secretly  con- 
ceived, but  he  detected  the  same  in  the  beginning.  If  the  noble 
Princes  of  memory,  King  John,  Henry  the  Second,  and  Richard 
IL,  had  had  such  a  counsellor  about  them,  I  suppose  that  they 
should  never  have  been  so  traitorously  abandoned  and  overthrown 
as  those  good  princes  were  ;     *     *     * 

"  I  loved  him  as  my  friend,  for  so  I  took  him  to  be ;  but  I  chiefly 
loved   him   for   the  love  which  I  thought  I  saw  him  bear  ever 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  309 

towards  your  Grace,  singula  rly  above  all  other.  But  now,  if  he  be 
a  traitor,  I  am  sorry  that  ever  I  loved  or  trusted  him,  and  I  am 
very  glad  that  his  treason  is  discovered  in  time  ;  but  yet  aoain  I 
am  very  sorrowful;  for  who  shall  your  Grace  trust  hereafter,  if 
you  might  not  trust  him  ?  Alas  !  I  bewail  and  lament  your  Grace's 
chance  herein,  I  wot  not  whom  your  grace  may  trust.  But  I  pray 
God  continually  night  and  day,  to  send  such  a  counsellor,  in  his 
place,  whom  your  Grace  may  trust,  and  who  for  all  his  qualities 
can  and  will  serve  your  grace  like  to  him,  and  that  will  have  so 
much  solicitude  and  care  to  preserve  your  Grace  from  all  dan-rers 
as  I  ever  thought  he  had."  "^ 

This  letter  has  been  described  as  remarkable  for  its  "very 
earnest  and  persuasive"  tone ;  but  in  truth  this  fragment  conveys 
no  request  whatever  on  behalf  of  Crumwell ;  and  if  any  was 
made,  the  communication,  as  addressed  to  such  a  man  as  Henry, 
was  not  likely  to  operate  in  his  favor.  The  remark  made  as  to 
Cranmer's  letter  respecting  Anne  Boleyn,  is  not  less  applicable 
here.  The  alternative  is  put  in  such  a  style  as  to  prove  injurious  ; 
the  "  but  now,  and  if,"  were,  at  such  a  moment,  almost  fatal  to 
any  escape,  or  equal  to  acquiescence.  The  quick  eye  of  the  mon- 
arch, already  incensed,  would  at  once  fix  on  certain  expressions- 
He  IS  "  very  glad,''  he  says,  "  that  his  treasoyi  has  been  discovered 
m  tune,"— nay  he  only  heard  yesterday,  and  is  already  "  prayino- 
night  and  day  that  God  would  send  such  a  counsellor  in  his 
placer  Taken  all  in  all,  to  say  the  least,  this  was  by  no  means 
the  judicious  cilusion  of  a  friend  "  born  for  adversity"  or  bent  on 
fair  dealing. 

It  was  on  the  day  after  his  arrest,  or  Friday  the  11th,  that 
Crumwell  underwent  \n:i  first  examination.  Though  denied  the 
benefit  of  a  public  trial  before  his  Peers,  he  seems  to  have  been 
confronted  with  at  least  one  accuser,  in  presence  of  certain  mem- 
bers of  the  Privy  Council ;  and  having  thus  far  ascertained  the 
accusations  against  him,  the  next  day  he  sent  his  first  letter  to  the 
King,  dated  "Saturday,  at  your  Tower  of  London."  Even  this 
however,  he  had  not  presumed  to  do  without  a  direct  me=sao-e 
from  his  Majesty,  through  the  "  Controller"  of  his  household  •  re- 
questing him  to  write  "  whatever  he  thought  meet  concernin<^  his 
most  miserable  state  and  condition."  ° 

Taken  in  connection  with  the  history  through  which  we  have 
passed,  this  letter  enables  us  to  penetrate  so  far  into  the  secrets  of 
the  cabal  against  Crumwell,  as  well  as  the  charges  preferred  at 
first  against  him.  Treason  was  the  first ;  Injustice  to  the  com- 
monwealth, by  winking  at  combinations,  conventicles,  or  such  as 
were  offenders  against  the  laws,  was  i\ie second;  Disclosino-  a  state 
secret,  which,  in  fact,  was  notliing  more  than  that  Henry  had  re- 
solved to  divoree  his  Queen  !  was  the  third.  This  appears  to  have 
been  the  whole  count  on  this  first  day  ;  and  the  letter  sent  takes 
them  a  1  up  in  order.  The  three  charges  he  denies,  thouo-h  in  a 
style  which  it  is  painful  to  read.  His  imprecations  on  himself,  if 
any  one  of  these  imputations  were  true,  are  not  only  so  frequent, 


310  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

but  SO  dreadful,  that  as  in  all  such  cases,  one  is  at  a  loss  to  know 
whether  they  were  well  founded  or  not.  At  the  same  time,  the 
most  serious  charge,  that  of  treason,  so  far  as  it  was  now  laid, 
appears  to  have  been  base,  hollow,  and  incredible.  In  rebutting 
it,  one  or  two  singular  circumstances  are  disclosed. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  year  1536,  by  Crumwell's  own 
suggestion,  a  Court  was  formed,  styled,  "  the  Court  of  Augment 
ations,"  to  register  and  secure  tlie  enormous  sums  coming  in  to 
the    Crown,   by   the    suppressioii    of  monasteries.     Here,   it  was 
affirmed,  the  treason  had  been  uttered  or  disclosed,  and  apparently 
in  the  summer  of  1537.     Why  then  was  not  the  present  witness 
seized  for  concealment  ?     Better  men  had  fallen  in  these  days 
for  no  other  crime.     But  who  turns  out  to  be  the  accuser?     It 
was  no  other  than  a  man  already  famous,  or  rather  infamous,  for 
ensnaring  state  prisoners.     Richard  Rich,  the  Chancellor  of  this 
very  Court.     The  blood  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  if  not  also  of  Fisher, 
Bishop  of  Rochester,  was  already  upon  him.     He  it  was  who  at 
least  ensnared  them  both  in  one  day  ;  so  that  Henry's  Council  had 
taken  advantage  of  Rich's  baseness  before  now  ;  though  still  it  is 
remarkable,  that  the  first  insinuations  against  Crumwell  should 
have  been  laid  in  the  very  Court  which  he  had  himself  estab- 
lished.    Rich,  in  his  allegation,  referred  to  another  person,  named 
Frogmorton,  for  so  Throgmorton  was  then  often   spelt ;  but  he, 
very  conveniently,  could  not  be  present,  either  to  confirin  or  deny 
the  statement.     If  this  was  Michael  Throgmorton,  of  whom  we 
have  before  heard,  a  gentleman  of  family,  the  confidential  agent 
and  friend  of  Cardinal  Pole,  he  was  distant  as  far  as  Italy.     He 
had  re-visited  England  in  very  critical  circumstances,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  and  used  to  make  it  his  high  boast,  ever  after,  that 
he  had  then  deceived  or  outwitted  both  Crumwell  and  Sir  Richard 
Moryson  in  his  employ.     If  this  indeed  be  the  man,  for  we  can 
find  no  other,  Rich,  in  the  wickedness  of  his  heart,  well  knew  that 
he  was  now  touching  Henry's  tender  toe.    Anything  in  the  slightest 
connection  with  Pole,  or  any  friend  of  his,  put  him  at  once  into  a 
rage.     No  supposition,  however,  could  be  more  preposterous,  than 
that  the  shrewd,  though  fallen  minister,  should  then  especially  utter 
one  word,  or  do  a  single  thing,  bordering  on  treason  against  his 
royal  Master ;  much  less  in  presence  either  of  Rich  or  Throgmor- 
ton.    But  what  does  Crumwell  himself  say  in  reply  ?     We  except 
the  imprecations. 

"And  now,  most  gracious  Prince,  to  the  matter.  First,  where  I 
have  been  accused  to  yoiu-  Majesty  of  treason.  To  that  I  say,  I 
never,  in  all  my  life,  thought  willingly  to  do  that  thing  that  might 
or  should  displease  your  Majesty.  Mine  accusers,  your  Grace 
knoweth  ;  God  forgive  them.  Most  Gracious  Sovereign  Lord,  to 
my  remembrance,  I  never  spake  with  the  Chancellor  of  the  Aug- 
mentations and  Throgmorton  together,  at  one  time  ;  hut  if  1 
did,  I  am  sure  I  spake  never  of  any  such  matter.  And  your 
Grace  knoweth  what  manner  of  man  Throgmorton  hath  ever 
been,  ever  towards  your  Grace  and  your  proceedings  ;  and  what 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  311 

Master  Chancellor  hath  been  towards  me,  God  and  he  best  know- 
eth.  1  will  he  can  (neither)  accuse  him.  What  I  have  been  to- 
wards him,  your  Majesty  right  well  knoweth.  I  would  to  Christ 
I  had  obeyed  your  often  most  gracious  grave  counsels  and  adver- 
tisements ;  then  it  had  not  been  with  me,  as  now  it  is." 

With  regard  to  the  second  charge,  Crumwell  speaks  in  measured 
language,  but  as  for  revealing  Henry's  mighty  secret,  this  he 
pointedly  refutes.  The  minute  style  iu  which  Crumwell  dw^ells 
on  this,  the  intended  dismissal  of  the  Queen,  only  shows  what 
a  fastidiously  tyrannical  being,  and  capricious  even  to  childish- 
ness, his  Master  was.  There  was  not  a  single  courtier,  nor  even 
any  of  the  people  who  cared  one  stiaw  about  the  matter,  who 
were  not  anticipating  what  he  actually  did  so  soon.  To  call  it  a 
secret  was  ridiculous. 

This  first  examination,  therefore,  if  intended  chiefly  to  ensnare, 
which  it  probably  was,  seems  to  have  failed  of  its  effect.  But  it 
was  only  a  preliminary  step  to  a  far  broader  bill  of  attainder,  with- 
out the  trouble  of  any  farther  inquiry,  which  was  brought  into 
Parhament  on  Thursday  the  17th.  Cranmer,  who  had  been 
in  the  House  of  Lords  every  day  they  sat  since  the  10th  was  not 
now  present;  but  the  Earl  of  Southampton  entered  and  took  his 
seat,  and  as  Lord  Privy  Seal !  The  bill,  therefore,  was  but  a 
mere  form,  in  usual  style,  and  Crumwell's  certain  disgrace,  if  not 
death  was  now  apparent  to  all.  On  Saturday  this  bill  was  read 
the  second  and  third  times,  when  Cranmer  loas  present,  and,  by 
his  silence,  acquiesced.  It  v/as  then  sent  down  to  the  Commons, 
where,  however,  there  must  have  been  some  hesitation  or  objec- 
tions, as  it  remained  there  for  ten  days.  In  the  end,  having  drawn 
out  another  bill,  they  sent  both  up  on  the  29th.  The  Lords,  more 
zealous  than  ever,  accepted  the  bill  sent  up,  and  having  read  it 
three  times  at  one  sitting,  the  King  also  assented  on  the  same 
day. 

Their  bill  having  passed,  and  the  King  assented,  the  very  next 
day,  no  doubt,  these  men  were  ready  for  Crumwell's  execution, 
and  would  have  rejoiced  in  it ;  but  he  is  not  to  die  for  a  month  to 
come.  On  Henry's  part  there  must  have  been  some  wavering  ; 
at  least  he  had  sent  Audley,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk,  and  Lord  Russel,  (whose  life,  by  the  way,  Crumwell  had 
once  saved  when  abroad,)  with  a  message  to  the  Tower,  informing 
the  prisoner  of  the  bill  having  passed,  and  inquiring  once  more  into 
circumstances  connected  with  the  last  marriage.  From  the  minute 
reply  sent  next  day,  or  the  last  of  June,  it  appears  that  his  Majesty 
had  sent  Crumwell  money,  and  this  seems  to  have  either  encour- 
ao-ed  the  hope  of  life,  or  led  him  to  plead  the  more  earnestly  for  it. 
At  the  same  time  he  says — ■ 

"  Sir,  upon  my  knees  I  most  humbly  beseech  your  gracious 
Majesty  to  be  good  and  gracious  lord  to  my  poor  son,  the  good  and 
virtuous  woman  his  wife,  (actually  the  sister  of  Henry's  last  Queen, 
Jane  Seymour,)  and  their  poor  children,  and  also  to  my  servants  ; 
and  this  I  desire  of  your  Grace  for  Christ's  sake."     He  closes  in  the 


312 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


following  tei'ms — "  Written  at  the  Tower  this  Wednesday,  the  last 
of  June,  with  the  heavy  heart,  and  trembling  hand,  of  your  High- 
ness' most  heavy  and  most  miserable  prisoner,  and  poor  slave. 
Thomas  Crumwell.  Most  gracious  Prince.  I  cry  for  mercy,  mercy, 
mercy  !" 

For  four  weeks  from  this  date  did  Crunjwell  remain  in  a  state 
of  suspense,  while  at  least  two  other  letters  had  been  addressed  b}' 
him  to  the  King.  According  to  Foxe,  in  reference  to  the  first  of 
these,  on  applying  to  one  of  the  commissioners  to  convey  it,  he 
refused,  saying,  that  "  he  would  carry  no  letter  to  the  King  from  a 
traitor."  Crumwell  then  inquired  if  he  would  convey  a  message, 
when  he  assented,  on  condition  of  its  not  being  contrary  to  his  al- 
legiance. Upon  this,  Crumwell,  appealing  to  the  other  liords 
present  as  to  the  promise,  and  turning  to  the  man,  only  said — 
"You  shall  commend  me  to  the  King,  and  tell  him,  by  the  time 
he  hath  so  well  tried  and  thoroughly  proved  you,  as  I  have  done, 
he  shall  find  yon  as  false  a  tnan  as  ever  came  about  him.''''  If  this 
was  not  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  who  had  so  shamefully  dissembled 
and  deceived  him,  it  must  have  been  Chancellor  Rich,  the  Solicitor- 
General,  and  a  Privy  Counsellor.  The  other  letter  was  conveyed 
by  Ralph  Sadler,  in  former  days  a  clerk  of  Crumwell's,  whose  for- 
tune he  had  made ;  a  letter  which  it  is  said  Henry  commanded  to 
be  read  to  him  three  times. 

In  the  prospect  of  destroying  Anne  Boleyn,  it  may  be  remem- 
bered, he  must  hold  a  tilt  and  tournament  at  Greenwich.  So  now, 
at  Westminster,  as  late  as  the  first  week  in  May,  he  had  been 
feasting  sumptuously  with  his  Queen,  Anne  of  Cleves,  and  all  the 
Lords,  on  the  very  eve  of  her  divorce,  and  while  that  Parliament 
was  sitting,  which  would  soon,  with  all  due  form,  settle  the  business ! 

On  Tuesday,  the  6th  of  July,  his  Majesty's  ministers,  no  doubt 
under  orders,  having  consulted  the  House  of  Lords  on  his  situa- 
tion, they,  with  the  Commons,  petitioned  their  Sovereign  to  allow 
the  Convocation  to  try  the  validity  of  his  marriage,  and  adjourned 
for  two  days  to  afford  time  ;  Henry  iiaving  profanely  replied — 
"  that  there  was  nothing  he  held  dearer  than  the  glory  of  God,  the 
good  of  the  commonwealth,  and  the  declaration  of  truth  !"  Cran- 
mer,  who  had  performed  the  marriage  ceremony,  concurred  with 
this  proposal,  and  was  one  of  the  commission  appointed.  Stephen 
Gardiner  expounded  the  matter  in  order  to  the  Convocation,  in- 
forming the  assembly  that  his  Majesty  had  never  given  his  imrard 
consent !  Among  the  disgusting  details,  poor  Crumwell's  letter 
from  the  Tower  was  produced  in  evidence  !  The  Bishops,  with 
their  underlings,  were  then  unanimous,  and  presenting  the  sentence 
of  nullification  on  the  9th,  next  day  Cranmer  reported  to  the 
House  of  Lords,  that  the  marriage  which  he  had  celebrated  was 
contrary  to  the  law  of  both  God  and  man  ;  when  they  sent  liim 
and  Gardiner  down  to  the  Commons  to  report  the  same  !  Over- 
come with  fear,  for  it  could  not  be  argument,  Cranmer  consented 
with  all  the  rest.  The  dread  of  Crumwell's  doom  might  be  before 
his  eyes.     The  Commons  also  having  given  their  assent,  not  an 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  313 

hour  was  now  to  be  lost,  as  the  King's  business  demanded  haste. 
The  very  next  day,  therefore,  being  Sunday,  Norfolk,  Southamp- 
ton, and  Gardiner  were  at  Richmond,  busy  enough  in  laboring  to 
secure  tlie  Q,ueen's  consent,  nay,  her  approbation  !  They  assigned 
to  her  £.3000  annually,  with  the  palace  of  Richmond  as  her  resi- 
dence ;  but  this  income  was  to  depend  on  her  living  in  England, 
and  as  the  King's  sister.  In  conclusion,  she  agreed  literally  to 
everything  proposed,  and,  as  it  is  well  known,  lived  in  this  country 
till  her  deatb,  seventeen  years  after. 

Only  four  days  after  Parliament  was  dissolved,  on  the  morning 
of  Wednesday,  the  28tli  of  July,  Crumwell  was  beheaded  in  the 
Tower,  and  buried  within  its  walls,  in  the  Chapel  of  St.  Peter  ad 
vincula,  where  so  many  victims  had  preceded  him,  and  to  which 
so  many  followed.  All  his  property  was,  of  course,  forfeited  to 
the  crown. 

Such  was  the  end  of  Thomas  Crumwell,  the  servant  and  suc- 
cessor of  Thomas  Wolsey ;  but  it  is  with  \\\q\x  nfficial,  far  more 
than  their  personal  characters,  that  the  historian  and  posterity 
have  to  do.  They  were  Henry's  two  great  men  ;  for  he  never  had 
a  third. 

These  two  men  had  formed  a  bridge  for  him  to  pass  over,  and 
down  he  sat,  in  his  usurpation  of  power,  superior  and  unknown  to 
any  King  in  Europe.  The  first  Vicar-general,  before  his  appoint- 
ment to  that  office,  had  helped  him  to  his  title  of  "  Defender  of 
the  Faith,"  no  matter  though  it  was  the  old  learning  ;  the  second 
fixed  him  in  his  seat,  as  "Supreme  Head  of  the  Chtnxh  of  Eng- 
land ;"  and  though  Henry  died,  after  all,  an  adherent  of  the  Roman 
faith,  still  it  is  matter  of  history  that  both  titles  he  bequeathed  to 
his  successors  on  the  throne.  Confirmed  by  Henry's  most  tracta- 
ble Parliament,  in  1544,  the  titles  thus  assumed  have  not  only 
continued  to  be  worn,  but  they  have  extended  in  their  application 
over  a  broader  surface. 

The  unwarrantable  power  in  which  Henry  had  now  resolved, 
not  only  to  reign,  but  direct  and  govern,  appeared  at  this  moment 
in  all  its  enormity ;  for  only  two  days  after  he  had  despatched  the 
Earl  of  Essex,  an  event  occurred,  full  of  perplexity  to  all  parties 
in  his  kingdom.  The  number  of  persons  who  had  been  impeached 
or  attainted  during  this  Parliament,  and  according  to  the  fashion 
which  Crumwell,  no  doubt  with  tlie  royal  sanction,  had  so  uncon- 
stitutionally and  cruelly  introduced,  amounted  to  not  fewer  than 
a  round  dozen :  and  six  of  these  were  ordered  for  execution  forty- 
eight  hours  after  the  scene  in  the  Tower.  As  if  awfully  to  verify 
the  expressions  which  Henry  had  ordered  Crumwell  to  utter,  at 
the  opening  of  the  Session — that  "  he  leaned  neither  to  the  right 
or  left,  neither  to  the  one  party  nor  the  other" — three  of  each  were 
to  be  put  to  death  ;  that  is,  three,  for  what  they  called  heresy,  and 
three  for  denying  the  King's  supremacy  !  The  three  former  were 
no  other  than  Dr.  Barnes,  and,  even  Garret  and  Jerome.  The 
names  of  the  latter  were  Abel,  Featherstone,  and  Powell.  One 
of  each  class  being  placed  upon  the  same  hurdle,  by  way  of 


314 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


equally  vilifying  both,  thus  they  were  dragged  from  the  Tower  to 
East  Smithfteld.  No  person  present,  not  even  the  Sheriff,  could 
answer  Barnes,  wherefore  he  and  his  companions  were  put  to 
death  ;  but  they  all  suffered  with  great  constancy  at  the  stake, 
while  the  others  were  hung  at  the  same  time,  on  the  same  spot ! 
A  foreigner,  it  has  been  said,  who  had  mingled  with  the  crowd, 
exclaimed,  "  What  a  country  is  this  !  on  the  one  side  they  are 
hanging  the  Pope's  friends,  on  the  other  they  are  burning  his  ene- 
mies." Both  parties,  seeing  their  adherents  so  dragged  to  destruc- 
tion, were  alike  shocked  and  disgusted. 

According  to  the  general  voice  and  opinion,  the  man  who  was 
at  the  root  of  this  barbarity  wcfs  Gardiner,  originating  in  his  pique 
against  Barnes.  The  imputation  he  tried  to  evade,  and  in  print ; 
yet  in  vain,  for  it  attached  to  him  as  long  as  he  lived.  But  the 
cruel  procedure  to  both  parties  had  become  successful,  through  the 
existing  division  among  Henry's  courtiers.  Both  divisions  equall}'^ 
disowned  the  right  of  private  judgment,  they  vied  with  each  other 
in  servility,  and  to  a  man  they  had  already  sanctioned  the  assump- 
tion of  mental  supremacy  by  a  Monarch,  who,  so  far  from  having 
any  conmiand  over  himself,  was  governed  solely  by  his  own  unre- 
strained passions.  Such,  therefore,  was  the  first  act  of  Henry, 
after  he  became,  more  signally,  his  own  minister ;  and  if  only  for 
the  first  fortnight  we  observe  his  course,  it  will  be  found  sufficiently 
characteristic. 

On  Saturday  the  21th  of  July,  the  King  had  sanctioned  the  bill 
for  his  fJiird  divorce,  and  then  dissolved  Parliament.  On  Wednes- 
day the  28Lh,  he  had  put  Crumwell  to  death,  and  two  days  after, 
Barnes,  Jerome,  and  Garret,  with  three  others.  Only  ten 
days  after  this,  or  on  Sunday  the  8th  of  August,  his  Majesty  was 
married  once  more,  by  Cranmer,  that  is,  a  second  time  within  the 
same  year,  and  to  his  fifth  Queen,  Catharine  Howard,  daughter 
of  Edmond  Howard,  and  niece  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  ;  the  mar- 
riage and  presentation  at  Court  being  on  the  same  day.  The 
uncle  and  niece  are  xmderstood  to  have  had  no  small  share  in 
these  bloody  catastrophes  ;  but  Henry  had  obtained  his  wishes, 
promising  himself,  in  the  sequel,  no  small  enjoyment.  Nothing, 
indeed,  it  has  been  said,  could  exceed  his  matrimonial  content- 
ment;  but  a  little  time  will  show  how  long  it  continued.  In  the 
meanwhile,  the  gentlemen  of  "  the  old  learning"  seemed  to  have 
recovered  all  the  influence  and  favor  they  had  lost  under  the  sway 
of  Crumwell.  In  the  summer  Lord  Lisle  had  been  recalled  from 
Calais,  and  his  place  suppUed  by  Lord  William  Howard,  the  brother 
of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk ;  and  in  order  to  carry  on  his  amicable 
connection  with  the  Emperor,  in  the  month  of  November,  Stephen 
Gardiner,  Bishop  of  Winchester,  was  sent  as  ambassador.  He  had 
not,  however,  come  to  any  audience  by  the  end  of  the  year,  and 
we  have  yet  to  see  what  transpired  during  his  absence  of  eleven 
months.  "  The  reigning  Queen,"  says  Lingard,  "  first  attracted 
the  royal  notice  at  a  dinner  given  by  the  Bishop  of  Winches- 
ter." 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  315 

For  the  five  first  months  of  this  year,  the  most  powerful  subject 
in  the  kingdom  had  been  rising  to  the  top  of  his  ambition.  It 
was  Crumwell,  with  all  his  honors  thick  upon  him,  and  crowned 
with  an  Earldom — an  Earldom  of  a  hundred  days,  or  by  far  the 
most  miserable  period  of  his  existence.  He  is  now  dead,  and 
buried  in  that  Tower,  to  which  he  had  often  sent  others.  But  as 
he  had  finally  shown  himself  ardent  in  favor  of  the  Scriptures 
being  printed,  we  are  now  furnished  with  one  of  the  strongest 
proofs  as  to  whether  the  progress  of  this  cause  depended  on  the 
life  of  any  such  man,  or  was  at  all  affected  by  the  death  of  the 
Vicegerent  and  last  Vicar-general. 

We  come  now  to  the  second  series  of  Bibles,  or  the  result  of 
Tyndale's  exertions,  as  still  more  visible  in  his  native  land,  and 
in  the  Scriptures  wliich  were  printed  and  published  before  the 
face  of  the  notorious  Bonner.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that  we 
now,  in  fact,  see  the  Bible  of  1537,  as  already  described,  with 
nothing  more  than  certain  verbal  alterations  here  and  there  ; 
some  of  which  were  not  improvements,  and  others,  though  now 
attempted,  in  the  end  did  not  prevail ;  while,  at  the  same  time, 
the  first  introduced  Bible,  and  verbally,  as  first  imported,  is  to  be 
reprinted,  again  and  again. 

But,  first,  and  with  regard  to  those  large  Bibles  of  different 
dates,  to  which  the  name  of  Cranmer  was  affixed  in  the  title- 
page,  ox  four  in  number,  and  other  two  editions,  with  the  names 
of  Tunstal  and  Heath,  and  not  Cranmer's,  or  six  distinct  editions 
in  all ;  such  has  been  the  confusion,  tliat  they  have  hitherto  baf- 
fied  the  research  of  all  our  bibliographers.  Preceding  autliors 
having  failed,  Dibdin  happens  to  be  the  last  who  attempted  an 
explanation,  and  he  fairly  gives  up  the  subject  in  despair.  •'  After 
all,"  says  he  in  conclusion,  '•  there  seems  to  be  some  puzzle,  or 
iinaccojintable  variety,  in  the  editions  of  the  Bible  in  1510  and 
1541.  The  confusion  itself,  indeed,  may  be  accounted  for.  All 
those  largest  black-letter  Bibles  are  most  interesting  relics,  for 
such  was  the  ordeal  through  which  they  passed,  first  in  Henry's 
reign,  and  then  under  his  daughter  Mary  ;  such  was  the  havoc  to 
which  they  were  exposed  from  the  enemy,  or,  in  other  words,  such 
the  enmity  evinced  by  official  men,  that  the  only  wonder  is,  that 
any  of  them  remain.  Yet,  upon  the  whole,  the  number  left,  or 
surviving,  is  by  no  means  the  least  remarkable  feature  in  their 
history.  The  consequence,  however,  has  been,  that,  before  an 
experienced  eye,  many  of  them  are  found  to  be  copies  made  np^ 
This  remark  applies  generally  to  all  collections,  whether  in  our 
universities,  our  public  libraries,  or  in  the  hands  of  private  gentle- 
men. Such,  therefore,  is  the  value  of  a  perfect  copy  throughout, 
of  these  Bibles,  or  so  highly  have  they  been  estimated  by  poster- 
ity, above  those  who  first  read  them,  that  they  have  been  sold  for 
above  forty,  if  not  fifty  pounds  sterling.  The  original  price  was 
teasliiiruigs  in  sheets,  or  twelve,  when  bound  with  bullioJis,  clasps, 
or  ornaments ;  that  is,  abont  seven  pomids  ten  shillings,  or  nine 
pounds,  of  the  present  day. 


316  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

In  this  state  of  things,  the  first  step  whicli  required  to  be  taken, 
was  to  obtain  perfect  copies  of  ail  these  six  large  black-letter 
Bibles,  with  their  genuine  titles  and  last  leaves ;  as  all  the 
editions  to  which  we  now  refer,  happen  to  be  very  distinctly  dated, 
first  on  the  title-page,  and  then  more  fully  in  the  coloplion.  Even 
after  this,  at  first  sight,  it  might  be  presumed,  and  it  has  been, 
when  the  books  were  viewed  separately,  that  there  were  here  prob- 
ably not  more  than  two  or  three  editions,  with  dificrent  titles,  and 
another  date  in  conclusion.  Such  a  thing,  however  dishonest, 
^though  it  has  often  been  done  with  certain  books  since,  seems  to 
have  been  then  unknown,  for  upon  further  examination,  all  the 
editions  are  distinct.  On  observing,  however,  that  the  catchword 
at  the  bottom  of  the  page,  and  at  the  top  of  the  next,  are  in  so 
many  instances  the  same,  the  next  supposition  may  be,  that  as 
there  might  not  be  types  in  sufficient  quantity,  after  the  first  im- 
pression was  tlirown  off.  the  forms,  in  succession,  may  have  been 
transferred  to  another  press  ;  and  thus,  like  the  ploughman  over- 
taking the  reaper,  copies  uiight  follow  each  other  at  the  distance 
of  only  three  or  four  months.  But  even  this  supposition  will  not 
solve  the  plienomena ;  for  upon  examining  the  body  of  the  page, 
so  numerous,  or  ratlier  innumerable,  are  the  differences  in  point 
of  spelling,  contractions,  and  even  pointing,  that  no  alternative  is 
left  but  that  of  couiparing  the  six  volumes  page  by  page.  The 
reason  for  our  being  thus  particular  will  appear  presently  ;  but 
who,  it  may  be  asked,  will  ever  be  at  the  pains  to  do  all  this  ? 
He  must  possess  the  perfect  copies,  or  have  the  genuine  leaves  of 
all  the  six  Bibles  before  him,  and  these  were  not  to  be  found  in 
an)j  public  collection  in  the  kingdom  ;  nor  was  this  sufficient,  for 
the  very  pages  of  each  and  all  must  be  patiently  examined  to 
mark  their  curious  and  minute  distinctions.  But  the  fact  is  that, 
at  last,  all  this  has  been  accomplished,  through  the  indefatigable 
perseverance  of  one  gentleman,  though  we  must  not  say  at  what 
expense.  Yet  he  himself,  thus  carefully  collating  them,  the  result 
is,  that  of  these  large  Bibles,  specially  intended  for  public  worship 
or  pubhc  reading,  there  were  six  distinct  editions,  three  dated  in 
1540  and  three  in  1541  ;  two  of  which  were  issued  this  year,  and 
four  in  the  next.  In  all  such  labor,  however,  there  is  profit, 
though  it  may  not  appear  at  first ;  for  even  at  tliis  stage,  there  was 
t^till  some  degree  of  inystery  in  every  one  of  these  Bibles  being 
dated  from  London. 

One  day,  in  the  metropolis,  a  gentleman,  no  inferior  judge,  re- 
marked to  the  present  writer — "I  cannot  believe  that  these  Bibles 
were  actually  printed  in.  London."  "  Where  then,"  it  was  asked, 
''  do  you  suppose  ?"  He  replied,  "  I  think  most  probably  in  Paris." 
But  why  so?  "Because  of  the  fi/pe  ;  for  at  that  time  tlie  Lon- 
don types,  as  used  in  all  other  books,  were  inferior  to  that  fine  bold 
letter."  Certainly  they  were,  it  may  now  be  added,  and  these, 
there  can  be  little  or  no  doubt,  were  Parisian  types.  But  as  for 
their  being  so  employed  in  that  city,  after  the  violent  interruption 
in  the  end  of  1538  ;  when  once  the  wrath  of  the  Sorbonne  against 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  317 

Robert  Estienne,  that  is  Stephens  the  printer,  is  observed,  and  still 
more,  the  state  of  feeling  between  the  French  and  English  Kings, 
throughout  1540  and  1541  ;  such  employment  of  these  types,  and 
to  such  extent  in  Paris,  must  appear  to  have  been  altogether  im- 
possible. Thus  then,  in  the  end,  are  we  brought  back  to  admire 
the  energy  of  poor  Crumwell's  character,  in  a  step,  hitherto  but 
very  slightly  noticed  in  history.  In  bringing  over  the  very  presses, 
the  Parisian  types  and  even  French  workmen,  he  had  done  his 
business  thoroughly,  after  his  own  manner.  Types  to  a  greater 
extent  certainly,  if  not  workmen  more  numerous,  had  arrived,  than 
has  ever  been  before  imagined.  He  had  seen  that  the  Bible  being 
speedily  multiplied,  and  generally  read,  was  his  best,  his  only  main- 
stay, against  the  insidious  and  powerful  opposition  of  "the  old 
learning"  party.  Sa  that  but  for  what  he  had  done,  we  are  now 
led  to  infer,  that  Cranmer  would  never  have  had  it  in  his  power, 
to  have  put  forth  at  least  such  and  so  many  Bibles  as  these.  It 
was  something  for  Crumwell  to  have  drawn  such  spoil,  if  not  from 
the  '•  Fonderie  du  Roy,"  yet  from  its  immediate  vicinity,  for  it 
certainly  appears  now  to  be  far  more  than  probable,  that  an  Eng- 
lish folio  Bible  printing  in  Paris,  once  interrupted,  had  ended  in 
six  others  being  printed  in  London  !  The  history  of  the  books 
themselves,  will  afford  some  farther  curious  information,  and  the 
more  so  when  taken  in  the  order  of  their  dates. 

The  first  of  these  Bibles  which  was  finished  in  April  with  Cran- 
mer's  name,  we  have  referred  to  under  1539,  as  preparing.  We 
have  seen  that  it  had  been  subjected  by  Henry  to  the  inspection 
of  certain  Bishops,  though  merely  as  individuals,  but  belonging 
to  that  body,  which  had  all  along  shown  such  hostility  to  any 
translation  whatever.  The  determined  aspect  and  imperative 
tones  of  the  Monarch  had  very  soon  made  these  enemies  yield 
their  feigned  obedience  ;  and  his  heart,  however  capricious,  being 
in  the  hand  of  God,  here  is  the  book  entire,  and  with  Cranmer's 
preface  attached,  enforcing  "  high  and  low,  male  and  female, 
rich  and  poor,  master  and  servant,"  to  read  it,  at  home  in  their 
own  houses,  and  ponder  over  it !     This,  the  first  Bible,  is  entitled — 

"  The  Byhle  in  Englishe,  that  is  to  saye  the  con^e^  of  al  the 
holy  /Script N re,  both  of  the  Okie,  and  New  testamet,  Avith  a  pro- 
loge  thereinto  made  by  the  reverende  father  in  God,  Thomas, 
archbishop  of  Canlorhnvy,  ^Thts  is  the  Byble  apoynted  to  the 
use  of  the  Churches.  ^'"  Printed  by  Edward  whytchurche.  Cum 
privilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum  mdxl."  The  colophon  is — 
"  The  ende  of  the  new  Testamet :  and  of  the  whole  Bible  fynisshed 
in  Apryll,  Anno  mcccccxl.     A  dno  factu  est  istud." 

Of  this  first  edition  printed  on  English  ground,  there  is  a  splen- 
did copy  on  Vellum,  with,  the  cuts  and  blooming  letters,  curiously 
illuminated,  in  the  British  Museum.  It  has,  for  some  reason, 
recently  been  rebound,  in  three  volumes;  but  splendidly  in  mo- 
rocco. This  fine  book,  once  actually  possessed  by  Henry  VIII.,  is 
valuable,  as  one  key  to  the  party  concerned  in  the  expense  of  the 
impression  ;  for  so  far  from  this  being  the  King  himself,  this  copy 


318  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

was  given  to  him  as  a  present.  The  first  leaf  bears  the  following 
inscription  in  legible  characters — "  This  hook  is  presented  nnto 
your  most  excellent  Highness,  by  your  lovirig  faithful  and  obe- 
dient subject  and  dayly  oratour,  Anthony  Marlar  of  London, 
haberdasher.''^  "  Who  this  haberdasher  was,"  said  Baker,  "  I  wish 
to  know.  He  mnst  have  been  a  considerable  man  that  could  make 
such  a  present  to  a  priace.  and  seems  to  have  been  a  sharer  in  the 
charge  of  the  impression."  Respecting  this  London  gentleman, 
nothing  more  has  been  ascertained  except  that  he  was  a  member 
of  this  Livery  Company,  whose  records  were  almost  wholly  de- 
stroyed in  the  great  fire  of  1(366. 

No  sooner  were  copies  of  this  large  volume  readj'^,  than  the 
King's  brief  for  setting  up  the  Bible  of  the  greater  volume  was 
issued,  ordering  now  that  the  decree  should  not  only  be  "  solemnly 
publislied  and  read,"  but  "set  up  upon  every  church  door — that  it 
ma}'^  more  largely  appear  unto  our  subjects.  Witness  myself,  at 
Westminster,  the  seventh  day  of  May,  in  the  thirty-second  year  of 
our  reign,"  i.  e.  Friday  7th  of  May  1.540. 

It  is  curious  enough,  however,  that  there  was  another  Bible  in 
folio,  also  dated  in  April  oi  this  year.  It  has  been  frequently  mis- 
stated as  being  Cranmer's,  as  if  it  were  the  same  as  the  last. 
There  are  various  distinctions.  It  is  not  only  without  Cranmer's 
prologue,  and  differs  from  his  translation  in  the  psalms  and  else- 
where, but  the  New  Testament  is  said  to  be  after  the  last  recogni- 
tion of  Erasmus  :  that  is,  it  is  the  same  version  as  that  which 
accompanied  the  Latin  and  English  Testament  printed  by  Redman 
in  1.538.  The  book,  therefore,  is  to  be  classed  with  Matthew's  or 
Tyndale's  translation.  It  is  on  a  smaller  type  and  paper  than  the 
last,  and  seems  to  have  been  intended  for  the  use  of  families, — 
Entitled, 

"  The  Byble  in  Englishe,  that  is  to  saye,  the  content  of  all  the 
holye  scripture,  both  of  the  old  and  Neioe  Testament,  truly  trans- 
lated after  the  veryte  of  the  Hebrew  and  Grelce  textes.  Printed  at 
hondou  by  Thomas  Petyt  and  Robert  Redman  for  Thomas  Ber- 
thelet,  printer  unto  the  Kynge's  Grace,  1540."  The  Colophon  is — 
"  The  end  of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  whole  Byble,  finisshed 
in  Apryll,  Anno  mcccccxl." 

This  book  had  been  submitted  neither  to  the  King,  nor  any 
Bishop,  even  though  it  was  executed  for  his  Majesty's  printer.  It 
was  warranted  by  Crumwell,  according  to  the  privilege  given  to 
him  on  the  14th  of  November  last.  By  the  month  of  July,  how- 
eve  ,  another  of  the  great  Bibles  was  ready. 

•r  "  The  Bible  in.  Englyshe,  that  is  to  saye  the  contet  of  al  the 
holy  /Scripture,  both  of  the  olde  and  newe  Testamet  with  a  prologe 
thereinto  made  by  the  reverende  father  in  God,  Thomas  Arch- 
bishop of  Cantorhxny .  «r  This  is  the  Byble  apoynted  to  the  use 
of  the  churches.  ®r  Printed  by  Richard  Grafton,  cum  privilegio  ad 
imprimendum  solum,  mdxl."  The  colophon  is — "  The  ende  of 
the  newe  Testament  and  of  the  whole  Byble,  fynished  in  July, 
Anno  mcccccxl," 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  319 

Trembling  for  his  life,  and  imploring  mercy  from  his  inhuman 
master  for  a  month  past,  this  Bible  is  remarkable  for  its  being-  fin- 
ished at  the  very  time  of  Crumwell's  execution,  and  the  more  so 
from  its  having  still  on  the  engraved  frontispiece,  his  shield  or  coat 
of  arms  !  This  had  first  appeared  last  year,  or  1539,  and  now  a 
third  time  in  this  book  ;  but  Crumwell  is  dead,  nay,  was  put  to 
death  on  the  28th  of  this  very  month,  and  any  other  undertaking 
must  have  suffered,  in  which  he,  or  any  other  disgraced  minister, 
had  taken  such  a  prominent  interest.  It  has  been  asserted,  indeed, 
that  after  his  fall,  the  Hible  was  complained  of,  as  being  heretical 
and  erroneous ;  nay,  that  means  were  taken  to  persuade  the  King 
that  the//-ee  use  of  the  Scriptures,  which  Cranraer  had  so  strongly 
urged  in  his  preface,  was  injurious  to  the  peace  of  the  country. 
But  a  crisis  had  come,  for  here,  by  the  month  of  November,  a  tJiird 
folio  Bible  is  ready  for  publication.  Two  editions  with  Cranmer's 
name  on  the  title,  and  marked  as  appointed  for  public  worship, 
were  already  out,  and  what  was  now  to  be  done?  Crumwell  is 
gone,  and  Cranmer  had  not  power  sufficient  to  command  the 
Bishops ;  but  there  is  one  alive  who  in  a  moment  can  command 
them  all,  or  any  one  whom  he  is  pleased  to  seleet.  This  book, 
then,  must  not  be  lost,  nor  even  suppressed,  though  the  Vicar-gen- 
eral be  no  more.  Nay,  an  expedient  must  be  adopted  not  only  to 
silence  all  calumny,  but  push  the  sale  of  the  work,  to  which,  it  will 
appear  in  due  time,  neither  the  King  nor  the  Bishops  had  con- 
tributed any  pecuniary  aid.  Here,  then,  was  Tanstal  standing 
by,  who  of  all  the  rest  had  been  so  conspicuous  as  an  opponent 
since  1.526,  and  it  was  fit  that  the  unbending  heterodoxy  of  this 
original  enemy  should  now  be  put  to  the  test ;  and  here  was 
Heath,  who  had  recently  gone  over  to  Tunstal's  party.  Henry, 
therefore,  did  what  seemed  to  him  the  best  thing  that  could  have 
been  thought  of  in  these  circumstances.  He  commanded  these 
two  men  to  sit  down,  and  say  what  they  thought  of  the  Bi'ole  now 
ready.  The  book  was  printed  by  November  :  meanwhile  Gardiner 
is  sent  out  of  the  way  to  the  Emperor's  court,  and  Tunstal  and 
Heath  must  apply  to  their  task.  As  Gardiner  and  others  had  de- 
layed Cranmer's  first  edition,  and  then  declared  in  the  end  that 
there  were  "  no  heresies  in  it,"  why  examine  the  translation  again  1 
We  may  reply,  because  of  Crumwell's  execution,  and  because  it  was 
much  better,  by  way  of  confounding  the  enemy,  to  make  these 
opponents  speak  out.  They  took  time,  till  the  year  to  which  the 
book  belongs  was  ended,  or  the  25th  of  March,  and  then  out  it 
came  with  a  title  still  more  pompous,  declaring  the  fact  as  now 
stated. 

'  "  The  Byhle  in  Englishe  of  the  largest  and  greatest  volimie, 
aiictoryed  and  apointed  by  the  commandemente  of  our  moost  re- 
doubted Pry  nee  and  soueraygne  horde  Kynge  Henry  the  VHL. 
supreme  heade  of  this  his  churche  and  realme  of  Englamle  :  to 
be  frequented  and  used  in  every  churche  in  this  his  sayd  realme, 
accordynge  to  the  tenour  of  his  former  //ijunctions  giuen  in  that 
behalfe.     •"  Oversene  and  perused  at  the  commaundmet  of  the 


320 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


Kynge's  Hyghnes,  hy  the  ryghte  reverende  fathers  in  God  Cuth 
bert  Bysshop  of  Uuresme,  and  Nicolas  Bisshop  of  Rochester. 
Printed  by  Edward  Whitchurch.  Cum  priuilegio  ad  iinpiimen- 
duni  solum.  1541."  The  Colophon— "  The  end  of  the  New 
Testament  and  of  the  whole  Byble  Fynisshed  in  November  1540," 
though  not  published  till  1541. 

This  was  in  truth  another  triumph  over  the  enemy,  one  of  most 
grievous  annoyance  to  Master  Gardiner ;  and  this  he  will  not  fail 
to  discover  on  the  first  occasion  in  which  he  can  find  his  brethren 
assembled,  after  his  return  from  abroad.  Some  poor  petty  spite 
was  indeed  already  discoverable.  The  reader  will  recollect  of  the 
homage  falsely  imputed  to  Henry,  by  an  engraved  frontispiece  to 
the  three  last  Bibles  ;  in  which  Crumwell  and  Cranmer  are  repre- 
sented at  full  length,  above,  as  receiving  the  Bible  from  the  King, 
and  below,  as  giving  it  to  the  people.  At  the  feet  of  each  figure, 
it  will  be  remembered,  was  his  shield  or  coat  of  arms.  The  fron- 
tispiece, esteemed  a  treasure  of  its  kind,  must  not  be  thrown 
away.  But  the  arms  of  Crumwell  are  now  erased  !  Still  there 
stands  the  figure  intended  for  him,  and  so  it  continued  to  do, 
throughout  seven  editions  !  That  is,  three  of  them  with  his 
shield  and  four  without.  But  if  this  was  the  first  with  the  shield 
erased,  it  was  the  first  also  with  Tunstal's  name,  and  the  figure 
of  Crumwell,  now  so  well  known,  standing  by.  And  is  Saul  also 
among  the  Prophets  l  might  not  the  people  have  exclaimed,  and 
perhaps  did  ;  though  we  have  yet  to  hear  again  of  Tunstal  and 
Heath's  feigned  obedience.  There  had  been  no  time  left  for  them 
to  alter  the  translation.  The  book  was  laid  before  them,  no  doubt, 
as  it  had  come  from  the  press.  A  title  was  wanting  to  suit  the  mo- 
ment, and  Henry,  now  his  own  Yicar-general,  commanded  the  pres- 
ent one.     It  will  make  way  for  two  other  editions  from  Cranmer. 

In  addition  to  these  four  Bibles,  it  is  said  that  there  was  a  fifth, 
and  in  five  volumes  as  small  as  sexto-decimo,  pi-intcd  by  Redman ; 
but,  at  all  events,  there  was  a  New  Testament  in  quarto,  with 
Erasmus  and  Tyndale  in  parallel  columns.  Thus  amidst  all  the 
turmoil,  and  in  spite  of  foes,  the  cause  went  forward,  and  still 
from  conquering  to  conquer. 


SECTION    IV. 

EUROPEAN    POWERS    VERGING     TO    HOSTILITY THE    THIRD    LARGE     BIBLE,    WITH 

tunstal's   NAME,  BY  COMMAND THE  FOURTH,   IN  MAY,  WITH  CRANMEr's  NAME 

EXPENSE     OF     THESE     LARGE     UNDERTAKINGS THE     MEMORABLE     PROPRIETOR, 

ANTHONY    MARLER — THE    FIFTH   GREAT    BIBLE,    WITH     TUNSTAL's     NAME THE 

SIXTH,  WITH  CRANMER's    NAME — GARDINER    RETURNED,  TO  WITNESS  THE  PROG- 
RESS   NOW    MADE    DURING    HIS    ABSENCE. 

After  the  fall  of  Crumwell,  after  the  royal  marriage  of  last 
year,  and  some  degree  of  amicable  intercourse  commenced  be- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    RIBLE.  321 

tween  the  Emperor  and  Henry  ;  the  Norfolk,  Gardiner,  and  Tun- 
stal  party  may  be  considered  as  at  the  height  of  their  power ;  so 
that  whatever  shall  take  place  with  regard  to  the  printing  or 
publication  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  becomes  the  more  remarkable. 
and  especially  when  viewed  in  connection  with  civil  affairs. 

Although  the  spirit  of  the  English  nation  was  now  so  crushed, 
or  sunk,  under  the  despotic  sway  of  her  King,  in  the  month  of 
April  an  inconsiderable  rebellion  broke  out  in  Yorkshire,  but  it 
was  soon  suppressed,  and  the  leader.  Sir  John  Neville,  with  sev- 
eral other  gentlemen,  put  to  death.  This  rising  having  excited 
fresh  fear  respecting  the  influence  or  intrigues  of  Cardinal  Pole, 
"  the  Lady  of  Sarum,"  or  Countess  of  Salisbury,  his  aged  mother, 
the  last  of  the  Plantagenets,  on  the  27th  of  May,  was  beheaded  in 
the  Tower.  Though  in  her  seventieth  year,  owing  to  her  bold 
resistance  of  the  sentence,  and  the  bungling  Jaarbarity  of  the  ex- 
ecutioner, every  spectator  must  have  been  horrified. 

At  this  period,  all  the  powers  of  Europe,  but  ill  at  ease,  were  once 
more  verging  towards  a  state  of  open  war.  No  man,  however, 
could  have  divined,  how  all  the  parties  would  ultimately  arrange 
themselves  into  two  hostile  bands ;  and  we  shall  have  to  wait  till 
the  spring  of  1543  before  they  have  assumed  their  respective  and 
memorable  positions.  We  refer  not  to  England  and  Scotland 
only,  or  to  France  and  Spain,  but  also  to  Germany,  Italy,  and 
even  the  Grand  Turk. 

Considerable  interest  belongs  to  this  year,  as  being  the  last  in 
which  Bibles  were  printed  under  the  present  reign,  even  though 
Henry  had  still  five  years  to  live.  By  his  "  commandment"  both 
Tunstal  and  Heath  gave  in  their  adherence  to  the  translation,  and 
in  an  edition  certainly  finished  in  November  last.  It  may  there- 
fore be  presumed  that  the  order  to  look  over  it,  had  come  after  the 
book  was  finished  at  press,  since  it  did  not  appear  before  the  25th 
of  March  this  year.     But  this  would  not  suffice  for  1541. 

By  the  end  of  May  another  edition  was  ready  by  Cranmer,  thus 
proving  that,  for  all  practical  purposes,  the  version  was  precisely 
the  same  throughout,  whether  his  name,  or  that  of  its  ancient  foe. 
Tunstal,  was  afiixed.  This  edition,  as  if  marked  out  for  observa- 
tion, is  particularly  dated  in  red  on  the  title  page,  as  well  as  in 
black  at  the  end. 

"  The  Byhle  in  Englysh,  that  is  to  saye  the  content  of  all  the 
holy  iScrj/pture,  both  of  the  olde  and  newe  Testament,  with  a  pro- 
loge  thereinto  made  by  the  reuercnde  father  in  God.  Thomas 
archebyshop  of  Cantorhnxy .  ""  This  is  the  Bi/hle  appoynted  to 
the  use  of  the  Churches.  Printed  by  Edwarde  Wliitchurch.  Cum 
priuilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum.  Finished  the  x.vviii  daye  of 
Maye,  Anno  domini  mdxli."  The  Coloplion  is — "The  ende  of 
the  newe  Testament :  and  of  the  whole  Byble,  Fynysshed  in  May 
MCCCccxLi.  a  dno  facta  est  istud." 

Here  then  was  not  less  than  the  fifth  folio  Bible  completed,  in 
the  short  space  of  less  than  two  years.  Nay,  four  have  been  com- 
pleted in  thirteen  months  !     We  have  before  us  therefore,  unques- 

21 


322  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

tionably,  a  magnificent  undertaking.  Means  must  be  taken  for 
the  disposal  of  these  volumes,  and  provision  for  this  end  may  well 
be  made  by  those  who  had  been  at  «o  expense,  should  they  possess 
any  influence.  We  dismiss,  at  present,  the  expense  of  all  other 
editions,  and  taking  up  those  only  in  which  we  find  the  names  of 
Grafton  or  Whitchurch,  partners  in  business  as  the  printers  ;  from 
that  first  edition  which  was  imported  by  them  in  1537  down  to 
only  the  present  moment,  we  have  six  editions.  The  impressions 
thrown  off  have  been  rated  at  from  1500  to  2500  copies  ;  so  that 
if  we  take  the  medium,  here  were  twelve  thousand  volumes.  We 
now  know,  from  Grafton  himself,  that  £500  had  been  embarked 
by  him  in  the  first  edition,  given  to  Britain  ;  but  those  that  fol- 
lowed after,  were  still  finer  books.  Granting  therefore  that  there 
had  been  here  a  sum  of  no  more  than  £3000  incurred,  though 
there  must  have  been  more,  this,  according  to  the  value  of  money 
in  our  day,  was  equal  to  forty,  if  not  forty-five  thousand  pounds  ! 

The  memorable  edition  of  1537,  and  that  chiefly  printed  in 
Paris  and  finished  in  Loudon  in  1539,  are  not  to  be  forgotten ; 
but  we  now  only  look  to  those  volumes  to  which  the  brief  of  the 
King  on  the  7th  of  May  last  year,  and  the  names  of  Cranmer 
and  Tanstal  on  the  title-page  direct  us,  or  four  editions.  These, 
according  to  our  very  moderate  calculation,  involved  £2000  in  ad- 
vance, or  equal  to  thirty  thousand  pounds  now. 

The  sale  of  these  large  volumes,  so  long  loosely  styled  "  Cran- 
raer's  Bibles,"  must  now  no  longer  be  neglected,  lest  the  noble  pro- 
prietor, though  to  us  hitherto  little  more  than  an  unknown  private 
gentleman,  should  be,  as  he  said  himself,  undone  fore  cer.  It  was 
a  crisis,  in  the  finest  keeping  with  our  entire  history.  There  was 
no  application  about  to  be  made  by  him  to  Government,  for  any 
pecuniary  aid,  and  far  less  to  Henry  VIII.  personally  ;  but  it  was 
at  least  proper  that  his  Privy  Council  should  be  reminded  of  their 
royal  Master's  imperative  injunctions  of  May  1540  ;  and  so  they 
were  in  prospect  of  Cranmer's  last  impression. 

After  the  death  of  Crumwell,  Henry's  Council  was  divided  into 
two  separate  sections ;  of  which  one  sat  in  London,  the  other  was 
with  the  King ;  and,  what  is  curious  enough,  then,  for  the  first 
time  we  have  regular  minutes  of  his  Privy  Council.  It  is  from 
this  source,  the  most  authentic  of  all  others,  that  we  hear  more 
particularly  of  that  worthy  citizen,  Anfliony  Marler.  Strange  ! 
that  for  three  hundred  years  he  should  have  been  overshadowed, 
by  the  King  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  Primate  on  the  other  ;  but 
they  are  now  hotli  certainly  here  present,  to  witness  for  themselves, 
and  to  be  overshadowed  in  their  turn.  Thus  it  is  that  "  time  un- 
veils truth." 

Minutes  of  the  Privy  Council :  at  Greenunch  25  April,  33  of 
Henry  VIII.,  that  is  1541,  "  It  was  agreed  that  Anthony  Maler 
of  London,  merchant,  might  sell  the  bibles  of  the  Great  Bible  un- 
bound for  xs.  sterling,  (equal  to  £7,  10s.,)  and  bound,  being 
trimmed  with  bullyons  for  xii  s.  sterling ;"  or  equal  to  £9.  What 
then  must  have  been  the  cost  of  that  splendid  illuminated  copy, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  323 

printed  on  vellum,  which  he  had  presented  to  the  King  ?     But 
once  more. 

Ibid,  at  Greenwich,  1  May.  "  Whereas  Anthony  Marler  of 
London,  merchant,  put  up  a  supphcation  to  the  foresaid  Council, 
in  manner  following," — "Whereas  it  hath  pleased  you,  for  the 
commonwealth  to  take  no  small  pains  for  the  furtherance  of  the 
price  of  my  books  ;  most  humbly  I  beseech  the  same,  to  have  in 
consideration,  that  unless  I  have,  by  the  mean  of  proclamation, 
some  charge  or  commission  that  every  church,  not  already  pro- 
vided of  one  Bible,  shall,  according  to  the  King's  Highness' former 
injunctions  given  in  that  behalf.  (7th  May  1540,)  provide  them 
with  a  Bible  of  the  largest  volume,  by  a  day  to  be  prefixed  and 
appointed,  as  shall  be  thought  most  convenient  by  your  wisdoms, 
my  great  suit  that  I  have  made  herein  is  not  only  frustrate  and 
void,  but  also,  being  charged  as  I  am  with  an  importune  sura 
(troublesome  number)  of  the  said  books  noiu  lying  on  my  hands, 
am  undone  forever.  And  therefore  trusting  to  the  merciful  con- 
sideration of  your  high  wisdoms,  I  humbly  desire  to  obtain  the 
same  commission,  or  some  other  commandment,  and  I,  with  all 
mine,"  (fcc. 

Now,  in  reply  to  this  application,  w^e  have  not  one  word  from 
his  Majesty,  then  presiding,  from  Cranmer,  then  present,  or  from 
any  other,  as  to  any  advance  of  money;  nor  indeed  any  other 
mode  of  relief,  except  that  which  was  so  reasonably  requested. 
Therefore,  "  It  was  agreed  that  there  shall  be  another  proclama- 
tion made,  and  that  the  day  to  be  liijiited  for  the  having  of  the 
said  book  shall  be  Hallowmasse,"  or  1st  November.  Only  five 
days,  therefore,  were  allowed  to  pass,  when  there  was  issued— 

"  A  proclamation  by  the  King's  Majesty,  with  the  advice  of  his 
Council,  for  the  Bible  to  be  had  in  every  church,  &c.,  devised  the 
sixth  day  of  May,  the  33d  year  of  the  King's  reign" — That  is, 
Friday,  6th  May,  1541. 

This  proclamation,  after  referring  to  the  former  injunctions, 
goes  on: — "Notwithstanding  many  towns  and  parishes  within 
this  his  realm  have  neglected  their  duties— whereof  his  Highness 
marvelleth  not  a  little — and  minding  the  former  gracious  injunc- 
tions, doth  straitly  charge  and  command  that  the  curates  and  pa- 
rishioners of  every  town  and  parish  not  having  already  provided, 
shall,  on  this  side  of  the  Feast  of  All  Saints  (1st  Nov.)  next  coming, 
buy  and  provide  Bibles  of  the  largest  volume,  and  cause  the  same 
to  be  set  up  and  fixed  in  every  of  the  said  parish  churches,  there 
to  be  used  according  to  the  former  injunctions — on  pain,  that  the 
curate  and  inhabitants  of  the  parish  or  town  shall  forfeit  to  the 
King  forty  shillings  (equal  to  £30)  for  every  month  after  the  said 
feast,  that  they  lack  or  want  the  said  Bible — one  half  to  the  King, 
and  the  other  half  to  him  or  them  that  first  inform  the  King's 
Council.  That  the  sellers  shall  not  take  for  the  Bible  unbound 
above  ten  shillings,  or  if  bound  and  clasped  above  twelve  shillings, 
on  pain  oi  four  shillings,  (£3,)  one  half  to  the  King,  and  the  other 
to  the  informer." 


324  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BlU^K. 

This  must  have  so  far  brightened  the  prospect  of  our  patriotic 
proprietor,  as  we  shall  find  another  edition  of  tiie  Great  Bible  soon 
ready  for  publication,  proceeding  from  the  same  quarter,  nay,  and 
another  still,  before  the  year  is  done  !  But  in  the  meanwhile  it  is 
now  evident,  that  so  far  from  Henry  VIII.  being  at  any  expense 
for  the  Bibles  already  printed  by  Grafton  and  AVhitchurcb,  as  some 
have  unwarrantably  aflirmed,  tlie  King  was  now  rather  in  the 
way  of  inaking  a  little  money,  by  pubhcations  in  which  he  had 
no  pecuniary  concern  !  At  least  every  fine  would  bring  him  £1, 
for  a  book  which  would  have  cost  no  more  than  10s. ;  or  in  other 
words,  the  value  of  £15,  for  an  article  at  £7, 10s.  But  if  the  pur- 
chase had  been  neglected  two  months,  then  his  Majesty  would 
have  j£30 ;  if  three,  £.45  !  While,  on  the  other  hand,  for  every 
overcharge  he  was  to  receive  two  shillings,  or  ecpial  to  thirty. 

But  besides  this  proclamation,  in  five  days  more,  or  Wednesday, 
11th  May,  came  a  letter  from  no  other  than  Edinnnd  Bonner, 
Bishop  of  London,  (still  obsequiously  so  far  playing  the  hypocrite,) 
for  the  execution  of  the  King's  orders,  addressed  to  his  Archdea- 
con ;  and  so  eager  must  he  appear  to  secure  the  royal  favor,  that 
in  September  he  also  put  forth  an  "Admonition  to  all  readers  of 
this  Bible  in  the  English  tongue" — ''Evermore  foreseeing  tliat  no 
exposition  be  made  thereupon,  otherwise  than  it  is  declared  in  the 
book  itself — that  no  reading  be  used  in  the  time  of  divine  service 
— or,  finally,  that  no  man  justly  may  reckon  hiiuself  to  be  offended 
thereby,  or  take  occasion  to  grudge  or  malign  thereat." 

The  reading  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  however,  it  must  ever  be 
borne  in  mind,  had  now  been  a  practice,  not  in  London  merely, 
but  throughout  England,  and  for  fifteen  years ;  to  what  extent, 
indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  say.  But  as  we  have  long  seen,  many 
of  Henry's  subjects  had  truly  not  waited  for  Ids  poor  permission, 
whether  to  read  or  to  hear ;  and  in  many  a  corner,  far  and  near, 
there  were  those  who  knew  far  more  of  Christianity,  and  to  bettei 
purpose,  than  did  any  of  the  members  of  Government.  Even  five 
years  ago,  the  late  Edward  Fox,  of  Hereford,  a  rara  avis  among 
the  Bishops,  had  iDoldly  told  his  brethren  as  much,  and  it  was  cer- 
tainly no  more  than  the  truth.  On  the  return  of  Bonner  from 
Paris,  where  he  had  pretended  great  zeal  for  the  Scriptures,  to 
please  Crumwell ;  and  inmiediately  after  the  King's  brief  in  1540, 
to  please  both,  this  consummate  hypocrite  had  set  up  six  Bibles  in 
St.  Paul's  for  public  reading.  The  result  at  once  proved,  how  fxir 
the  people  were  ahead  of  these  official  men.  They  came  instanHy 
and  generally  to  hear  tlie  Scriptures  read.  Such  as  could,  read 
with  a  clear  voice  often  had  great  nnmbers  round  them.  Many 
set  their  children  to  school,  and  carried  them  to  St.  PauVs  to 
hear.  It  was,  however,  not  long  before  the  language  of  our  Sav- 
iour himself — "  Drink  ye  (dl  of  it,"  struck  them,  and  very  natu- 
rally led  to  discussion.  The  complaints  of  some,  in  lack  of  argu- 
ment, of  which  the  adverse  party  took  care  to  avail  themselves, 
were  dexterously  conveyed  to  the  King.  In  their  eyes,  this  read- 
ing of  the  Scriptures  by  the  people,  and  hearing  tliem  read  in 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIHLE.  325 

public,  was  a  sore  evil ;  and  an  opportunity  must  be  sought  and 
seized  for  putting  it  down.  Crumwell,  tlie  terror  of  the  Bishops, 
was  gone  ;  and  Gardiner  is  out  of  the  country  ;  but  Bonner,  tliouoh 
always  false  at  heart,  must  still  dissemble :  nay,  moreover,  here 
actually  come  Tunstal  and  Heath  once  more,  and  with  another 
edition  of  the  great  Bible,  in  November  ! 

"  The  Byble  in  Englyshe  of  the  largest  and  greate^^  volume^ 
auclonjsed  and  apoijnted  by  the  cominandemente  of  our  raoost 
redoubted  Pryace  and  souerayo^tie  Lorde,  Kyngc  Henrye  the 
VIII.,  supreme  heade  of  this  his  Church  and  realme  of  Englande  : 
to  be  frequented  and  used  in  every  ChurcJie  loin  this  his  sayd 
realme,  accordyng  to  the  tenour  of  Jus  former  //^junctions  giuen 
in  that  behalfe.  ^^Oversene  and  perfised  at  the  commsLundmet  of 
the  Kynges  Highnes,  by  the  ryghte  reverende  fathers  in  God^ 
Cuthbert  bysshop  of  Duresme,  and  Nicolas  bysshop  of  Rochester. 
Printed  by  Ry chard  Grafton.,  1541."  The  colophon  is — "  Tlie 
ende  of  the  wewa  Testament  and  of  the  whole  Byble.  Fynyshed 
in  November,  xVnno  mcccccxlj." 

Nor  Avould  even  this  suffice.  Anthony  Marler,  the  only  pay- 
master as  yet  named,  or  to  be  named,  is  still  ready  to  proceed ; 
and  a  final  edition  was  completed  before  this  year  was  done.  It 
had  been  going  on  at  press  loith  other  editions  ;  and,  it  is  curious 
enough, //'owi  last  year,  but  it  was  not  finished  till  the  close  of  the 
present ;  at  the  same  time,  it  may  have  been  only  nine  months  in 
the  press,  as  their  year  extended  to  the  25th  of  Ptlarch.  Cranmer 
was  not  to  be  outdone  by  these  two  Bishops,  and,  therefore,  as  in 
May  last,  so  he  now  follows  them  up  immediately  with  his  usual 
title,  and  an  emphatic  colophoii,  as  if  he  had  been  in  wonder  at 
the  compliance  of  Tunstal  and  Heath. 

"  The  Byble  in  Englishe,  that  is  to  saye,  the  content  of  all  the 
holy  scrypture  both  of  the  olde  and  newe  testament,  with  aprologe 
thereinto,  made  by  the  reverende  Father  in  God,  Thomas  arche- 
bisshop  q/"  CantorhnxY.  ^This  is  the  Byble  appoynted  to  the 
use  of  the  Churches.  «■"  Printed  by  Rycharde  Grafton.  Cum 
priuilegio  ad  imprimendum  solum.  An.  do.  mdxl."  The  colo- 
phon, is — '■  The  ende  of  the  Newe  Testament,  and  of  the  whole 
Bible,  Finysshed  in  December  mcccccxli.  A  domino  factum 
est  istud.      This  is  the  Lordes  doynge.^' 

And  thus  ended  the  year ;  so  that  we  have  four  of  these  large 
folios  dated  in  1541.  It  was  certainly  a  strange  movement  on  the 
part  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  one  which  must  have  taken  many  by 
surprise,  for  him  first  to  send  Gardiner  off"  to  Germany,  and  then, 
as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  command  his  friends,  Tunstal  and  Heath, 
to  give  in  their  adhesion  to  the  Bible,  to  which  Cranmer  had 
bowed  ;  and  then  also  to  place  their  names  in  the  title-page,  in 
token  of  their  full  approbation — a  translation  almost  verbally  the 
same  in  the  New  Testament,  which  the  King  himself,  and  Wolsey 
had  first  denounced,  and  Tunstal  after  them,  consigned  again  and 
again  to  the  flames  !  Such,  however,  was  the  fact.  The  under- 
taking was  7iot  to  be  denounced,  even  though  Crumwell,  now 


326  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

rated  as  a  heretic  and  a  traitor,  had  imported  the  types,  and 
pushed  forward  tlie  printing,  not  only  of  these,  but  of  other 
editions. 

But  lo  !  here  is  Stephen  Gardiner,  returned  in  October,  and  gone 
direct  to  the  King  from  Charles  V.  With  \Yhat  surprise  nnist  he 
have  beheld  the  progress  made  !  On  going  abroad,  his  party 
reigned  triumphant ;  it  was  now  in  disgrace,  and  the  Q,ueen, 
whose  marriage  he  had  fostered,  is  about  to  ascend  the  scaffold, 
having  been  charged  with  infidelity  to  the  King.  But,  especially, 
if  he  had  not  been  informed,  with  what  feelings  must  he  have 
gazed  on  the  names  of  Tunstal  and  Heath  in  the  very  title-page 
of  these  Bibles  ! 

Tunstal  was  now  in  his  sixty-eighth  year,  and  appears  to  have 
been  in  some  degree  softened  with  his  years  ;  Gardiner  never 
was  ;  and  now,  though  of  these  volumes  there  were  eight  editions 
in  regular  series,  to  say  nothing  of  others,  which  had  received 
Henry's  approval,  and  two  of  these  carried  the  obsequious,  but 
well-known  attestation  of  Tunstal  and  Heath;  still  this  Bishop  of 
Winchester  stood  resolved  to  put  forth  all  his  strength,  in  thew^ay 
of  cunning  sophistry,  against  the  translation  thus  acknowledged, 
and  now  reading  in  pubhc,  in  so  many  places.  Certainly  he  had 
owned  to  the  King  before,  that  there  were  "  no  heresies  in  it." 
But  another  Parliament  is  summoned,  and  another  Convocation., 
where  Gardiner  anticipated  that  he  might  even  yet  work  won- 
drously.  Let  him  try ;  that  he  himself,  and  his  brethren  may 
come  to  their  greatest  humiliation,  and  to  their  final  discomfiture 
as  a  Convocation. 


SECTION    V. 


ffHE   ENEMY   ON   THE  RACK — PARLIAMENT  OPENED — THE  FIFTH   QUEEN   EXECUTED 

CONVOCATION     MET THE     BIBLE     INTRODUCED     THERE     FOR     DISCUSSION      AT 

LAST SIN&ULAR    DISPLAY GARDINER's  GRAND    EFFORT    IN    OPPOSITION CRAN- 

MER    INFORMS    THE    KING PROGRESS    OF    THE    TRUTH    IN    ENGLAND. 

By  this  year,  such  had  been  the  progress  made  in  the  cause  of 
Divine  Truth,  that  the  imaginations  of  its  enemies  were  literally 
put  to  the  rack.  Oppose  they  must ;  but  how  to  proceed,  was  a 
problem  not  of  easy  solution.  Upon  his  second  return  from  the 
Continent,  in  October  last,  Gardiner  had  found  far  greater  occasion 
for  regret,  than  he  had  done  even  before,  in  September  1538.  Then, 
he  could  step  into  his  fiery  chariot,  and  bring  Lambert  to  the  stake  ; 
he  and  Norfolk  liad  been  worming  themselves  into  royal  favor  ever 
after  ;  and  upon  setting  olf  for  the  imperial  Court,  in  November 
1540,  whether  he  should  there  fully  succeed  or  not,  everything  at 
home  seemed  to  promise  other,  and,  as  he  thought,  better  days  ; 
now  that  Crumwell  was  gone,  and  his  Majesty  so  delighted  with 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  327 

the  Q,ueen  which  had  been  famished  to  him  by  the  old  learning 
pa:-ly.  She  was  their  first  and  only  choice,  on  whose  sway  de- 
pended anticipations  not  a  iew.  But  now,  that  mainstay  had 
fallen  ;  Gardiner's  friend,  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  had  been  trembling 
for  his  personal  honors,  if  not -his  life;  while,  to  crown  all,  that 
pillar  of  strength,  Cuthbert  Tunstal,  had  not  merely  given  way, 
but  his  name  had  been  employed,  by  royal  authority,  as  though  he 
had  personally  gone  over  to  the  other  side.  Still  the  party  must 
rally  once  more.  By  this  time,  it  might  have  been  supposed  that 
their  arrows  would  have  been  expended  and  their  quiver  empty ; 
but,  subtle  and  ingenious  in  the  extreme,  their  sophistry  prevailed 
once  more.  If  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  King  be  taken  into 
account,  it  must  appear  surprising  that  they  should  have  been 
successful  in  swaying  his  mind  now  ;  though,  in  the  end,  we  shall 
leave  it  to  the  judgment  of  the  reader,  whether  the  whole  proceed- 
ing, on  the  part  of  Henry,  does  not  carry  very  much  of  the  appear- 
ance of  a  snare,  in  which,  when  caught,  the  Bishop  of  Winchester, 
from  being  the  most  conspicuous  character,  became  the  most 
ridiculous.  Be  this  as  it  may,  these  men  will  not  stop  till  they 
have  exposed  themselves  to  the  derision  of  posterity  ;  and  as  soon 
as  we  have  briefly  disposed  of  the  civil  events  of  the  year,  the  en- 
tire scene  will  come  before  us. 

Parliament  having  assembled  on  Monday  the  16th  of  January, 
proceeded  immediately  to  the  loathsome  and  revolting  affairs  con- 
nected with  the  royal  household.  Among  the  members  present, 
was  to  be  seen  the  son  of  Crumwell,  and  sitting  as  a  Baron;  so 
strange  were  the  movements  of  our  capricious  Monarch.  Com- 
missioners having  been  appointed  to  examine  the  Queen  once 
more  ;  on  the  28th  she  repeated  her  confessions,  though  to  what 
extent  is  not  recorded.  Both  Houses  declared  her  guilty :  and  in 
the  Act  passed,  they  petitioned  the  King,  at  once,  "not  to  be 
troubled,  lest  it  might  shorten  his  life  !"  and  that  the  Queen  and  all 
the  others  attainted, "  might  be  punished  with  death !"  The  bill  was 
passed  by  the  8th  of  February  ;  on  Saturday  the  11th,  Henry  gave 
his  assent ;  and  on  Monday  the  13th,  without  any  regard  to  his 
express  promise  of  mercy,  blood  was  shed.  That  infamous  woman, 
Lady  Rocliford,  had  been  an  accomplice;  and  thus,  she  who  had 
acted  so  dreadful  a  part  towards  her  own  husband,  and  his  sister 
Anne  Boleyn,  now  righteously  perished  on  the  same  scaffold  with 
the  Queen,  to  whose  ruin  she  had  also  contributed.  The  property 
of  the  other  branches  of  the  Howard  family  being  once  secured  in 
his  Majesty's  Palace  at  Westminster  and  elsewhere,  the  public 
censure  of  such  severity  led  Henry  to  pardon  those,  whom  Parlia- 
ment in  the  perfection  of  its  servility  had  condemned  to  death, 
though  some  of  the  parties  were  left  to  linger  long  in  prison. 

Parliament  having  assembled,  the  Convocation  also  met,  Janu- 
ary 20th  ;  and  as  it  sat  till  the  29th  of  March,  of  course  it  proved, 
as  usual,  though  only  apparently,  a  critical  period  for  the  Sacred 
Scriptures.  After  so  many  storms,  as  all  along  there  had  been  no 
real  danger,  so  there  will  not  be  any  now.     At  the  opening  Rich- 


328  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

ard  Cox,  Archdeacon  of  Ely,  had  preached  to  the  House,  of  course 
in  Latin,  and  if  he  had  intended  his  text  to  be  satirical,  he  could 
not  have  been  more  severe.  It  was  "  Vos  estis  sal  terrcB^^^ — "  ye 
are  the  salt  of  the  earth  ! !" — and  no  doubt  a  very  different  sermon 
from  that  of  Latimer  six  years  ago. 

After  being  detained  for  some  time  by  the  King's  personal  un- 
happy affairs  in  Parliament,  these  men  proceeded  to  business  in 
the  Convocation  ;  and  at  their  third  session,  on  Fi'iday  the  17th 
of  February,  the  Translation  of  the  Scriptures,  so  often  discussed 
there  without  any  result,  must  once  more  come  before  them. 
The  reader  cannot  have  forgotten  their  former  abortive  attempts, 
and  may  be  the  more  curious  to  observe  what  happened  now. 
They  appear  ever  to  liave  been  afraid  to  look  any  farther  than 
the  'New  Testament,  and  it  was  of  this  they  felt  most  apprehen- 
sion. Upon  this  day,  however,  Cranmer  required  the  bishops  and 
clergy  to  revise  tlie  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  and  so 
successful  had  been  the  votaries  of  the  -'old  learning,"  that  this 
was  done  in  the  King^s  name.  It  must  have  been  no  welcome 
proposal  to  the  Archbishop,  after  he  had  so  fully  committed  him- 
self However,  as  usual,  he  must  obey ;  and  therefore,  having 
divided  the  volume  into  fourteen  parts,  he  allotted  them  to  fifteen 
Bishops,  as  follow  : — 

Matthew to  himself,  Cranmer  of  Canterbury. 

Mark to  Longland  of  Lincoln. 

Luke to  Gardiner  of  Winchester. 

John to  Goodrich  of  Ely. 

The  Acts to  Heath  of  Rochester. 

Romans to  Sampson  of  Chichester. 

Corinthians,  1  and  3    .  to  Capon  of  Sahsbury. 

Galatiansto  Ephesians  to  Barlow  of  St.  David's. 

Thessalonians    1  and  2  to  Bell  of  Worcester. 

Timothy  to  Philemon  .  to  Parfew  of  St.  Asaph. 

Peter,  1  and  2     ...  to  Hulgate  of  Llandafl". 

Hebrews to  »S'Ai;;  of  Hereford. 

James  to  Jude     ...  to  77iu-/6i/ of  ^Vestminst('r. 

Revelation      ....  to  Wakcvian  of  Gloster  and  Chamber  of  Peterboro. 

Here,  let  it  be  observed,  were  two  notable  and  carious  omissions. 
What  had  become  of  Tunstal  and  Bonner — the  former  once  so 
outrageously  zealous  against  the  Scriptures  in  London  ;  the  lat- 
ter as  much  so  for  them  while  in  Paris?  Tunstal  having  but  re- 
cently committed  himself  to  hvo  editions  of  the  Bible,  by  express 
commandment  from  the  King,  must  have  either  declined,  or, 
with  his  characteristic  "  stillness,"  perhaps  expected  to  '•  oversee" 
once  more  the  wished-for  revisal.  •  Bonner,  though  a  canonist  and 
wily  politician,  was  very  probably  no  scholar ;  or,  like  his  prede- 
cessor, John  Stokesly,  would  have  no  connection  with  the  alfair. 

At  their  sixth  meeting  Gardiner  came  forward,  therefore,  with 
the  fruit  of  his  own  counsel,  and  made  a  proposal  perfectly  char- 
acteristic, which  he  was  sure  to  carry  triumphantly  within  the 
Convocation.  It  was  at  best  a  puerile  design,  and  to  us  now,  a 
most  contemptible  one,  with  a  view  to  keep  the  people  of  England 
in  their  ancient  ignorance.     He  then  read  a  list  of  not  fewer  than 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  329 

one  hundred  and  two  Latin  words,  that  '■'  for  their  genuine  and 
native  meaning,  and  for  the  majesty  of  the  matter  in  them  con- 
tained," might  be  retained  in  the  Enghsh  translation,  or  be  fitly 
Englished  with  the  least  alteration.  For  the  sake  of  illustration, 
only  a  slight  specimen  will  be  sufficient. 

'■'•Ecclesia,  j^cenitefitia,  pout  if  ex,  olacausta  (so  in  the  record) 
idiota,  haptizare.  sacramentum,  simidacrum,  confiteor  tibi  Pater, 
panis,  proipositionis,  benedictio,  sati,sfactio,  j)eccatoi',  episcopus, 
cisera,  zizania,  confessio,  pasc/ia,  hostia.^^ 

The  bearing  of  the  entire  list  is  very  apparent.  Gardiner,  in- 
deed, had  talked  of  "  majesty"  in  the  words,  but  there  was  some- 
thing else  than  majesty  in  view.  "  Witness,"  says  old  Fuller, 
"the  word  'penance,' which,  according  to  the  vulgar  sound,  con- 
trary to  the  original  sense  thereof,  was  a  magazine  of  will  wor- 
ship, and  brought  in  much  gain  to  the  priests,  who  were  desirous 
to  keep  tJiat  waird,  because  tliat  ivord  kept  tliemy 

Cranmer,  however,  being  now  at  his  post,  and  retaining  influ- 
ence with  his  Majesty,  although  he  had  once  more  dealt  out  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament  among  his  fellows,  soon  observed, 
from  their  discussions,  what  would  be  the  result ;  and  therefore 
determined  to  wait  upon  Henry,  and  inform  him  how  matters 
went.  The  Bishops,  therefore,  were  now  relieved  from  their  sev- 
eral tasks,  and  they  were,  moreover,  uo  more  to  be  consulted  on 
the  subject !  They  must  be  overruled,  to  a  man,  though  in  Con- 
vocation assembled.  After  entering  the  House,  on  Friday  the  lOth 
of  March,  Cranmer  informed  his  brethren  "  that  it  was  the  King's 
will  and  pleasure,  that  the  translation  both  of  the  old  and  the 
New  Testament,  should  be  examined  by  both  Universities  .'"  In 
vain  did  the  House  oppose,  and  in  vain  protest ;  for  all  the  Bishops 
present  did  so,  with  only  two  exceptions,  viz.,  Goodrich  of  El}^, 
and  Barlow  of  St.  David's.  Cranmer,  who  saw  that  his  brethren 
only  desired  to  get  rid  of  the  translation  altogether,  then  finally 
told  them  that  he  "  would  stick  close  to  the  will  and  pleasure  of 
the  King  his  Master,  and  that  the  Universities  should  examine 
the  translation."  This,  however,  after  all  turned  out  as  though 
it  had  been  simply  an  expedient  adopted  for  putting  an  end  to  the 
foolish  proposal  of  submitting  the  Word  of  God  to  the  revision  of 
any  such  men  ;  for  even  the  Universities  were  never  consulted  ! ! 

To  have  ruined  Marler,  the  worthy  member  of  the  Haber- 
dasher's Company,  in  the  eyes  of  the  Convocation,  would  have 
been  quite  an  achievement ;  but  Anthony's  precious  property  was 
now  safe,  and  it  seems  that  something  more  must  instantly  be 
said  respecting  it.  It  is  singular  that  forty-eight  hours  were  not 
allowed  to  pass  away  !  Cransner  must  have  immediately  in- 
formed the  King  of  his  final  reply ;  and  now,  so  far  from  looking 
to  any  University,  out  came  the  following  authoritative  commu- 
nication, dated  on  [Sunday)  the  12th  of  March  1542  ;  thus  very- 
fying  the  old  proverb — "  the  better  day,  the  better  deed." 

"Henry  the  Eighth,  &c. — To  all  Printers  of  books  within  this 
realm,  to  all  our  Officers,  Ministers,  and  Subjects,  these  our  Let- 


330  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

ters,  hearing  or  seeing",  greeting.  We  let  you  wit,  that  we,  for 
certain  causes  convenient,  of  our  Grace  special,  have  given  and 
granted  to  our  well-beloved  subject,  Anthony  Marler,  citizen  and 
Haberdasher  of  our  city  of  London,  only  to  print  the  Bible  in  our 
English  tongue,  authorised  by  us,  himself  or  assigns.  And  we 
command  that  no  manner  of  persons  within  these  our  dominions 
shall  print  tlie  said  Bible,  or  any  part  thereof,  within  the  space  of 
four  years  next  ensuing  the  printing  of  the  said  hook  by  our 
said  subject  or  his  assigns.  And  further,  we  will  and  command 
our  true  subjects  and  all  strangers,  that  none  presume  to  print 
the  said  work,  or  break  this  our  commandment  and  privilege  as 
they  intend  eschewe  oiu'  piuiishmcnt  and  high  displeasure.  Wit- 
ness oufself  at  Westminster  the  xii  day  of  March.  Per  breve  de 
privato  sigillo.     1512." 

As  there  were  no  more  folio  Bibles  printed  in  Henry's  reign,  it 
has  often  been  supposed  that  this  was  owing  to  the  strength  of  the 
opposing  party ;  but  the  fact  has  now  been  accounted  for  in  a 
manner  more  satisfactory.  Let  it  only  be  observed  that  by  the 
end  of  last  year,  or  only  four  years  and  four  months  from  August 
1537,  of  Tyndale's  translation,  and  based  on  Tyndale's,  there  had 
issued  from  the  press  not  fewer  than  twelve  editions  of  the  entire 
Bible,  ten  in  folio,  and  two  in  quarto.  And  it  was  well  they  had  ; 
they  were  laid  up  in  store,  like  Joseph's  corn  in  Egypt,  for  the 
next  four  years.  The  impression  of  each  of  those  Bibles  has 
been  calculated  as  ranging  from  1500  to  2500  copies  ;  but  say  that 
there  were  2000  copies  on  an  average,  here  were  more  than  twenty 
thousand  Bibles,  a  most  memorable  fact,  under  all  the  circum- 
stances. Many  of  the  copies  which  had  been  printed  since  1539 
may  have  been  yet  for  sale  ;  and  Marler,  it  is  evident  was  so  over- 
stocked, that  he  was  afraid  of  ruin  by  his  outlay.  The  King's 
letters  in  his  favor  now  extended  his  privilege  to  December  1545. 
immediately  after  which  we  shall  fmd  that  Grafton  was  at  work 
again,  with  an  edition  of  the  New  Testament.  But  independently 
of  this  ample  supply  in  folio  and  quarto,  it  must  ever  be  remem- 
bered that  there  Avere  many  thousands  of  the  New  Testament 
long  circulated,  and  reading  far  and  wide  throughout  the  country. 
We  shall  take  the  proof  from  one  of  the  best  of  witnesses,  and 
as  it  came  from  the  press  in  London  this  very  year.  An  admirer 
of  Latimer's,  wlio,  in  1526,  when  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  used 
to  hear  him  preach,  and  George  Stafford  read  lectures,  at  Cam- 
bridge, had  then  received  certain  impressions  which  were  never  to 
be  erased  from  his  mind. 

This  youth  was  Thomas  Becon.  Born  about  1510,  he  was  now 
32,  and  proved,  throughout  life,  one  of  the  most  laborious  and  use- 
ful men  of  his  time.  Last  year,  as  well  as  this,  he  had  been  busy 
at  the  press,  even  in  London,  and  had  published  three  small  pieces, 
two  of  which  had,  next  year,  already  reached  a  second  edition. 
In  one  of  these  he  says, — 

"  I  think  there  is  no  realm  throughout  Christendom,  that  hath 
so  many  urgent  and  necessary  causes  to  give  thanks  to  God,  as 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  331 

we  Englishmen  have  at  this  present.  What  ignorance  and  blind- 
ness was  in  this  realm  concerning  the  true  and  Christian  knowl- 
edge !  How  many  (speaking  ironically)  savoured  Christ  ariglu  ? 
How  many  walked  in  the  straight  pathway  of  God's  ordinances? 
How  many  believed  Christ  to  be  the  alone  Saviour?  How  many 
trusted  to  be  saved  only  by  the  merits  of  Christ's  death,  and  the 
effusion  of  his  most  precious  l)lood  ?  How  many  ran  to  God  alone, 
either  in  their  prosperity  or  adversity?  How  many  amplexed 
Christ  for  their  sufficient  Mediator  and  Advocate  unto  God  the 
Father?  How  many  felt  the  efficacy  and  power  of  the  true  and 
Christian  faith  ?  But  noiv — Christ's  death  is  believed  to  be  a  suf- 
ficient sacrifice  for  them  that  are  sanctified.  The  most  Sacred 
Bible  is  freely  permitted  to  be  read  of  every  man  in 
THE  English  tongue." 


SECTION    VI. 

PARLIAMENT  OPENED THE  CONVOCATION,  BAFFLED,  ACKNOWLEDGE  THIER  INA- 
BILITY TO  STAY  THE  PROGRESS  OF  DIVINE  TRUTH  BY  APPLYING  NOW  TO 
PARLIAMENT PARLIAMENT  DISGRACES  ITSELF  BY  MALIGNANT  BUT  VAIN  OP- 
POSITION  BONNER  WITHDRAWN  OR  SENT  ABROAD EXTRAORDINARY  AR- 
RANGEMENT   OF    ALL    THE    EUROPEAN    POV/ERS ^HENRy'S    SIXTH    MARRIAGE. 

Parliament  was  assembled  this  year  on  tlie  22d  of  January, 
and  sat  till  the  12th  of  May.  The  long-suffering  of  Heaven  with 
such  a  Government,  was,  by  this  time,  eminently  conspicuous  ;  but 
as  the  King  on  the  Throne  had  been  overruled,  and  the  cause  of 
Divine  Truth  had  hitherto  not  only  baffled  the  Convocation,  but 
laid  it  prostrate  ;  so  if  there  were  any  remaining  branch  of  au- 
thority about  to  prove  so  infatuated  as  to  interfere,  it  was  fit  that 
it  should  be  left  to  expose  both  its  folly  and  weakness  to  posterity 
by  so  doing.  Its  interference,  however,  may  be  traced  to  the  in- 
fatuation and  enmity  of  the  Convocation  ;  for  these  being  once 
infused  into  Parliament,  there  was  nothing  so  foohsh  and  contempt- 
ible, which  they  might  not  entertain  and  even  enact.  The  Con- 
vocation as  such,  could  not  of  course,  cross  the  threshold  of  the 
Senate ;  but  its  leading  members  the  Bishops  might,  being  mem- 
bers also  of  the  Upper  House,  or  Lords  of  Parliament.  Hence 
the  consequences. 

In  opposing  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  the 
Convocation  having  so  repeatedly  discovered  itself  to  be  a  power- 
less body,  and  more  especially  since  the  sceue,  or  unceremonious 
treatment  of  last  year;  it  had  now  seemed  to  the  Bishops  that 
only  one  mode  of  attack  remained.  It  was  their  forlorn  hope. 
They  must  admit,  and  now,  in  effect,  acknowledged  their  own  in- 
efficiency, as  a  body,  by  introducing  the  subject  into  Parliament ; 
^  "  thej/  will  try  what  could  be  accomplished  there.     Providen- 


332  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

tially,  however,  by  this  time  Ty^irfaZe's  translation  had  been  printed 
under  other  names,  such  as  Matthew,  Taverner,  Cranmer,  Tini- 
stal,  and  Heath  ;  for  this  translation  having  been  retained  in  all 
the  Enghsh  Bibles,  with  very  little  variation,  it  was  now  i?npossl- 
hle  to  reach  it.  It  so  happened,  too,  that  there  were,  by  this  time, 
various  editions  of  the  Bible  printed  without  note  and  comment. 
Marler's  editions,  as  well  as  others,  were  of  this  character,  and, 
backed  by  the  stern  authority  of  the  King,  there  was  no  possibility 
of  touching  any  of  them.  To  show,  however,  to  what  a  low  pitch 
the  miserable  spite  of  the  enemy  was  now  reduced,  as  well  as  to 
display  the  servility  of  Parliament,  now  become  proverbial,  an  Act 
was  introduced  which  was  actually  entitled — "  An  Act  for  the 
advancement  of  true  jRelig-ioji .'" — and  what  were  its  previsions, 
nearly  ten  years  after  Henry  had  declared  himself  Head  of  the 
Church  of  England,  and  seventeen  years  after  the  New  Testament 
had  been  introduced  into  our  native  land? 

The  name  of  Tyndale  was  tlie  rallying  point,  and,  in  effect,  the 
English  Parliament  must  now  furnish  their  tribute  to  his  memory 
and  talents.  Upon  setting  off,  by  this  Act  his  translation  was 
branded  and  condemned  cis''''  crafty^  false,  and  untrue  f^  although 
the  translation  actually  reading  in  the  churches  !  though  the  trans- 
lation which  Tunstal  had  been  constrained  to  sanction  !  though 
the  translation  which  had  been  read  with  avidity  since  1526,  and 
that  to  which  the  people  had  discovered  such  attachment  as  to 
perish  at  the  stake,  sooner  than  abandon  it !  Parliament  durst 
not  condemn  the  Bibles  to  which  the  names  of  Taverner  or  Cran- 
mer or  Tunstal  had  been  affixed,  nor  even  that  of  Matthew  by 
name ;  because  this  last  had  been  so  pointedly  sanctioned  by 
his  Majesty,  and  it  had  prepared  the  way  for  all  that  followed  ! 
But,  once  more  roused  by  the  name  of  Tyndale,  it  was  then 
enacted, — 

'■'■  That  all  manner  of  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  in 
English,  of  this  translation,  should,  by  authority  of  this  Act, 
clearly  and  utterly  be  abolished  and  extinguished,  and  forbidden 
to  be  kept  and  used  in  this  realm,  or  elsewhere,  in  any  of  the 
King's  dominions."  But  it  was  provided,  "  that  the  Bibles  and 
New  Testaments  in  English,  not  being  of  Tyndale's  translations, 
should  stand  in  force,  and  not  be  comprised  in  this  abolition  or  act. 
Nevertheless,  if  there  should  be  found  in  any  such  Bibles  or  New 
Testaments,  any  annotations  or  preambles,  that  then  the  owners 
of  them  should  cut  or  blot  the  same  in  such  wise  as  they  cannot 
be  perceived  or  read,  on  pain  of  losing  or  forfeiting  for  every  Bible 
or  Testament  forty  shillings  ;  (or  equal  to  £30,)  provided  that  this 
article  should  not  extend  to  the  blotting  any  quotations  or  sum- 
maries of  chapters  in  any  Bible." 

It  was  farther  enacted, — "  That  no  manner  of  persons,  after  the 
1st  of  October,  should  take  upon  them  to  read  openly  to  others,  in 
any  church  or  open  assembly,  within  any  of  the  King's  dominions, 
the  Bible  or  any  part  of  Scripture  in  English,  unless  he  was  so 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH     BIBLE.  333 

appointed  thereunto  by  the  King,  or  by  any  ordinary,  on  pain  of 
suffering  one  month's  imprisonment !" 

But  then  "  the  Chancellor  of  England  !  Captains  of  the  Wars  ! 
the  King's  Justices  !  the  Recorders  of  any  city,  borough,  or  town  ! 
and  the  Speaker  of  Parliament !  tnay  use  any  part  of  the  holy 
Scripture  as  they  have  been  wont !"  And  "every  nobleman  or 
gentlewoman,  being  a  householder,  may  read  or  cause  to  be  read, 
by  any  of  hXa  family  servants  in  his  house,  orchard,  or  garden,  to 
his  own  family,  any  text  of  the  Bible  ;  and  also  every  merchant- 
man, being  a  householder,  and  any  other  persons,  other  ihav 
women,  apprentices,  &c.,  might  read  to  theuiselves  privately  the 
Bible.  But  no  women,  except  noble  women  and  ^e«//ewomen, 
might  read  to  themselves  alone ;  and  no  artificers,  apprentices, 
journeymen,  serving-men  of  the  degrees  of  yeomen,  (officers  in 
the  King's  family  between  sergeants  and  grooms,)  husbandmen 
or  labourers,  were  to  read  the  Bible  or  New  Testament  to  them- 
selves or  to  any  other,  privately  or  openly,  on  pain  of  one  mionth's 
imprisonment." 

The  burning  of  the  Alexandrian  Library,  and  heating  its  baths 
with  the  books,  has  been  often  reprobated  as  barbarous,  but  the 
aim  of  Parliament  was  impious  in  the  extreme.  As  far  as  they 
durst  venture,  they  intended  to  take  the  bread  of  life  out  of  the 
mouths  of  the  common  people.  The  Act  has  been  described  as  "a 
net  contrived,  to  catch  or  let  go,  whomsoever  they  pleased ;"  but 
still  it  may  well  be  inquired,  where  \vas  "  the  wisdom  of  their  wise 
men.  or  the  understanding  of  the  prudent,"  when  they  contrived 
it;  as  the  foll}'^  displayed  was  in  equal  proportion  to  the  malignity. 
It  might  have  been  compared  to  an  act  framed  to  bind  the 
wind,  or  intercept  the  light  of  day  ;  and  whatever  may  have 
been  its  vexatious  consequences,  it  was  by  far  too  late  in  being 
framed. 

Observe  its  contents.  It  denounced  the  translation  of  Tyndale, 
and  enforced  it  almost  in  the  same  breath  ;  for  not  only  was  it  his 
translation,  under  another  name,  which  was  to  stand  in  force,  but 
many  of  his  New  Testaments  had  no  such  name  attached  to 
them.  As  to  the  second  provision,  whether  any  copies  of  the 
Bible  were  so  blotted  or  cut,  is  nowhere  recorded.  If  they  were, 
they  must  have  been  consumed  afterwards,  for  it  is  certain  that 
scarcely  any  copies  of  all  that  survive,  bear  the  positive  proof  of 
having  been  so  treated.  But  the  folly  of  the  statute  is  still  more 
glaring,  when  both  the  mamier  and  the  degree  of  reading  comes 
to  be  regulated  by  an  act  of  Parliament.  While  reading  in  the 
parish  church  seems  to  be  in  part  abridged,  the  reading  at  home 
in  thousands  of  instances  is  legalized  if  not  enforced  ;  and  read- 
ing in  the  house,  as  being  more  deliberate  and  more  retired,  was 
better  than  reading  in  the  church.  Every  one  knows  with  what 
avidity  men  read,  and  will  read,  an  interdicted  book  ;  but  this  was 
only  half  interdicted  !  Iialf  in  numerous  families,  and  half  as  it 
regarded  the  community  at  large.  This  was  better  still.  Thus, 
in  the  former  case,  as  any  family  serva7it  was  authorized  to  read 


334  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  Scriptures  to  Master  or  Mistress,  of  course  he  might  not  onl)r 
repeat  wliat  he  read,  but  could  the  other  servants  be  effectually 
prevented  from  snatching  a  perusal  in  the  morning  or  evening,  or 
at  midnight  ?  And  if  every  nobleman  and  gentlewoman,  every 
merchant,  or  any  other,  being  a  householder,  were  fully  authorized 
to  possess,  and  read  the  Bible,  how  were  the  women  of  the  house- 
hold, how  were  tlie  apprentices^  and  journeymen,  or  otlier  domes- 
tics, to  be  guarded  and  prevented  from  looking  between  the  Sa- 
cred leaves  ? 

But  beside  these  absurdities,  there  were  certain  clauses  intro- 
duced, in  mitigation  of  severity,  not  unworthy  of  notice.  Of- 
fenders, if  ecclesiastics,  were  not  to  suffer  death  till  the  third 
offence  ;  and  the  punishment  of  any  others  was  never  to  extend 
beyond  the  forfeiture  of  goods,  and  imprisonment  for  life.  The 
part}^  accused  also  might  bring  witnesses,  and  the  accused  must 
be  tried  within  a  year  after  the  indictment,  while  the  Parliament, 
as  usual,  had  to  leave  the  act  in  the  King's  power,  to  annul  or 
alter  it  at  his  pleasure  !  The  bloody  statute  of  six  articles  was  in 
fact  thus  invaded  and  softened. 

Such  a  mixture  of  folly  and  contradiction  demands  some  explan- 
ation. Had  Gardiner  and  his  party  obtained  all  their  wishes,  the 
Scriptures  had  been  suppressed,  and  wholly  interdicted  :  but  it  is 
curious  enough  that  it  was  Cranmer  who  had  introduced  this 
act,  with  the  view  no  doubt  of  legalizing  what  he  had  enforced  in 
his  prologue  to  the  Bible — the  perusal  of  the  Sacred  volume  at 
home,  and  hence  the  m^^stery  of  its  title  is  explained.  But  once 
introduced  into  Parliament,  and  thwarted  in  his  endeavors,  it  had, 
in  pasing  through  the  house,  assumed  such  a  grotesque  appear- 
ance, as  to  carry  in  its  various  clauses,  the  evidence  of  two  hostile 
parties  fighting  with  each  other.  To  Cranmer,  therefore,  may  be 
ascribed  the  credit  of  obtaining  as  much  as  might  be,  and  of  then 
stultifying  the  act,  to  disappoint  the  devices  of  the  crafty,  or  carry 
the  counsel  of  the  froward  headlong.  In  short,  the  passing  of 
this  act  has  been  represented  by  Rapin,  as  a  "  mortification"  to 
the  adverse  party,  wliich  "checked  their  hopes."  That  its  vexa- 
tious operation  was  at  least  impeded,  there  can  be  but  little  doubt, 
from  what  was  taking  place  at  the  very  moment,  as  well  as  what 
soon  followed. 

With  regard  to  the  time  when  Parliament  was  thus  acting ;  it 
cannot  have  escaped  recollection  that  we  have  been  called  again 
and  again  to  observe,  at  certain  critical  periods,  either  formerly, 
when  the  Scriptures  were  to  be  imported  from  abroad,  or  since 
then,  when  those  who  prized  them  were  in  danger  of  being  mo- 
lested, that  one  or  more  of  the  bitterest  persecutors  were  either  put 
in  check,  or  sent  out  of  the  kingdom,  in  the  character  of  ambassa- 
dors to  foreign  parts.  So  it  happened  with  Tunstal  and  Gardiner, 
and  so  it  happened  now.  The  focus  of  persecution  had  ever  been 
in  London,  just  as  it  was  in  Jerusalem  of  old  ;  and  of  all  men  liv- 
ing, Bonner  at  this  moment  was  most  blood-thirsty.  He  had  been 
very  busy  for  more  than  a  year  in  his  favorite  employment  of  per- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  335 

secution,  and  would  have  been  so  now.  But  no  sooner  had  they 
begun  to  wrangle  in  Parliament,  than  he  was  sent  off  the  ground 
by  the  Supreme  Ruler. 

Parliament  had  risen  on  the  12th  of  May,  and  Henry  having 
secured  an  enormous  subsidy,  as  well  as  settled  his  foreign  affairs 
on  the  20th,  the  month  of  June  arrived  when  the  fact  was  an- 
nounced ;  but  then  at  the  same  time  all  was  preparation  for  his 
sixth  marriage  ;  and  on  the  10th  of  July,  to  Gardiner  was  assigned 
tbe  unwelcome  task  of  espousing  the  King  to  Catharine  Parr. 
The  Q,ueen,  as  already  mentioned,  favored  the  neni  learning  ;  and 
though  she  proceeded  with  caution  so  as  not  to  offend  Henry,  and 
therefore  could  not  prevent  the  burning  of  three  worthy  men  at 
Windsor,  by  Gardiner's  instigation,  only  eighteen  days  after  her 
marriage ;  yet  happily,  through  one  of  the  Q^ueen's  servants,  the 
plot  which  had  already  involved  these  men  in  ruin,  and  would 
have  swept  away  others  of  higher  rank,  was  detected.  The  King 
was  so  offended  as  to  degrade  and  punish  the  agents  employed. 


SECTION    VII. 

PARLIAMENT     ASSEMBLED HENRy's    STYLE     AND     TITLE LONGS     TO   BE    KING    OF 

FRANCE  ! WAR  WITH  SCOTLAND HENRY  IN  FRANCE GARDINER CRANMER 

henry's  confession  of    IMPOTENCE    IN  ALL    HIS    INJUNCTIONS    TO   HIS    BISHOPS 

HIS  INCONSISTENCY NEW  TESTAMENT  OF  TYNDALE's,  A  FOREIGN  PRINT. 

It  was  upon  Tuesday  the  14th  of  January,  that  Parliament  had 
again  met,  and  it  continued  sitting  till  Saturday  the  29th  of  March, 
when  the  proceedings,  as  usual,  assumed  the  shape  of  whatsoever 
had  occurred  to  the  fancy  of  the  Sovereign.  As  the  first  Act  in- 
troduced to  the  House  regarded  the  Crown,  in  which  the  possi- 
bility of  Princess  Mary's  ultimate  succession  was  pointed  at,  the 
gentlemen  of  the  old  learning  were  not  a  little  pleased,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  compliment  thus  paid  to  the  Emperor,  who  had 
long  expressed  his  desire  on  the  subject.  About  the  same  time, 
Henry  was  resolved  not  to  forget  his  much-prized  style  or  title  as 
King.  An  act  was  therefore  passed,  declaring  that  this  should 
now  be — "  King  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the 
Faith  ;  and  on  earth  the  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land and  Ireland."  Few  moments  certainly  could  have  proved 
more  awkward  for  the  assumption  of  such  a  style. 

Henry  immediately  took  steps  to  make  good  his  title,  by  invad- 
ing Scotland  and  France.  Accordingly,  troops  were  landed  at 
Leith,  on  the  4th  of  May,  and  Edinburgh  was  attacked  on  the 
.5th.  The  Castle  defied  all  their  efforts ;  but  after  employing  foiu' 
days  in  the  plunder  and  conflagration  of  the  city,  the  army,  in  re- 
turning, consigned  Haddington  and  Dunbar  to  the  flames.  The 
fleet  was  employed  against  Leith,  where,  having  burnt  the  town, 


336  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

demolished  the  pier,  and  swept  both  sides  of  the  Forth  as  far  as 
Stirling,  Lisle  returned  with  his  ships  to  Newcastle. 

But  the  expedition  to  the  Continent,  in  union  with  the  Emperor, 
was  to  form  Henry's  grand  exploit  for  tliis  year.  In  June  the  first 
division  of  the  English  army  had  landed  at  Calais;  and  having 
appointed  the  Glueen  as  Regent  during  his  absence,  Henry  set  off, 
sailing,  on  the  14th  of  July,  for  France,  in  a  ship  rigged  with  cloth 
of  gold  !  Henry  was  now  within  the  French  frontier  at  the  head 
of  45,000  men,  of  whom  30,000  were  English  troops,  and  tlie  rest 
Imperial.  The  Emperor  having  been  much  the  earliest  in  the 
field,  had  commenced  with  sieges  while  waiting  for  his  ally,  and 
three  fortresses  had  already  fallen  before  him.  Henry  must  not 
be  beaten,  and  therefore  resolved  to  commence  after  the  same 
fashion.  Sitting  down  himself  before  Boulogne,  he  gave  Mont- 
reuil  in  charge  to  Norfolk. 

Charles  had  reached  within  two  days'  march  of  Paris,  which 
had  taken  alarm,  and  even  Francis  had  begun  to  tremble.  The 
season  was  advancing,  great  arrears  were  due  to  the  Imperial 
army,  and  the  Emperor  could  not  winter  in  France.  A  treaty 
was  soon  signed.  The  Emperor  found  it  perfectly  convenient  to 
make  peace  with  Francis,  leaving  our  English  Monarch  to  settle 
his  own  affairs,  and  return  home  as  he  best  could  !  It  was  onl_v 
the  day  before  that  Henry  had  been  riding  in  great  triumph  into 
Boulogne,  and  with  this  he  must  now  be  satisfied,  instead  of  the 
capital  and  crown  of  France. 

The  first  bill  in  Parliament,  involving  as  it  did,  the  prospect  of 
Princess  Mary's  possible  succession  to  the  throne,  seems  to  have 
inspirited  the  gentlemen  of  "  the  old  learning  ;"  for  although  Cran- 
mer  had  triumphed  over  his  accusers  last  year,  it  was  during  this 
Parliament  that  the  minion  of  Norfolk  and  Gardiner,  Sir  John 
Gostwyck,  of  whom  we  have  already  heard  enough,  as  the  accuser 
of  Crnmwell,  ventured  to  accuse  the  Archbisliop  oH  heresi/,  openly 
in  the  House  of  Commons ;  but  the  knight,  whom  his  Majesty 
instantly  denounced  as  a  variety  had  to  repair  forthwith  to  Lam- 
beth, to  humble  himself  there,  and  crave  forgiveness.  On  the 
other  hand,  Gardiner  was  about  this  time  placed  in  very  awkward,  if 
not  critical  circumstances,  by  his  kinsman,  some  have  said  nephew, 
and  secretary,  Germain  Gardiner.  Once  the  feeble  opponent  of 
John  Fryth,  having  been  apprehended^  for  denying  the  King's  su- 
premacy, he  suffered  the  penalty  of  death  as  a  traitor  on  the  7th  of 
March.  However,  the  Bishop  contrived,  as  usual,  to  make  his 
peace  with  the  King,  and  happily  he  was  soon  to  be  despatched 
upon  foreign  affairs  :  though  still,  if  Gardiner  failed  in  any  way,  he 
sunk;  while  Cranmer  remained  or  rather  advanced  in  royal  favor. 

To  the  latter,  therefore,  the  present  moment  appeared  to  be  a 
favorable  one  for  the  further  mitigation  of  the  bloody  statute, 
which  had  been  already  somewhat  softened  last  year  ;  and  Cran- 
mer succeeded  in  carrying  a  new  Act  this  session.  By  this,  in 
future,  no  individual  was  to  be  brought  to  trial  under  that  statute, 
till  after  he  had  been  legally  presented,  on  the  oaths  of  twelve 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE-  337 

men,  before  such  commissioners  as  are  mentioned  in  this  Act,  and 
referred  to  in  another ;  nor  was  he,  till  then,  to  be  imprisoned. 
No  reputed  offence  of  an  older  date  than  one  year  was  to  be  ac- 
tionable ;  nor  was  any  preacher  to  be  indicted,  H  furti/  days  had 
elapsed  after  any  sentiment  he'  had  uttered  in  the  pulpit.  The 
accused  inight  also  challenge  any  juryman.  These  provisions 
formed  so  many  very  important  alleviations  in  the  fury  of  perse- 
cution ;  though  two  years  hence,  as  in  the  cases  of  Anne  Askew 
and  others,  they  were  most  scandalously  disregarded. 

By  the  time  that  Henry  departed  from  France,  also,  it  will  be 
observed,  that  not  only  were  Norfolk  and  Gardiner  withdrawn 
from  the  country,  but  the  Queen  was  Regent ;  and  with  Cranmer 
at  the  head  of  her  Council,  the  chief  man  bent  upon  cruelty  and 
mischief,  or  Bonner  of  London,  must  have  been  under  certain 
restraint.  Nor  was  this  all.  Just  before  his  Majesty  left,  it  de- 
serves notice  that  prayers  in  the  English  tongue  were  directed  to 
be  generally  used.  This  fact  in  itself  was  important ;  but  in  re- 
ference to  past  times,  and  royal  influence,  not  so  much  so  as  an- 
other, which  now  comes  out  incidentally — 

"  We  have  sent  unto  you,"  says  the  King  to  all  the  Bishops  of 
liis  realm,  "  We  have  sent  unto  you  these  .suffrages,  not  to  be  for 
a  month  or  two  observed,  and  after  slenderly  considered,  as  other 
our  injunctions,  to  our  no  little  marvel  have  been  used,  but  to  the 
intent  that  as  well  the  same,  as  other  our  injunctions,  ma)'"  be 
earnestly  set  forth,"  &c. 

Thus  it  was  officially  acknowledged  that  the  King's  former  in- 
junctions had  carried  no  pow^erful  or  prolonged  influence.  Before 
this  we  have  frequently  had  occasion  to  observe,  that  the  cause 
of  God  and  liis  truth  had  been  so  peculiarly  conducted,  as  to  have 
no  leaning  or  dependence  on  him  whatever.  We  have  seen,  by 
many  striking  proofs,  that  it  went  on  in  its  course,  first  in  defiance, 
and  then  independently  of  royal  interference.  But  now,  towards 
the  close  of  his  reign,  lest  posterity  should  mistake,  or  not  observe 
it,  as  far  as  his  own  name  and  authority  had  been  employed,  here 
is  an  artless  and  very  frank  confession  of  impotence,  on  the  part 
of  his  Majesty,  if  not  also  of  Cranmer,  who  is  supposed  to  have 
drawn  up  the  injunction. 

So  far,  indeed,  from  being  a  Consistent  friend  to  the  progress  of 
Divine  Truth  amongst  his  subjects,  only  last  year  Henry  had  lent 
his  authority  to  the  reprobation  of  the  original  translator,  at  whose 
death  he  had  winked  so  hard ;  and  frowned  upon  the  poor  for 
reading  the  Sacred  Volume.  His  injunctions,  like  himself,  stag- 
gering from  side  to  side,  must  have  confounded  the  public  mind  ; 
and  considering  what  had  passed  in  Parliament  last  year,  in  re- 
probating the  name  and  writings  of  Tyndale,  it  was  not  wonder- 
ful that  the  indignity  should  be  resented.  Tyndale's  very  name 
had  become  precious  to  many,  and  his  translations  of  Scripture 
were  now  carefully  preserved  or  hoarded  in  many  a  corner 
throughout  England,  far  beyond  the  ken  of  Bishop,  or  King,  or 
any  underling. 

22 


338  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Meanwhile,  there  seems  to  be  no  account  whatever  upon  record 
of  the  seizure  or  burning  of  the  New  Testament,  though  there 
might  liave  been,  had  foreign  pohtics  and  preparations  for  war 
not  engrossed  attention  ;  but  Lewis  and  some  others  have  gone 
too  far  when  they  have  stated  that  Day  and  Seres  printed  the 
Pentateuch  this  year.  Day  had  not  yet  begun  to  print  at  all,  and 
the  volume  must  belong  to  a  subsequent  impression,  or  that  of 
1549.  It  is,  however,  curious,  and  more  to  the  purpose,  that  a 
foreign  press  was  at  work  even  this  year,  and  with  an  edition  of 
Tyndale's  New  Testament.  This  must  have  been  in  the  face  of 
the  recent  anathema.  A  copy,  once  in  the  possession  of  the  Earl 
of  Oxford,  is  mentioned  in  the  Harleian  Catalogue,  with  this  re- 
mark— "  it  seems  to  be  a  foreign  print."  Indeed  it  must  have 
been  so  ;  and  it  may  be  put  down  in  these  troublous  days,  as  a  ser- 
enade from  Antwerp  or  elsewhere,  in  answer  to  the  contemptible 
brawl  in  Parliament  last  year. 


SECTION    VIII. 

WAR     WITH     FRANCE UNDERMINING      CRANMER HIS     ENEMIES     COVERED     WITH 

SHAME HENRY    ADDRESSING     HIS    PRIVY     COUNCIL HIS    OPINION     OF     IT AD- 
DRESSING   HIS    PARLIAMENT    FOR    THE    LAST    TIME. 

We  are  now  Avithin  two  years  of  the  King's  death,  and  the  en- 
tire period  was  fraught  with  great  misery  to  his  subjects,  though, 
generally  speaking,  not  after  the  fashion  in  which  they  had  been 
tormented  in  past  times.  His  Majesty  and  the  government  with 
all  the  strength  of  the  kingdom,  were  at  present  fully  occupied  in 
preparing  for  self-defence. 

France  had  not  been  so  exhausted  by  the  double  invasion  of  last 
year,  as  to  be  incapable  of  retaliation.  Francis,  having  now  only 
one  enemy  before  him,  resolved  to  attack  Boulogne  by  land,  to 
block  it  up  by  sea,  and  even  invade  England. 

By  the  middle  of  July  136  sail  had  arrived  within  sight  of 
Portsmouth,  where  the  Enghsh  fleet  of  only  sixty  sail  lay  to  de- 
fend the  kingdom.  The  sands,  however,  proving  their  grand 
defence,  the  French  were  unable  to  dislodge  them  ;  though  the 
contrast  between  last  year  and  the  present  must  have  been  strik- 
ing in  the  extreme,  to  him  who  witnessed  both. 

With  the  most  savage  barbarity,  the  war  in  Scotland  liad  been 
pursued,  under  Seymour,  Earl  of  Hertford.  Throughout  this  busy 
year,  and  indeed  ever  since  the  death  of  Crumwell,  there  had 
been  no  man  at  his  Majesty's  right  hand,  fruitful  in  expedients  to 
supply  his  exchequer ;  so  that  his  finances  were  miserably  embar- 
rassed, and  new  exactions  were  made  upon  his  oppressed  and  dis- 
contented subjects.  His  Majesty  was  at  last  obliged  to  summon 
Parliament  and  the  Convocation.     They  met  on  the  23rd  of  No- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  339 

vember ;  and  the  last  subsidy  for  three  years  being  now  far  more 
than  expended,  both  Lords  and  Commons,  clergy  and  laity  must 
come  forward  once  more.  The  Convocation  granted  fifteen  per 
cent,  on  their  incomes  for  two  years,  and  the  Commons  two  tenths 
and  fifteenths.  The  latter,  indeed,  added  to  this  an  additional 
subsidy  from  real  and  personal  property,  which  they  entreated 
his  Majesty  to  accept,  "  as  it  pleased  the  great  Alexander  to  re- 
ceive thankfully  a  sup  of  water  of  a  poor  man  by  the  highway- 
side."  To  ward  off,  however,  the  recurrence  or  necessity  for 
another  "  sup  of  water,"  the  House  proceeded  one  step  farther,  to 
the  alarm  of  many  who  were  not  present  to  oppose,  nor  had  ever 
been  consulted.  To  his  Majesty's  sovereign  disposal  they  sub- 
jected all  colleges,  chantries,  and  hospitals  in  tlie  kingdom,  with 
their  manors,  lands,  or  hereditary  estates.  From  a  monarch  who 
never  repaid  his  "loans,"  and  crushed  his  subjects  to  the  ground 
if  they  declined  a  "benevolence,"  they  were  satisfied  with  a  prom- 
ise, that  he  would  not  now  abuse  the  confidence  of  his  subjects, 
but  employ  tlie  wliole  "  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  common  profit 
of  the  realm  !"  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  however,  immediately 
took  the  alarm,  and  approached  the  throne,  craving  mercy  and 
forbearance.  By  tliis  time  it  has  been  extremely  difficult  for  his- 
torians to  find  the  slightest  occasion  for  offering  incense  to  the 
memory  of  Henry,  but  several  have  seized  the  present  moment 
for  want  of  a  better,  and  simply  because  he  left  these  two  Uni- 
versities in  full  possession  of  their  revenues  ! 

Among  the  acts  passed  at  this  time,  there  was  one  for  convey- 
ing seventy  manors  to  the  Crown  belonging  to  the  see  of  York  ; 
one  for  punishiug  those  who  took  above  ten  per  cent,  interest  for 
money ;  and  a  third  for  settling  the  tithes  in  London  in  propor- 
tion to  the  RENTS  of  the  houses.  On  the  24th  of  December  Par- 
liament rose,  when  Henry  delivered  the  last  oration  he  ever  ad- 
dressed to  it ;  a  strange  production,  which  will  be  glanced  at 
presently. 

In  the  course  of  a  year  so  pregnant  with  misery  and  confusion 
throughout  the  kingdom  as  this,  it  may  appear  difficult  to  imagine 
where  one  moment  was  left  for  the  gentlemen  of  the  "  old  learn- 
ing" to  display  their  hostility  ;  but  in  the  autumn,  after  the  King's 
return  from  the  mortifying  scene  at  Portsmouth,  such  a  moment 
was  found. 

Cranmer  had  not  failed  to  improve  the  absence  of  Gardiner  and 
Norfolk.  In  the  afternoon  of  the  22d  of  August,  Charles  Brandon, 
Duke  of  Suffolk,  died  ;  perhaps  the  most  powerful  friend  that 
Cranmer  now  had.  The  companion  of  the  King  from  his  earliest 
youth,  and  possessing  throughout  life  considerable  influence  over 
him  ;  Henry  was  sitting  in  Council  when  first  informed  of  his  de- 
cease, and  could  not  suppress  his  feelings.  He  then  declared  that 
during  the  wliole  course  of  their  friendship,  the  Duke  had  never 
made  one  attempt  to  injure  an  adversary,  nor  had  ever  whispered 
a  word  to  the  disadvantage  of  any  person.  "  Is  there  any  of  you, 
my  Lords,  who  can  say  as  much  ?"     When  his  Majesty  had  ut- 


340  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

tered  these  words,  he  looked  round  ia  all  their  faces,  and  saw  them 
confused  with  the  consciousness  of  secret  guilt. 

Thus  so  emphatically  checked,  one  might  have  supposed  that 
they  would  have  been  careful  not  to  verify  the  character  which 
their  Sovereign  had  seemed  to  insinuate;  but  no;  it  was  but 
sliorlly  after  the  Duke's  remains  were  interred  with  splendor  at 
Windsor,  that  certain  Privy  Counsellors  had  resolved  to  move. 
VVlien  the  King  gave  his  significant  look  round  the  Council,  there 
can  be  little  or  no  doubt  that  his  Grace  of  Norfolk,  Wriothesly  the 
Lord  Chancellor,  and  even  Stephen  Gardiner  were  present ;  for 
the  latter  had  returned  in  spring,  and  been  ever  since  actively 
engaged.  The  fears  of  the  party  must  have  led  them  to  exag- 
gerate ;  but  from  the  expressions  employed,  the  reader  will  at 
least  learn  what  was  their  estimate  of  the  progress  now  made,  in 
a  cause  whicii  they  denounced  as  heretical,  and  so  detested.  An- 
other mistake  they  made,  not  unwillingly,  was  their  ascribing  so 
much  to  07ie  man,  and  that  one  man  the  Archbishop  ;  but  he  was 
near  to  them,  and  a  perpetual  eye-sore;  they  hated  him  from  the 
heart  fervently,  and  must  play  their  last  game,  under  Henry,  with 
a  view  to  his  ruin. 

Being,  as  they  imagined,  now  fully  prepared  to  carry  their  pur- 
pose into  effect,  the  Privy  Counsellors  waited  on  his  Majesty, 
when  they  grievousl}'  accused  Cranmer ;  saying,  "  that  he,  with 
his  learned  men,  had  so  infected  the  whole  realm  with  i\\e\x  iinsa- 
voury  doctrines,  that  three  parts  of  the  land  were  become 
abominable  heretics  ;  and  that  this  might  prove  dangerous  to  the 
King,  as  likely  to  produce  sucii  commotions  and  uproars  as  had 
sprung  up  in  Germany."  They  therefore  '•  recpicsted  that  the 
Archbishop  might  be  committed  to  the  Tower,  till  he  might  be 
examined."  To  their  mode  of  procedure  the  King  at  once  ob- 
jected, when  they  told  him,  '-that  the  Archbishop  being  one  of  the 
Privy  Council,  no  man  dared  to  object  matter  against  him,  unless 
he  were  first  counnitted  to  durance ;  but  that  if  this  were  done, 
men  would  be  bold  to  tell  the  truth,  and  deliver  their  consciences  !" 
Yet  Henry  still  would  proceed  no  further  than  this — that  Cran- 
mer should  appear  next  day  before  the  Council  to  be  examined 
by  themselves,  and  should  they  then  judge  it  to  bo  advisable,  so 
commit  him  to  the  Tower. 

His  Majesty,  however,  knowing  the  men  well,  and  reflecting  on 
what  he  had  done,  about  midnight  ordered  Sir  Anthony  Denny  to 
cross  the  river  to  Lambeth,  and  command  Cranmer's  immediate 
attendance  at  Whitehall.  The  Archbishop  was  in  bed,  but,  of 
course,  instantly  rose,  and  presented  himself  before  his  royal 
Master,  whom  he  found  in  the  gallery  of  the  palace.  Henry  very 
frankly  told  him  the  wliole,  and  what  he  had  done  in  granting 
their  request  ;  but  concluded  by  saying — "  Whether  I  have  done 
well  or  no,  what  say  you,  my  Lord  .^"  Cranmer,  having  first 
thanked  his  Majesty  for  the  information,  went  on  to  say,  that  he 
was  well  content  to  be  committed  to  the  Tower  for  the  trial  of  his 
doctrine,  if  he  might  be  fairly  heard,  not  doubting  but  that  his 


HISTORY-    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLK.  341 

Majesty  would  see  that  he  was  so  treated.  Upon  hearing  these 
words,  Henry,  with  a  profane  exclamation,  immediately  burst 
forth,  after  his  own  characteristic  manner — 

"What  fond  simplicity  have  you,  so  to  permit  yourself  to  be 
imprisoned,  that  every  enemy  of  yours  may  take  advantage 
against  you  !  Do  you  not  know,  when  they  have  yoii  once  in 
prison,  three  or  four  false  knaves  will  soofi  be  procured  to  witness 
against  you,  and  condemn  you ;  whicli  else,  you  being  now  at 
liberty,  dare  not  open  their  lips,  or  appear  before  your  face  ?  No, 
not  so,  my  Lord  ;  I  have  better  regard  unto  you,  than  to  permit 
your  enemies  so  lo  overthrow  you  ;  and  therefore,  I  will  have  you 
to-morrow  come  to  the  Council,  which,  no  doubt,  will  send  for 
you  ;  and  when  they  break  this  matter  unto  you,  require  of  them, 
that  being  one  of  them,  you  may  have  so  much  favour  as  they 
would  have  themselves  ;  that  is,  to  have  your  accusers  brought 
before  you.  And  if  they  stand  with  you,  without  regard  of  your 
allegations,  and  will,  on  no  condition,  condescend  to  your  request, 
but  will  needs  commit  you  to  the  Tower — then  appeal  you  from 
them  to  our  person,  and  give  to  them  this  my  ring,  by  the  which 
they  shall  well  under^^tand  that  I  have  taken  your  cause  from 
them  into  mine  own  hand.  This  ring,  they  toell  know,  I  use  for 
no  other  purpose  but  to  call  matters  from  the  Council  into  mine 
own  hands,  to  be  ordered  and  determined."  Cranraer  having 
received  the  ring,  humbly  thanked  his  Majesty,  and  withdrew  for 
the  night. 

Next  morning,  and  by  eight  o'clock,  a  message  arrived  from 
the  Privy  Council  requiring  Cranmer's  attendance.  It  was  im- 
mediately obeyed,  but  when  the  Primate  made  his  appearance  in 
the  anteroom  he  was  not  permitted  to  proceed  any  farther.  There 
he  was  kept  waiting,  among  servants  and  ushers,  nearly  an  hour, 
while  other  members  of  the  Council  were,  in  the  meantime,  pass- 
ing both  in  and  out.  Fortunately,  Ralph  Morrice,  the  Arch- 
bishop's secretary,  was  with  him;  and  indignant  at  this  treatment, 
he  slipt  off,  and  informed  a  warm  friend  of  his  master.  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Butts,  the  King's  physician.  He  first  came,  and  once  wit- 
ness to  the  fact,  proceeded  to  the  royal  presence.  Having  informed 
his  Majesty  what  a  strange  thing  he  had  seen.  "What  is  that?" 
said  Henry.  "  My  Lord  of  Canterbury,"  replied  the  physician, 
"  if  it  please  your  Grace,  is  well  promoted ;  for  now  he  has  become 
a  lackey  or  a  serving  man  ;  for  yonder  he  hath  stood  this  half 
hour  at  the  Council  Chamber  door  among  them." — "It  is  not  so," 
said  Henry ;  "  the  Council  hath  not  so  little  discretion  as  to  use 
the  metropolitan  of  the  realm  after  that  sort !  But  let  them  alone  ; 
it  is  well  enough — I  shall  talk  with  them  by  and  bye." 

At  length  Cranmer  was  called  in.  Their  Lordships  then  in- 
formed him  that  great  complaints  were  made  of  him,  both  to  the 
King  and  to  them  ;  that  he,  and  others  by  his  permission,  had 
filled  the  land  with  heresy  ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  the  royal  pleas- 
ure that  he  should  stand  committed  to  the  Tower,  there  to  await 
his  trial  and  examination.     As  a  Privy  Counsellor,  the  Primate 


342  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

first  demanded  that  his  accusers  should  be  immediately  called  be- 
fore him,  using  many  arguments  against  their  proceeding  to  such 
extremity  ;  but  all  was  in  vain — he  must  go  to  the  Tower. 
"  Then,"  said  Cranmer,  '•  I  am  sorry,  my  Lords,  that  you  drive 
me  to  this  exigent,  to  appeal  from  you  to  the  King's  Majesty,  who 
by  this  token  (holding  up  the  ring,)  hath  resumed  this  matter  into 
his  own  hand,  and  dischargeth  you  thereof."  The  royal  signet 
once  delivered,  produced  more  than  its  usual  effect ;  the  Council 
were  amazed,  and  the  first  man  who  broke  silence  was  Lord  John 
Russell,  afterwards  Earl  of  Bedford : — "  When  you  first  began 
this  matter,  my  Lords,  I  told  you  what  would  come  of  it.  Do  you 
think  that  the  King  will  sutler  this  man's  finger  to  ache?  Much 
more,  I  warrant  you,  will  he  defend  his  life  against  brabbling 
varlets  !  You  do  but  cumber  yourselves  to  hear  tales  and  fables 
against  him.  I  know,  right  well,  that  the  King  would  never  per- 
mit my  Lord  of  Canterbury  to  have  such  a  blemish,  as  to  be  im- 
prisoned, unless  it  Avere  for  high  treason." 

This,  however,  was  no  time  for  confabulation.  The  Counsel- 
lors, to  a  man,  must  rise  instantly,  and  carry  both  the  ring  and 
the  cause  into  the  royal  presence.  Henry,  of  course,  was  now  fully 
ready  for  them. 

"  Ah,  my  Lords,  I  thought  that  I  had  had  a  discreet  and  wise 
Council,  but  now  I  perceive  that  I  am  deceived.  How  have  you 
handled  here  my  Lord  of  Canterbury  ?  What  make  ye  of  him  ? 
A  slave  ? — shutting  him  out  of  the  Council  Chamber  among  serv- 
ing men  !  Would  ye  be  so  handled  yourselves  ?  I  would  ye 
should  well  understand,  that  I  account  my  Lord  of  Canterbury  as 
faithful  a  man  towards  me,  as  ever  was  prelate  in  this  realm,  and 
one  to  whom  I  am  many  ways  beholden,  by  the  faith  I  owe  unto 
God,  (laying  his  hand  upon  his  breast,)  and,  therefore,  whosoever 
loveth  me,  will  upon  that  account  regard  him." 

Something  must  be  said  in  reply,  when  Norfolk  answered  for 
himself  and  his  fellows  : — "  We  meant  no  manner  of  hurt  unto  my 
Lord  of  Canterbur}^  in  that  we  requested  to  have  him  in  durance  ; 
which  we  only  did,  that  he  might,  after  his  trial,  be  set  at  liberty 
to  his  greater  glory."  Henrj^,  however,  was  not  to  be  befooled, 
and  only  added — "  I  pray  you,  use  not  my  friends  so  :  I  perceive 
now  well  enough  how  the  world  goeth  among  you.  There  re- 
maineth  niaVtce  among  you,  one  to  another  ;  let  it  be  avoided  out 
of  hand,  I  would  advise  you." 

His  Majesty  immediately  departed,  when  all  the  accusing  gen- 
tlemen, so  stern  of  late,  are  said  to  have  shaken  hands,  hypocriti- 
cally enough,  with  Cranmer,  who  was  to  be  troubled  no  more, 
after  this  fashion,  for  above  seven  years  to  come. 

It  has  been  thought  difficult  to  say  whether  Henry,  over-per- 
suaded by  this  junto,  was  at  first  in  earnest,  and  afterwards  changed 
his  resolution  ;  or  whether  he  took  this  method  to  check  the  for- 
wardness of  tlie  Archbishop's  enemies  ;  but  let  this  have  been  as 
it  may,  who  does  not  see,  and  in  the  King's  own  language,  a 
hideous  picture  of  the  past !     Here  was  the  base  manner  in  which 


HISTORY    OF*   THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  343 

many  precious  lives  had  been  sacrificed.  The  Council,  stript  of 
its  disguise,  by  it^  own  Sovereign,  exhibits  a  shocking  spectacle; 
but  above  all,  what  can  be  said  as  to  the  character  of  the  Monarch 
himself,  who,  in  amazement  at  Cranmer's  simplicity,  was  per- 
fectly familiar  with  the  unprincipled  cruelty  of  his  own  Ministers? 
"  Do  you  not  know,"  said  Henry,  "that  icheii  they  have  yov 
once  in  prison,  three  or  four  false  knaves  will  soon  be  jjrocnred  to 
witness  against  you  ?"  Such,  no  doubt,  on  many  a  melancholy 
occasion,  had  been  the  tender  mercies  of  both  King  and  Council. 

Having  tiius  schooled  his  Privy  Council,  by  the  close  of  the 
year  his  Majesty  felt  no  less  disposed  to  lecture  his  Parliament. 
We  have  seen  what  was  the  miserable  state  of  Henry's  finances  ; 
we  have  seen  Parliament  strain  every  nerve,  and  even  exceed  their 
powers,  in  trying  to  improve  them  ;  and  as  there  was  no  subject 
which  made  its  way  so  directly  to  the  royal  heart,  as  that  of  pecu- 
niary supplies,  the  King  professed  to  be  uncommonly  pleased  with 
his  most  compliant  House.  He  had,  indeed,  no  idea  of  blotting 
out  from  his  style,  the  jnonosyllable  '•  France  ;"  but  by  this  time, 
there  is  not  only  no  more  lofty  pretensions  to  that  crown,  but  he 
very  frankly  characterizes  the  adverse  turn  which  the  war  had 
taken — "  not  for  our  pleasure,  but  your  defence  ;  not  for  our  gain, 
but  to  our  great  costP  Still  the  whole  House  had  done  its  utmost, 
and  since  the}^  had  laid  at  his  feet  all  the  Universities,  as  Henry 
had  no  intention  of  levelling  to  the  dust  either  Cambridge  or 
Oxford  ;  after  taking  full  credit  to  himself  for  l)eing  a  "  trusty 
friend,"  a  "  charitable  man,"  a  "  lover  of  the  public  wealth,"  and 
"  one  that  feared  God,"  he  proceeds — 

"  Now,  since  I  find  such  kindness  on  your  part  towards  me,  I 
cannot  choose  but  love  and  favour  you,  affirming  that  no  prince  in 
the  world  more  favoureth  his  subjects  than  I  do  you,  nor  any  sub- 
jects or  commons  more  love  and  obey  their  Sovereign  Lord,  than 
I  perceive  you  do  me,  for  whose  defence  my  treasure  shall  not  be 
hidden,  nor,  if  necessity  require,  shall  my  person  be  unadventured !" 

The  way  being  thus  smoothed,  his  Majesty  proceeds  to  repri- 
mand the  wliole  House,  and  nothing  will  satisfy  him  short  of 
exposing  to  the  public  eye  what  he  thought  of  them  all,  as  a  body. 
If  any  benefit  was  to  accrue  to  posterity,  from  Henry's  own  opinion 
before  quitting  the  stage,  he  now  gives  it ;  and  the  pith  of  his  ad- 
dress must  not  be  withheld. 

He  commences  with  quoting  Scripture,  and  his  text  is  "  Charity 
is  gentle,  charity  is  not  envious,  charity  is  not  proud,  and  so  forth 
in  that  chapter."  But  he  had  seen  mahce  in  his  Privy  Council, 
and  now  saw  it  in  Parliament,  whether  Lords  or  Commons,  Clergy 
or  Laity. 

"  Behold,  then,  what  love  and  charity  there  is  amongst  3^ou — I 
see  and  hear  daily  that  you  of  the  Clergy  preach  one  against 
another,  teach  one  contrary  to  another,  inveigh  one  against  another, 
without  charity  or  discretion — Alas  !  how  can  the  poor  souls  live 
in  concord  when  you  preachers  sow  among  them,  in  your  sermons, 
strife  and  discord?     They  look  for  light,  and  you  bring  them  into 


344  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENgJLiSH    BIBLE. 

darkness.  Amend  these  crimes,  I  exhort  you,  and  set  forth  God's 
Word,  both  by  true  preaching  and  good  example  giving ;  or  else  I, 
rohom  God  hath  appointed  his  Vicar  and  high  minister  here,  will 
see  these  divisions  extinct,  and  these  enormities  corrected,  accord- 
ing to  my  very  duty  ! 

"Yet  you  of  the  temporality  be  not  clean  and  unspotted  of 
malice  and  envy — And  although  you  be  permitted  to  read  Holy 
Scripture,  and  to  have  the  Word  of  God  in  your  mother  tongue, 
you  must  understand  it  is  licensed  )^ou  so  to  do,  only  to  inform  your 
own  consciences,  and  to  instruct  your  children  and  famil}'.  I  am 
very  sorry  to  know  and  hear  how  unreverently  that  most  precious 
jewel,  the  Word  of  God.  is  disputed,  rhymed,  sung,  and  jangled,  in 
every  ale-house  and  tavern,  contrary  to  the  true  meaning  and 
doctrine  of  the  same."' 

Old  John  Foxe  cannot  permit  his  Majesty  to  escape  with  such 
credit  as  he  would  here  arrogate  to  himself.  '•  Charity  and  con- 
cord in  Commonwealth,  be  things  most  necessaiy  ;  but  in  matters 
of  religion,  charity  and  concord  be  not  enougli,  without  verity  and 
true  worship  of  God.  And  wherein  consisteth  all  this  variance, 
but  only  because  God^s  word  hath  not  its  free  course,  but  that 
those  who  set  it  forth  are  condemned,  and  therefore  burned  ?" 
"  How  are  they  permitted  to  hear  God's  word,  when  no  one  is 
permitted  to  read  it  (as  far  as  Parliament  had  enjoined.)  under  the 
degree  of  a  srentleman  ?"  Trutli  and  error  he  regarded  "as  two 
mighty  flints  smiting  together,  whereupon  cometh  out  the  sparkle 
of  this  division,"  and '•  there  is  no  neutrality,  nor  meditation  of 
peace,  nor  exhortation  to  agreement,  that  will  serve  between  these 
two." 

Parliament,  of  course,  durst  not  reply — "  Physician  heal  thyself;" 
but  such  language  from  svch  lips,  has  seldom  if  ever  been  equalled. 
Some  may  conjecture  thatCranmer  must  have  helped  his  Majesty 
to  several  of  his  expressions  ;  but  if  this  was  indeed  Henry's  own 
unaided  production,  as  he  himself  distinctly  intimates,  could  we 
obliterate  from  our  minds  all  the  cruelty  and  wrong,  all  the  reck- 
less and  unprincipled  despotism  of  the  past,  then  might  we  suppose 
that  this  was  merely  the  last  exchange  of  civilities  on  the  part  of  a 
benignant  monarch,  concluding  the  whole  with  his  final  and  faithful 
counsel.  But  as  the  past  cannot  be  forgotten,  and  the  speaker  has 
yet  another  year  to  live,  then  does  the  language  afTord  a  display 
of  the  superlative  deceitfulness  of  the  human  heart,  equal  to  any 
in  English  history.  There  was  evidently  as  much  need  as  ever 
for  the  dying  prayer  of  Tyndale — "Lord  !  open  the  eyes  of  the 
King  of  England ;"  for  this  exhorter  of  other  men  to  "  gentle 
charity,"  was  himself  not  yet  done  with  the  shedding  of  blood ! 
not  yet  done  with  breathing  after  the  blood  of  the  living,  nor  with 
expressing  his  enmity  towards  the  original  translator  of  what  he 
now  had  styled  "  that  most  precious  jewel  the  word  of  God  !"  Such 
bhndness  in  any  man  as  to  himself,  is  deeply  instructive,  and 
forcibly  reminds  one  of  the  language  of  another  King — "His  own 
iniquities  shall  take  the  wicked   himself,  and   he  shall  be  holden 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  345 

with  the  cords  of  his  sins.  He  shall  die  without  instruction,  and 
in  the  greatness  of  his  folly  he  shall  go  astray."  To  all  this,  the 
last  year  of  Henry's  life  will  lend  but  too  ample  illustration. 


SECTION     IX. 

PEACE  WITH  FRANCE  AND  SCOTLAND PERSECUTION  REVIVED ANNE  ASKEW HER 

MARTYRDOM,    ALONG    WITH    THREE    OTHER    INDIVIDUALS — ENMITY    TO    ENGLISH 

BOOKS THE    SUPPLICATION    OF    THE    POOR    COMMONS THE    QUEEN  IN  DANGER 

GARDINER    IN    TROUBLE NORFOLK    AND    HIS  SON,  SURREY,  ARRAIGNED EXECU- 
TION OF  SURREY NORFOLK  DOOMED  TO  DIE,  AND  ONLY    ESCAPES  BY  THE  DEATH 

OF  THE  KING  HIMSELF HENRY  AND  HIS  COURTIERS HENRY,  FRANCIS,  CHARLES. 

Down  to  the  month  of  .Tune,  England  was  embroiled  with 
France  and  Scotland,  until,  worn  out  with  this  double  and  expen- 
sive war  into  which  he  had  plunged  his  country,  Henry  had  be- 
gun to  long  for  peace.  Negotiations  had  commenced,  indeed,  in 
April,  when,  after  "  long  debating,  and  divers  breaches,"  peace  was 
concluded  with  France.  The  Emperor  was  comprehended  by 
both  Princes,  and  Scotland  also  was  included,  if  no  new  occasion 
were  given — the  latter  being  in  fact,  a  hollow  and  crafty  clause 
to  serve  for  the  future ;  but,  to  France,  peace  was  as  welcome  as 
to  England. 

No  sooner  had  the  kingdom  rest  from  wars  with  enemies  abroad, 
than  the  flames  of  persecution  were  kindled  again.  The  mart}^-- 
dom  of  Anne  Askew  is  familiar  to  the  reader,  and  it  need  not  be 
here  repeated.  Her  constancy  in  the  midst  of  torture  was  only 
equalled  by  the  brutalit)^  of  the  Lord  Chancellor,  Wriothesly,  and 
Rich,  one  of  the  Privy  Council,  who  racked  her  with  their  own 
hands  !  She  refused  to  renounce  her  faith  in  the  simple  doctrines 
of  the  Gospel,  and  was  condemned  to  the  flames.  Her  execution 
was  ordered  to  take  place  in  the  darkness  of  night,  instead  of 
being  as  usual  in  the  morning.  To  behold  this  horrid  scene,  and 
to  feast  their  eyes  on  the  agonies  of  a  dying  female  martyr,  there 
sat  upon  a  bench,  apart  and  elevated,  Wriothesly ;  his  Grace  of 
Norfolk  ;  John,  Lord  Russell ;  Bowes,  the  Lord  Mayor,  and  others, 
as  if  they  had  come  to  see  a  pageant.  To  the  spot,  Anne,  her 
bones  being  dislocated,  required  to  be  carried  in  a  chaii',  and  there, 
in  the  gloom  of  night,  she  was  joined  by  three  companions ;  Mr. 
Lascelles,  one  of  the  King's  household,  John  Adams  from  Col- 
chester, and  a  priest  named  Belenian  of  Otterden,  who  were  all 
to  suffer.  Before  the  fire  was  kindled,  it  having  been  whispered 
liiat  gunpowder  was  to  be  employed  in  some  manner,  several  of 
these  cowards  sitting  on  high,  began  to  be  afraid,  lest  the  faggots 
on  fire  should  come  whizzing  about  their  ears ;  but  upon  Lord 
Russell  informing  them  that  the  gunpowder  was  not  deposited 


346  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

under  the  faggots,  but  attached  to  the  bodies  of  the  martyrs,  the 
murderers  sat  still. 

That  wretched  being,  strangely  named  Bishop  Shaxton,  who, 
after  seven  3^ears'  confinement,  had  abjured,  stood  in  a  pulpit  on 
the  scaffold,  fronting  this  young  woman,  to  preach.  In  full  pos- 
session of  her  mental  powers,  Anne  listened,  and  whenever  he 
uttered  any  sentiment  inconsistent  with  the  Scriptures,  she  dis- 
sented. "  There,"  said  she,  "  he  misseth,  and  speaketh  without 
the  book."  Once  finished,  Wriothesly's  last  act  followed,  that  of 
presenting,  and  to  her  first,  the  King's  pardon,  if  she  would  recant. 
"I  came  not  hither,"  said  Anne,  -'to  deny  my  Lord  and  Master." 
Her  fellow-sufferers,  greatly  encouraged  by  her  fortitude  and  firm- 
ness, would  not  look  on  the  instrument  presented  for  their  ac- 
ceptance. Bowes,  the  ignorant  and  brutal  Mayor,  then  called 
out  with  a  loud  voice — '■'■Fiat  Justltia!"  and  the  flames  were 
kindled. 

A  scene  more  disgraceful  to  the  persecutors  of  the  human  mind, 
had  never  before  occurred,  nor  one  in  which  the  power  of  Divine 
Truth  was  more  conspicuous.  A  weak  and  unprotected  female, 
abandoned  to  all  the  fury  of  the  enemy,  stood,  like  a  pillar  of 
brass,  while  men  were  proving  traitors  to  the  cause,  and  falling 
around  her.  On  the  day  before  her  trial,  dome  was  reading  his 
recantation  in  public,  and  White,  tried  on  the  same  day  with  her- 
self, had  also  failed  and  followed  his  example.  As  for  Shaxton. 
so  refuted  by  her,  only  a  few  moments  before  she  went  to  the  im- 
mediate presence  of  God,  he  lived  for  ten  years  longer,  but  proved  a 
miserable  character  ever  after.  Lascelles,  who  suffered  with  her, 
having  before,  that  night,  expressed  some  anxiety  respecting  her 
constancy — "  O  friend,"  she  replied  in  writing,  "  most  dearly  be- 
loved in  God — I  marvel  not  a  little  what  should  move  you  to  judge 
in  me  so  slender  a  faith  as  to  fear  death,  which  is  the  end  of  all 
misery.  In  the  Lord.  I  desire  you  not  to  believe  in  me  such  wick- 
edness." 

Before  the  flames  of  persecution  for  the  Truth's  sake,  were  kin- 
dled for  the  last  time,  under  this  reign,  the  only  thing  now  to  be 
desired  was  the  testimony  of  some  noble  martyr  to  the  all-suffi- 
ciency of  the  Sacred  Volume.  And  here  it  is  from  the  pen  of 
Anne  Askew,  before  she  suffered. 

"Finally,  I  believe  all  those  Scriptures  to  be  true,  which  He 
hath  confirmed  with  his  most  precious  blood.  Yea,  and  as  St. 
Paul  saith,  those  Scriptures  are  sufficient  for  our  learning-  and 
salvation,  that  Christ  hath  left  here  with  us ;  so  that  I  believe 
we  need  no  unwritten  verities  to  rule  his  Church  with. 
Therefore,  look,  what  he  hath  said  unto  me  with  his  own  mouth 
in  his  Holy  Gospel,  that  have  I,  with  God's  grace,  closed  up  in  my 
heart ;  and  my  full  trust  is,  as  David  saith,  that  it  shall  be  a  lan- 
tern to  my  footsteps." 

As  far  as  fire  and  faggot  Avere  employed,  so  ended  that  war  of 
opinion  under  Henry  the  Eighth,  which,  from  the  arrival  of  Tyn- 
dale's  New  Testament  in  England,  had  now  lasted  for  twenty 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  347 

years.  Latimer  was  still  in  prison,  and  remained  there  till  the 
death  of  the  King.  He  was  not  released  till  Sunday  the  20th  of 
February  1547,  or  the  day  on  which  Edward  was  crowned,  when 
a  general  pardon  was  granted  to  all  prisoners,  except  Norfolk, 
Pole,  and  Courtney,  the  eldest  son  of  the  Marquis  of  Exeter,  at 
home;  and  Throgmorton  and  Pate  abroad.  It  was  then  tlial 
Latimer,  released  from  his  honorable  imprisonment  of  more  t)ian 
six  years,  went  to  Lambeth,  to  live  for  some  time  privatel}^,  under 
Cranmer's  roof 

In  the  very  midst  of  all  this  fixed  enmity  to  moral  worth,  there 
was  still  time  found  for  Henry  to  vent  his  final  malice  to  the  dead, 
as  well  as  the  living ;  and  among  them  all,  special  reference  must 
be  made  to  by  far  the  greatest  benefactor  of  his  reign — William 
T3aidale.  It  seems  to  have  been  for  the  express  purpose  of  lend- 
ing additional  terror  to  the  night  in  which  Anne  Askew  and  her 
companions  were  to  illuminate  Smithfield,  by  being  consumed  in 
the  flames,  that  a  proclamation  had  been  devised  and  issued 
against  honks.  Authorized  by  the  King's  name,  it  was  dated  the 
8th  of  July,  just  eight  days  before  the  martyrs  were  burnt. 

"  From  henceforth  no  man,  woman.,  or  person,  of  Avhat  estate, 
condition,  or  degree,  he  or  they  be,  (to  reach  the  highest  ladies  or 
gentlemen  about  the  Court,)  shall,  after  the  last  day  of  August 
next  ensuing,  receive,  have,  take,  or  keep  in  his  or  their  posses- 
sion, the  text  of  the  New  Testament  of  Ti/ndale's  or  CoverdaWs. 
nor  any  other  than  is  permitted  by  the  Act  of  Parliament  made  in 
the  session  of  the  Parliament  liolden  at  Westminster  in  the  thirty- 
fourth  and  thirty-fifth  year  of  his  Majesty's  most  noble  reign.  Nor, 
after  the  said  day,  shall  receive,  have,  take,  or  keep,  in  his  or  their 
possession,  any  manner  of  books  printed  or  written  in  the  English 
tongue,  which  be,  or  shall  be  set  forth  in  the  names  of  Fryth^ 
Tyndale,  Wicliffe,  Joi/e,  Moye,  Basil  (i.  e.  Becon)  Bale,  Barnes, 
Coverdale,  Turner,  Tracy,  or  by  any  of  them  ; — but  shall,  before 
the  last  day  in  August  next  coming,  deliver  the  same  English 
book  or  books  to  his  master,  if  he  be  a  servant,  or  dwell  under  any 
other;  and  the  master  or  ruler  of  the  house,  and  such  others  as 
dwell  at  large,  shall  deliver  all  such  books  to  the  mayor,  baihff,  or 
chief  constable  of  the  town  where  they  dwell,  to  be  by  them  deliv- 
ered over  openly  to  the  sheriff,  bishop's  chancellor,  or  commissary, 
— to  the  intent  that  they  may  cause  them  incontinently  to  be 
openly  burned ;  which  thing  the  King's  Majesty's  pleasure  is, 
that  every  of  them  shall  see  executed  in  most  effectual  sort,  and 
thereof  make  certificate  to  tlie  King's  Majesty's  Most  Honourable 
Council,  before  ihc  first  day  of  October  next  coming." 

"  And  to  the  intent  that  no  man  shall  mistrust  any  danger  of 
such  penal  statutes  as  be  passed  in  this  behalf,  for  the  keeping  of 
the  said  books,  the  King's  Majesty  is  most  graciously  contented, 
by  this  proclamation,  to  pardon  that  offence  to  the  said  time  ap- 
pointed by  this  proclamation,  for  the  delivery  of  the  said  books  ;  and 
coramandeth  that  no  bishop,  chancellor,  commissary,  mayor,  bailiflT, 
sheriflT,  or  constable  shall  be  curious  to  mark  who  brino^eth  forth 


348  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

such  books,  but  only  order  and  burn  them  openly,  as  is  in  this 
proclamation  ordered." 

With  this  proclamation,  or  immediately  after  it,  there  was  pub- 
lished a  long  list  of  the  books  interdicted.  Already  sinking  under 
the  weight  of  mortal  disease,  such  was  the  last  public  manifesta- 
tion of  the  monarch's  malicious  folly.  Not  that  the  proclamation 
could  have  much  effect,  if  indeed  any.  beyond  the  precincts  of  Lon- 
don. The  only  reported  notice  of  books  having  been  consumed 
at  this  period  is  confined  to  that  city,  and  this  was  probably  to 
give  some  eclat  to  the  vain  and  expiring  effort.  A  copy  of  the 
different  publications  having  been  obtained,  "  soon  after  this  pro- 
clamation," says  Collier,  "  the  books  of  the  authors  mentioned 
were  burnt  at  Paul's  Cross,  by  the  order  of  (Bonner)  the  Bishop  of 
London." 

Thus  TIenry,  at  the  very  close  of  life,  and  his  Council,  as  such^ 
were  drawing  afresh  the  line  of  demarcation  between  themselves 
and  all  the  good  that  had  been  effected.  As  much  as  to  say. 
"'  let  no  future  historian  confound  our  names  with  it ;  or  above  all, 
ascribe  to  us  the  commencement  and  progress  of  a  cause  against 
which  we  fought  to  our  dying  day  !"  The  Bible  of  Tyndale  had, 
indeed,  been  sanctioned  ;  "  but  in  this,"  might  his  Majesty  have 
added,  "  I  was  little  else  than  a  passive  instrument — I  was  super- 
intended— I  was.  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  only  a  man  over- 
iuled." 

The  enmity  now  shown  was  not,  however,  suffered  to  pass  with- 
out notice,  and  that  in  a  style  and  manner  confirmatory  of  that 
marked  distinction  which  we  have  seen  to  prevail  throughout. 

The  reader  cannot  have  forgotten  what  a  commotion  was  ex- 
cited in  1.526,  just  at  the  moment  when  the  New  Testament  of 
Tyndale  had  been  introduced  into  England,  by  a  very  small  pub- 
lication, entitled  the  Supjylicatlon  of  Beggars^  which  Sir  Thomas 
More  labored  to  answer.  But  it  is  curious  enough  that,  as  the 
commotion  at  first  was  thus  distinguishd,  so  its  close  was  marked 
by  a  second  supplication,  entitled,  "  The  Supplication  of  the  poor 
Commons  to  the  King."  The  author  of  this  last  has  never  been 
ascertained,  but  both  supplications  were  now  published  in  one  book, 
being  alike  distinguished  for  the  same  boldness  of  style. 

A  single  extract  from  this  production  will  exhibit  the  relation  in 
which  the  King  was  regarded  as  standing  to  the  circulation  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures      TheVriter  says  : 

"  The  remnant  of  the  sturdy  beggars  not  yet  weeded  out — tell 
us,  that  vice,  uncharitableness,  lack  of  mercy,  diversity  of  opin- 
ions, and  other  like  enormities,  have  reigned  ever  since  men  had 
the  Scriptures  in  English.  And  what  is  this  other,  than  to 
cause  men's  consciences  to  abhor  the  same,  as  the  only  cause  and 
original  of  all  this  ?  They  say,  it  sufficeth  a  layman  to  believe, 
as  they  teach  ;  and  not  to  meddle  with  the  interpretation  of 
Scripture.  And  what  meaneth  that,  but  that  they  would  have 
us  as  blind  again,  as  we  were  ?" — "  They  have  procured  a  law, 
that  none  shall  be  so  hardy  as  to  have  the  Scripture  in  his  house, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  349 

unless  he  may  spend  £10  by  the  year,"  (i.  e.  equal  to  £150  now.) 
"  And  what  meaneth  this,  but  that  they  would  famish  the  souls 
of  the  residue,  withholding  their  food  from  them  ? — Hath  God  put 
immortal  souls  in  none  other  but  such  as  be  possessioners  in  this 
world?  Did  not  Christ  send  word  to  John  the  Baptist,  that  the 
poor  received  the  gospel  1  Why  do  these  men  disable  them  from 
reading  the  Scriptures,  that  are  not  endued  with  the  possessions 
of  this  world?  Undoubtedly,  most  gracious  Sovereign,  because 
they  are  the  very  same  that  shut  the  kingdom  of  heaven  before 
men.  They  enter  not  in  themselves  ;  nor  suffer  they  them  to  en- 
ter that  would. 

"  But  some  will  probably  say,  they  were  not  all  sturdy  beggars, 
that  were  in  the  Parliament,  when  this  law  was  established  :  for 
many  of  them,  and  the  most  part,  were  secular  men ;  and  not  of 
such  ability,  that  this  law  would  permit  them  to  have  the  Scrip- 
tures in  their  houses.  Wherefore  this  law  is  indifferent  (impartial) 
and  talceth  not  the  Word  of  God  from  us;  but  we,  with  our  full 
consent,  have  committed  it  to  them,  in  that  said  law  limited. 
Whereunto  we  answer,  that  if  we  have  given  it  over  from  us  to  the 
possessioners  of  this  world,  we  may  be  well  likened  to  the  Gada- 
rites,  (Mark  v.)  which  desired  Christ  to  depart  from  their  country; 
and  the  lurking  birds,  which  cannot  abide  the  brightness  of  the 
sun.  If  we  have  rejected  this  merciful  proffer  of  our  most  merci- 
ful Father,  to  have  the  Scriptures,  the  declaration  of  God's  will, 
ivhen  HE  iised  your  Highness,  as  his  instr?iment  to  publish  and 
set  forth  his  most  livel}'  word — let  us  fall  down  prostrate  with  re- 
pentance of  this  contempt  of  his  merciful  gift :  most  humbly  be- 
seeching him  to  behold  the  dolours  of  our  heart,  and  to  forget  our 
obstinacy  therein — giving  your  Highness  such  desire  of  our  sal- 
vation ;  and  that  you  will  as  favourably  restore  unto  us  the  Script- 
ure in  our  English  tongue,  as  you  did  at  the  first  set  it  abroad. 
Let  not  the  adversary  take  occasion  to  say,  the  Bible  was  of  a 
traitor's  setting  forth,  and  not  of  your  Highness'  own  doing ;  for 
so  they  report  that  Thomas  Crumwell,  late  Earl  of  Essex,  was 
the  chief  doer,  and  not  your  Highness,  but  as  led  by  him. 

"  When  your  Highness  gave  commandment  that  the  Bishops  and 
Clergy  should  see  that  there  were  in  every  parish  o?/e  Bible  at  the 
least,  set  at  liberty  ;  so  that  every  man  might  freely  come  to  it 
and  read  therein — many  of  this  wicked  generation,  as  well  priests 
as  others,  their  faithful  adherents,  would  pluck  it,  either  into  the 
choir,  or  into  some  pew,  where  poor  men  durst  not  presume  to 
come  ;  yea,  there  is  no  small  number  of  churches,  that  hath  no 
Bible  at  all.  And  yet  not  sufficed  with  the  withholding  it  from 
the  poor  of  their  own  parishes,  they  never  rested  till  they  had  a 
commandment  from  your  Highness,  that  no  man,  of  what  de- 
gree soever,  should  read  the  Bible  in  the  time  of  God's  service, 
as  they  call  it.  As  though  the  hearing  of  their  Latin  lies,  and 
conjuring  of  water  and  salt,  were  rather  the  service  of  God,  than 
the  study  of  his  most  holy  Word.  This  was  their  diligence  in  set- 
ting forth  the  Bible.     But  when  your  Highness  had  devised  a  proc- 


350  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

lamation  for  the  burning  of  certain  translations  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, they  were  so  bold  as  to  burn  the  whole  Bible,  because  they 
were  of  those  men's,  Tyndale's  or  Coverdale's  translation;  and  not 
the  New  Testament  only. 

•'  We  heard  say  that  they  proffered  your  Highness,  that  if  you 
would  please  to  call  in  the  Bible  again,  forasmuch  as  it  was  not 
faithfully  translated  in  all  parts,  ihei/  uwiild  oversee  it,  and  within 
seven  years  set  it  forth  again  !  Your  Bishops,  most  victorious 
Prince,  if  they  might  have  gotten  in  the  Bible  for  seven  years, 
would  have  trusted,  tliat,  by  that  time,  either  your  Highness  should 
have  been  dead,  or  the  Bible  forgotten  :  or  they  themselves  out  of 
your  Highness'  reach  ;  so  that  you  should  not  have  like  power 
over  them,  as  you  have  now. 

"  When  your  Majesty  appointed  two  of  them,  Tunstal  and 
Heath,  to  overlook  the  translation  of  the  Bible,  they  said  they 
had  done  your  His'hness'  commandment  therein;  yea,  they  set 
their  names  thereunto :  but  when  they  saw  the  world  somewhat 
like  to  wring  on  the  other  side,  they  denied  it ;  and  said,  they 
never  meddled  therewith.  Causing  the  printer  to  take  out  their 
names,  which  were  erst  set  before  the  Bible,  to  certify  to  all  men 
that  they  had  diligently  perused  it,  according  as  your  Highness  had 
commanded  !  !" 

The  outrageous  advisers  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  taking  every  ad- 
vantage of  his  failing  strength,  having  run  riot  with  the  body  and 
blood  of  his  subjects,  were  now  hastening  to  that  righteous  retri- 
bution, which,  even  in  this  life,  so  often  falls  on  the  head  of  the 
wicked.  Too  long  had  they  walked  after  the  lusts  and  devices 
of  their  own  hearts.  Neither  Wriothesly  nor  Gardiner,  nor  their 
ducal  leader,  his  Grace  of  Norfolk,  must  be  permitted  to  escape. 
The  long-suffering  of  God  was  now  very  nearly  exhausted.  These 
men  had  walked  in  pride,  and  they  must  be  abased.  As  the  ene- 
mies of  light  and  of  all  moral  excellence,  but  especially  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular  tons^ue,  and  of  all  who 
prized  them,  having  now  vented  their  malice,  it  was  time  that 
there  should  be  some  reaction  ;  and  what  must  have  rendered  it 
peculiarly  galling,  was  the  quarter  from  whence  that  reaction 
came.  Instead  of  committing  other  people  to  the  flames,  they 
must  now  look  after  their  own  personal  safety  ;  and,  instead  of 
hunting  after  books  to  burn  them,  the  question  will  be,  what  is  to 
bo  the  term  of  their  own  official,  or  even  actual  existence. 

Perhaps  the  last  occasion  on  which  the  King  appeared  in  gor- 
geous array  was  on  the  24th  of  August,  whence  met  the  French 
ambassador,  d'Annebaut,  and  the  recent  treaty  of  peace  was  rati- 
fied ;  as  from  that  period  he  gradually  sunk  into  a  state  of  com- 
plicated misery.  For  some  time,  however,  this  was  a  subject  of 
such  delicacy  that  no  man  near  the  throne  dared  to  commit  him- 
self in  writing  ;  so  that  the  first  recorded  hint  of  failing  health  is 
from  the  pen  of  a  foreigner,  in  writing  to  Paget,  as  late  as  the  17tli 
of  September.  The  most  partial  historians  have  allowed  that 
Henry  had   been   distinguished   for    sensuality,  and   that,  as    a 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  351 

natural  consequence,  he  became  a  mass  of  disease,  so  unwieldy  as 
to  be  removed  from  room  to  room  only  by  the  aid  of  machiery. 
His  temper,  always  headstrong,  now  displayed  itself  by  sudden 
paroxysms  of  resentment  or  fury.  From  the  state  of  his  body,  to 
approach  and  wait  upon  him  soon  became  a  loathsome  task,  to 
which,  however,  the  (iueen  herself  submitted,  and  with  most  com- 
mendable perseverance.  Katharine's  influence,  in  these  circum- 
stances, was  considerable.  She  used  to  converse  freely  with  the 
dying  man,  and  had  ventured  occasionally  to  express  her  own 
opinion  in  distinction  from  his.  One  day,  however,  having,  as  his 
Majesty  thought,  gone  too  far,  he  became  irritated  ;  and  Gardiner, 
coming  in  the  way  afterwards,  of  coarse  chimed  in  witli  the  King's 
humor ;  nay,  at  last,  even  pressed  the  propriety  of  some  investigation 
into  the  opinions  of  her  Majesty.  The  fractious  patient,  unmind- 
ful of  his  obligations  to  his  assiduous  nurse,  who  had  not  unfre- 
quently  soothed  his  anguish,  actually  complied ;  and  Wriothesly, 
as  well  as  Gardiner,  were  busy  once  more  in  their  favorite  sphere 
of  action.  But  the  tide  w^as  now  in  the  very  act  of  turning  against 
them,  so  that,  so  far  from  succeeding,  their  ready  acquiescence  in 
their  master's  frenzy  only  proved  the  precursor  of  another  storm 
against  themselves.  Most  unaccountably,  the  paper  on  which  at 
least  tlie  imprisonment  of  the  Ctueen  hung,  had  dropped  from  the 
pocket  of  Wriothesly^  and  havuig  been  conveyed  to  Katharine  by 
one  of  her  friends,  she  was  overwhelmed  ;  and  well  she  might,  as 
his  Majesty's  signature  is  said  to  have  been  aflSxed  !  The  King, 
we  are  told,  heard  her  cries ;  and,  being  carried  to  her  apartment, 
by  her  manner  of  reply  he  was  so  soothed,  that  all  danger  was 
now  past.  Next  day,  however,  the  Lord  Chancellor  must  keep 
his  appointment,  and,  with  forty  guards,  had  arrived  to  convey 
Katharine  to  the  Tower.  The  tempest,  averted  from  its  former 
object,  had  changed  in  its  current  the  night  before,  and  now  burst 
in  fury  on  the  head  of  Wriothesly.  All  that  the  King  said  was 
not  audible  ;  but  the  following  terms  in  reply — "  Arrant  knave  ! 
beast  and  fool !"  uttered  with  a  louder  voice,  were  heard  distinctly, 
and  even  by  the  Queen.  Henry  then  commanded  him  out  of  liis 
sight. 

Gardiner  came  next  in  order.  After  Monday  night  the  11th 
of  October,  when  he  wrote  his  letter,  his  name  is  never  once  men- 
tioned till  the  beginning  of  December.  For  some  time  he  had 
sunk  so  low  that  he  durst  not  approach  the  royal  presence ;  but 
on  Thursday  the  2nd  of  that  month,  he  presumed  so  far  as  to  ad- 
dress one  last  letter  to  his  royal  master,  with  another  to  Paget, 
begging  him  to  deliver  it.  The  former  is  distinguished  for  its 
cringing  and  hypocritical  style ;  and  so  eager  was  he  with  Paget 
about  his  restoration  to  favor,  as  to  whine  to  him  in  servile  Latin. 
But  the  attempt  was  vain  ;  at  least  there  is  no  reply  in  existence, 
even  from  the  Secretary.  By  the  end  of  the  montli  his  name  was 
known  to  have  been  excluded  from  the  number  of  his  Majesty's 
executors  ;  a  step  on  which,  it  has  been  said,  Henry  had  resolved 
before  going  to  France  in  1-544.     But,  be  this  as  it  may,  the  ex- 


352  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

elusion  now  was  a  loss,  at  once  of  honor  and  emolument.  Sir 
Anthony  Browne  after  this  had  ventured  to  mention  Gardiner's 
name  to  the  King,  when  his  M.ajesty  replied,  that  if  he  repeated 
it  again,  his  own  name  would  also  be  excluded. 

This  man  never  recovered  Henry's  favor,  and  during  the  reign 
of  Edward,  of  course,  he  bore  no  sway.  On  the  contrary,  he  was 
deprived  of  his  See  on  the  14th  of  February  1.5-51,  as  well  as  con- 
fined to  the  Tower.  Whatever  of  severity  there  might  be  in  this, 
the  measure  seems  to  have  been  adopted  from  fear  of  the  public 
tranquillity  ;  and  it  formed  a  degree  of  retribution  by  no  means 
corresponding  to  the  fearful  and  bloody  years  of  his  domination. 
Immediately  upon  the  accession  of  dueen  Mary,  he  was  not  only 
restored  to  all  that  he  had  lost,  but  became  Lord  Chancellor  of 
England,  when  he  will  cross  our  path  for  the  last  time. 

The  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  his  son  the  Earl  of  Surrey,  were  ar- 
rested on  the  12th  of  December,  "  upon  certain  surmises  of  trea- 
son," and  conveyed  to  the  Tower,  the  one  by  water,  the  other  by 
land,  and  neither  aware  of  the  apprehension  of  the  other. 

With  the  character  of  the  Duke,  the  first  peer  of  the  realm,  and 
now  about  seventy-three  years  of  age,  the  reader  is  already  but 
too  familiarly  acquainted.  He  has  seen  him  personally  engaged, 
or  presiding,  on  the  most  cruel  and  melancholy  occasions  of  past 
years  ;  from  the  death  of  Anne  Boleyn  on  the  scaffold,  down  to 
that  of  Anne  Askew  in  the  gloom  of  night,  at  the  stake.  He  had 
sanctioned  also  the  deaths  of  Fisher,  and  More,  and  Crumwell ; 
and  now  his  own  day  of  degradation  and  terror  has  come.  A 
material  distinction,  indeed,  is  to  be  drawn  between  the  father  and 
the  son,  although  that  son,  it  cannot  be  forgotten,  then  a  youth  of 
twenty,  if  not  still  younger,  presided  with  his  father,  at  the  de- 
cided commencement  of  Henry's  worst  career  of  cruelty  and  legal- 
ized murder  ;  of  which  he  himself  was  now  about  to  become  the 
very  last  victim.  Both  sat  by,  and  the  father  not  tamely,  at  the 
mock  trial  of  Anne  Boleyn,  the  niece  of  the  one,  and  cousin  of 
the  other. 

Now  in  turning  our  eye  to  this  family,  notwithstanding  all  its 
pride  of  ancestry,  we  see  a  picture  of  human  nature,  such  as  no 
family  in  humble  life  perhaps  ever  exhibited  ;  and  it  is  only  in 
consequence  of  the  conspicuous  figure  made  by  this  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk all  along,  that  we  are  placed  under  the  necessity  of  looking 
into  it.  For  these  twenty  years  we  have  seen  a  party  standing 
out  in  determined  hostility  to  the  Word  of  God  in  the  vernacular 
tongue  ;  and  this  man,  from  year  to  year,  has  been  the  ducal 
head  of  it. 

This  was  the  man,  who,  in  his  public  and  official  character, 
had  engaged  with  such  ardor  in  the  war  of  opinion.  The  man 
who,  to  gain  his  own  ends,  and,  if  possible,  beguile  Crumwell, 
could  so  basely  play  the  hypocrite  in  1539  ;  and  who  yet  now, 
when  under  the  fear  of  death,  and  referring  to  Crumwell  and  him- 
self in  comparison,  could  say  to  the  Privy  Council, — "  he  was  a 
false  man,  and  surely  I  am  a  tnie  poor  gentleman,"     Above  all, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  353 

this  is  the  same  individual  who,  for  twenty  years,  had  been  so 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  English  Bible,  as  well  as  to  its  being 
read  by  the  people,  and  who  persecuted  all  who  prized  its  con- 
tents ;  but  it  is  no  mystery  now,  why  he  pursued  such  a  course. 
No  wonder  now,  that  he  carried  about  with  him  certain  personal 
objections  to  the  sacred  volume.  It  was  the  Earl  of  Rochester,  at 
a  far  later  period,  and  after  he  came  to  a  sense  of  his  own  de- 
pravity, of  whom  it  has  been  testified  that,  laying  his  hand  on  the 
Bible,  he  would  say — "  There  is  true  philosophy.  This  is  the 
wisdom  that  speaks  to  the  heart.  A  bad  life  is  the  only  objection 
to  this  book.''' 

The  Earl  was  brought  to  trial,  and,  other  charges  having  failed 
of  proof,  it  was  alleged  that  he  had  assumed  the  armorial  bearing 
of  Edward  the  Confessor,  which,  they  said,  (falsely,)  had  been 
hitherto  exclusively  used  by  his  Majesty  and  his  predecessors. 
The  fact  was  admitted,  and  the  authority  of  the  heralds  adduced, 
but  plead  in  vain  ;  and  as  the  legal  ground  was  the  sweeping  sec- 
tion of  more  than  one  statute,  which  made  it  high  treason  "  to  do 
anything  by  word,  writing,  or  deed,  to  the  scandal  or  peril  of  the 
established  succession  to  the  crown,"  the  Earl  was  convicted  by  a 
jury  of  twelve  notable  men  of  Norfolk,  eight  knights  and  four 
squires,  one  of  whom,  by  the  way,  was  named  Boleyn.  Surrey 
defended  himself  with  great  boldness  and  ability :  but  Avhat  could 
any  defence,  however  able,  now  avail.  It  was  on  Friday  the  21st 
of  January  that  this  young  man  was  put  to  death,  and  by  the 
authority  of  a  monarch  now  himself  "lying  in  the  agonies  of 
death." 

As  for  the  Duke  himself,  what  with  the  gradual  progress  of  that 
"  learning,"  which  he  hated,  and  contempt  for  the  new  nobility, 
as  well  as  family  dissension,  the  spirit  of  the  old  man  was  greatly 
broken  down.  Still  his  desire  for  life  was  extreme,  and  he  plead 
for  it,  in  language  as  abject  as  that  of  Wolsey  or  Crumwell  who 
had  preceded  him.  Men  who  have  sported  with  the  lives  of  their 
fellow-creatures,  have  often  displayed  great  cowardice  as  to  their 
own.  So  it  happened  with  Wolsey,  Crumwell,  and  the  Duke  of 
Norfolk  in  succession. 

Throughout  life,  Henry  had  been  always  very  punctilious  re- 
specting forms  of  his  own  devising  ;  and  Norfolk,  a  peer,  could 
not  be  despatched  after  the  same  fashion  with  his  son.  Parha- 
ment  had  met  for  one  day  on  the  4tli  of  November,  and  before  the 
close  of  that  month,  the  various  parts  of  this  bloody  tragedy  were 
nearly  cast.  At  all  events,  the  House  had  been  prorogued,  and 
was  now  to  meet,  very  opportunely,  on  the  14th  of  January  ;  or 
the  day  after  Wriothesly  had  pronounced  sentence  on  Surrey. 
On  the  following  Tuesday,  the  18th,  a  bill  of  attainder  against 
the  Duke  was  brought  in,  and,  next  day,  it  was  read  a  second 
time.  It  was  on  this  day,  or  within  two  days  after,  that  the  fallen 
Minister  was  writing  his  letter  to  the  King ;  a  most  earnestly  im- 
ploring one  for  mercy.  This  had  been  preceded  by  one  to  the 
Privv  Council,  begging  for  alleviations  in  his  imprisonment,  and 

23 


354  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

presenting  four  separate  confessions  with  an  eye  to  mercy.  As 
another  precaution  against  his  vast  possessions  being  scattered 
among  his  rivals,  he  conveyed  them  entire  to  Prince  Edward, 
and  this  perhaps  with  a  view  to  inohfy  the  King.  But  all  was  in 
vain  ;  it  was  blood  tliat  was  wanted,  and  that  once  shed,  every 
shilling  must  come  to  the  Crown.  On  the  20th,  the  bill  passed 
the  Lords.  The  Commons  were  no  less  expeditious:  a  Sabbath 
interrupted  them,  but  on  Monday  the  24th,  they  returned  the  bill 
to  the  Upper  House.  Thus  the  very  man  who  had  made  himself 
so  busy  in  hurrying  through  Parliament  the  proceedings  against 
Cnimioell,  was  served  Ijy  the  House,  as  he  had  served  otliers. 
Not  a  moment  was  now  to  be  lost ;  but  the  custom  hitherto  had 
been  to  reserve  all  such  bills  to  the  close  of  the  session,  and  so  it 
had  been  done  Avith  the  Lord  Privy  Seal.  Yet  if  the  King  is  to 
have  his  last  dying  wishes,  and  if  the  Seymours  are  to  gain  their 
end,  wonted  forms  must  be  disregarded.  Accordingly  so  they 
were.  The  royal  assent  was  given  on  Thursday  the  27th  ;  Nor- 
folk was  ordered  for  execution  next  morning,  and  left  to  count  the 
hours  till  break  of  day.  Such  was  the  last  act  of  power  on  the 
part  of  Henry  the  Eighth  ! 

But  "there  is  no  man,"  subject  or  sovereign,  "that  hath  power 
over  the  spirit,^  to  retain  the  spirit ;  neither  hath  he  power  in  the 
day  of  death,  and  there  is  no  discharge  in  that  war."  By  that 
God,  who  had  borne  with  him  so  long,  Henry's  own  hour  of  call 
was  already  fixed,  and  "about  two  of  the  clock  in  the  morning  of 
Friday,"  the  28th  of  January  1547,  he  had  been  summoned  to  a 
higher  tribunal,  there  to  answer  for  his  long  and  weighty  cata- 
logue of  cruelty  and  crime. 

To  die,  as  it  were,  in  the  very  act  of  embruing  his  hands  in 
blood,  was  the  close  of  the  King's  existence  on  earth  ;  while  no 
subject  had  been  so  unwelcome  to  himself,  as  that  of  his  own  dis- 
solution. No  man  dared  even  to  hint  such  a  prospect,  till  within 
a  few  hours  of  his  ceasing  to  breathe.  Even  then,  some  degree 
of  courage  was  required,  and  it  was  Sir  Anthony  Denny  who  told 
the  dying  man,  in  so  many  words,  "  that  the  hope  of  human  help 
was  vain.''^  These  were  terms  which  betrayed  an  eager  clinging 
to  life  still.  Henry,  "visibly  disquieted,"  had  to  be  informed  that 
the  intimation  was  founded  upon  the  judgment  of  the  physicians. 
He  was  then  asked  whether  he  wished  to  confer  with  any  one. 
"With  no  other,"  said  he,  "but  the  Archbishop  Cranmer,  and  not 
Avith  him  as  yet ;  I  will  first  repose  myself  a  little,  and  as  I  then 
find  myself,  Avill  determine  accordingly."  Determine,  liowever, 
he  did  not  for  nearly  two  hours,  when  it  was  of  little  or  no  mo- 
ment who  should  come.  Cranmer  was  sent  for  in  all  haste,  but 
he  arrived  only  in  time  to  receive  one  fixed  look,  when  Henry 
grasped  his  hand  and  expired  !  He  was  in  the  fifty-sixtli  year  of 
his  age,  and  within  three  months  of  completing  the  thirty-eighth 
of  his  reign. 

Thus  narrowly,  or  by  a  space  of  about  six  hours,  did  the  Duke 
of  Norfolk  escape  with  his  life,  though  he  must  no  more  preside 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  355 

at  the  public  and  disgraceful  execution  of  his  fellow-men.  On 
the  contrary,  he,  as  well  as  Gardiner  afterwards,  must  remain  in 
durance  for  years. 

To  the  close  of  this  monarch's  existence,  we  have  toiled  through 
the  record  of  human  depravity,  certainly  not  on  its  own  account; 
but  because  of  the  moral  lesson  it  affords,  as  well  as  its  bearing 
on  the  main  object  of  these  pages.  If  it  be  one  of  those  laws  by 
which  God  appears  to  gov'ern  the  world,  that  '^tneji  engaged  m 
an  evil  cause,  liowever  Jiarmonions  they  may  he  in  the  outset^ 
shall,  sooner  or  later,  he  at  variance  f^  here  we  have  an  illustra- 
tion of  that  law,  well  worthy  of  remembrance.  Gardiner  and 
Tunstal,  Norfolk  and  Wriothesly  had  been  the  leading  and  uni- 
form opponents  of  the  progress  of  Divine  truth  among  the  people, 
and  often  had  they  played  into  each  others  hands  ;  while  the 
King,  to  say  nothing  of  his  habitual  depravity,  having  but  one 
fixed  principle,  or  the  love  of  power,  had  died  as  he  had  lived. 
Before  that  event,  however,  he  scowls  on  these  men,  by  whose 
advice  he  had  been  so  often  swayed.  They  were,  to  a  man,  his 
oldest  counsellors,  the  ablest  men  around  him.  and  the  very  pith 
of  "  the  old  learning"  party.  These  recent  events,  therefore,  can- 
not loosely,  or  with  propriety,  be  consigned  to  the  gulf  of  human 
passion  alone,  and  there  left.  This  was  the  breaking  up  of  an 
old  confederacy,  by  its  own  leader,  or,  at  least,  the  man  on  whom 
it  depended,  and  then  he  himself  died.  It  was  Providence,  by 
degradation,  and  imprisonment,  and  death,  "putting  down  the 
mighty  from  their  seats,  scattering  the  proud  in  the  imagination 
of  their  hearts,"  and  preparing  the  way  for  a  very  different  scene 
in  the  reign  of  Edward,  especially  so  far  as  the  printing  andyree 
perusal  of  the  Sacred  Volume  was  concerned. 

Upon  the  intelligence  of  Henry's  death  being  communicated  to 
his  alternate  ally  and  enemy,  the  King  of  France,  he  became  more 
pensive  ;  and  being  already  in  bad  health,  he  drooped  and  died, 
at  Rambouillet,  in  two  months  after,  or  the  21st  of  March.  The 
aged  Pontiff,  who  had  so  thundered  against  the  King  of  England, 
lived  only  two  summers  longer ;  and  thus  Charles  was  left  sole 
survivor  on  the  field  in  which  they  had  all  fought  so  long. 

In  these  circumstances,  and  so  far  as  these  men  were  concerned, 
it  is  certainly  not  a  little  singular,  that  the  tumultuous  scene  may 
be  said  to  have  closed  with  an  act  which  astonished  all  Europe  at 
the  moment.  It  was  the  abdication  of  his  throne,  by  the  Emperor, 
three  years  before  his  death ;  and  it  deserves  notice  here,  on  ac- 
count of  one  of  its  consequences.  Of  these  Sovereigns,  he  was  the 
only  one  who  is  reported  to  have  at  last  seen  the  folly  and  futility 
of  all  such  dictatorial  interference  by  civil  rulers  with  the  human 
mind,  as  they  had  all  practised.  The  Emperor  "  was  particularly 
curious  with  regard  to  the  construction  of  clocks  and  watches  ;  and 
having  found,  after  repeated  trials,  that  he  could  not  bring  any 
two  of  them  to  go  exactly  alike,  he  reflected,  it  is  said,  with  a 
mixture  of  surprise,  as  well  as  regret,  on  his  own  folly,  in  having 
bestowed  so  much  time  and  labor  on  the  more  vain  attempt  of 


356  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

bringing  mankind  to  a  precise  uniformity  of  sentiment  concerning 
the  profound  and  mysterious  doctrines  of  religion." 

Thus  terminated  by  far  the  most  important  period  through 
which  Old  England  had  ever  passed.  Important,  as  far  as  Divine 
and  eternal  truth,  introduced  to  the  people,  in  their  own  tongue, 
through  the  medium  of  the  press,  was  superior  to  all  the  passing 
events  of  the  day.  That  period  has  proved,  it  is  true,  one  con- 
tinued ferment,  one  incessant  turmoil  of  human  passion  and  de- 
pravity. But  whatever  of  Christianity  has  prevailed  in  England, 
from  that  time  to  the  present,  its  origin  is  to  be  found  here,  per- 
fectly distinct  from  all  the  councils  and  edicts,  or  the  proclama- 
tions, whether  for  or  against,  of  Henry  the  Eighth.  These,  after 
more  than  ten  years  of  positive  hostility  had  passed  away,  when 
they  once  or  twice  happened  to  be  in  favor  of  the  vernacular 
Scriptures — ^these  tokens  of  defeat,  after  the  tug  of  war  had  slack- 
ened, and  after  Henry,  and  all  around  him,  had  been  obliged  to 
give  way,  had  some  influence.  But  even  these,  if  we  are  to  be- 
lieve the  King,  instead  of  all  that  party  writers  have  chosen  to 
affirm,  were  confessed  by  himself,  as  we  have  heard,  and  towards 
the  end  of  his  days,  to  have  been  comparatively  impotent.  A 
month  or  two  was  the  measure  of  their  power,  while  still  the  cause 
went  on,  under  the  hand  of  that  God  who  had  been  with  it  from 
the  beginning,  and  is  with  it  still. 

With  reference,  therefore,  to  the  history  of  the  English  Bible,  as 
far  as  we  have  come,  and  after  such  a  detail  as  the  past,  with  all 
its  imperfections,  what,  for  example,  can  any  reader  think  when 
he  finds  one  writer,  in  summing  up  the  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth, 
express  himself  in  such  terms  as  the  following?  ^'- His  largest 
claim  to  our  gratitude  is,  that  he  at  last  permitted  the  great  foun- 
tain of  religious  truth  and  of  intellectual  piety  to  be  opened  to  the 
people,  by  sanctioning  the  translation  and  circulation  of  the  Script- 
ures in  the  national  language;  thus  making  /ree  to  everyone 
what  millions  have  blessed  him  for  !"  This  1s  even  exceeded  by 
another  modern  historian.  "  He  resolutely  maintained  to  the  end 
of  his  life  the  exclusive  right  of  God's  undoubted  Word  to  be  the 
religious  instructor  of  the  rational  creation.  The  assertion  of 
this  fundamental  principle  is  the  brightest  distinction  of  Henry^s 
reign ! !" 

All  this,  and  much  more  to  the  same  effect,  has  been  actually 
reported  of  a  man  who,  above  ten  years  after  the  Scriptures  of  the 
New  Testament  had  been  introduced  into  this  kingdom,  in  spite 
of  all  his  power,  and  the  hostility  of  his  associates — a  man  who, 
after  he  had  been  signally  overruled  to  sanction  the  very  transla- 
tion he  had  condemned,  to  say  nothing  of  his  share  in  the  guilt  of 
leaving  the  translator  to  the  flames,  did  indeed  at  last  inform  his 
subjects  that  "it  had  pleased  him  to  permit  and  command  the 
Bible,  being  translated  into  their  mother  tongue,  to  be  openly  laid 
forth  in  every  parish  Qhurch."  But  then  this  is  the  same  man 
who,  in  less  than  six  years  after,  enjoined  that  "  7io  women  but 
noble  women,  wo  artificers,  apprentices,  journeymen,  servingmen, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  357 

husbandmen,  nor  labourers,  were  to  read  the  Bible  or  New  Testa- 
ment in  English,  to  themselves  or  to  any  other,  privately  or  openly  !" 
And  who,  in  three  years  after  this,  told  all  England,  "  it  ought  to 
be  deemed  certain  that  the  reading  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment is  not  necessary  for  all  those  folks  that  of  duty  ought  to  be 
bound  to  read  it,  but  as  the  Prince  and  the  policy  of  the  realm 
shall  think  convenient  to  he  tolerated  or  taken  from  it  !  Con- 
sonant whereto,  the  politic  law  of  our  realm  hath  now  restrained 
it  from  a  great  many  /"  This  daring  profanity  was  crowned  by 
Henry's  last  public  act,  within  six  months  of  his  dissolution — -his 
endeavor,  by  proclamation,  to  consign  to  the  flames  above  thirty 
editions  of  the  New  Testament  lay  Tyndale — denouncing  the 
translation  as  "  crafty,  false,  and  untrue,"  though  it  was  the  very 
same  with  that  which  was  included  in  the  Bible  he  had  sanctioned 
in  1537 ! 


BOOK  III.-ENGLAND. 

FROM  EDWARD  THE  SIXTH  TO  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


SECTION    I. 

REIGN     OF     EDWARD. 


A  REIGN,  HOWEVER  BRIEF,  DISTINGUISHED  AS  HAVING  NO  PARALLEL  IN  BRITISH 
HISTORY,  WITH  REGARD  TO  THE  PRINTING  AND  PUBLICATION  OF  THE  SACRED 
SCRIPTURES    IN    THE    LANGUAGE    OF    THE    PEOPLE. 

The  reign  of  Henry  the  Eighth,  whatever  had  been  his  per- 
sonal character,  was,  in  many  respects,  not  only  initial  but  ger- 
viinant.  Every  day  since,  has  so  testified  ;  and  the  broad  surface 
of  the  kingdom  still  bears  witness  to  the  weight  and  pressure  of 
his  sceptre.  He  left  behind  him  certain  marks,  which  are  still 
acknowledged  as  memorials  of  his  power. 

Henry  VHI.  being  interred  at  Windsor  on  Wednesday  16th  of 
February,  four  days  after,  or  upon  Sunday  the  20th,  his  son,  then 
only  in  his  tenth  year,  was  crowned.  An  incident  occurred,  in- 
dicative of  the  change  which  had  taken  place,  so  far  as  the  crown 
was  concerned.  Upon  that  day,  when  three  swords  were  brought 
before  Edward,  as  tokens  of  his  being  king  of  three  kingdoms,  he 
said  there  was  one  yet  wanting.  The  noblemen  around  him,  not 
exactly  catching  his  meaning,  inquired  which  that  was?  He 
answered — the  Bible.  "  That  book,"  said  the  young  Prince,  "  is 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  to  be  preferred  before  these  swords. 
That  ought,  in  all  right,  to  govern  us,  who  use  them  for  the  peo- 
ple's safety,  by  God's  appointment.  Without  that  sword,  we  are 
nothing,  we  can  do  nothing,  we  have  no  power  :  from  that  we 
are,  what  we  are,  this  day :  from  that  alone  we  obtain  all  power 
and  virtue,  grace  and  salvation,  and  whatsoever  we  have  of  Di- 
vine strength."  After  some  other  similar  expressions,  Edward 
commanded  the  Sacred  Volume  to  be  brought  with  reverence,  and 
so  carried  before  him. 

The  last  act  of  the  father  was  to  brand  the  name  and  memory 
of  Tyndale  :  in  the  first  Parliament  held  by  his  son,  that  act  was 
repealed,  and  declared  to  be  "  utterly  void  and  of  none  eflfect ;" 
nay,  the  portrait  of  Edward  will  soon  be  seen  and  sold,  in  imme- 
diate conjunction  with  the  name  and  translation  of  Tyndale. 
Twenty-one  years  after  the  New  Testament  of  Tyndale  had 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  359 

been  sent  into  England,  an  opportunity  had  at  last  presented 
itself,  for  the  people  as  such  to  speak  out,  and  say  what  they 
wanted.  The  printers  were  ready  to  print,  and  the  stationers,  as 
they  were  called,  to  sell;  hut,  of  course,  the i/  would  not  press 
any  one  translation  except  that  which  they  knew  beforehand  was 
most  likely  to  remunerate  them.  As  all  the  editions  were  indi- 
vidual undertakings  by  men  engaged  in  business,  they,  it  must  be 
evident,  w^ould  print  chiefly  that  book  which  was  most  frequently 
and  eagerly  sought  after. 

That  zeal  for  the  art  of  printing  which  burst  forth  instanta- 
neously after  Henry's  death,  will  prepare  us  for  the  numerous  edi- 
tions of  the  Scriptures  which  immediately  followed.  This  noble 
art  had  been  introduced  into  England  under  Edward  IV.,  when 
there  were  three  or  four  printers  ;  under  Henry  VH.  there  were 
live  ;  and  four  of  these  survived  to  print  under  his  son  :  but  during 
his  long  reign  of  nearly  thirty-eight  years,  not  fewer  than  forty- 
one  printers  had  commenced  business  in  London,  or  forty-five  in 
all.  Now,  the  first  importation  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament 
into  England  had  taken  place,  not  till  more  than  eighty  years 
after  the  invention  of  printing,  and  about  fifty-eight  after  the  art 
had  been  introduced  into  the  country  ;  but  it  is  worthy  of  notice, 
that  from  that  period,  of  these  forty-five  printers  not  fewer  than 
thirty-three  had  started  in  business,  and  that  eight  of  them  were 
ultimately  connected  with  printing  the  Sacred  Volume. 

Let  us  then  now  observe  what  ensued,  as  soon  as  Henry  had 
"  ceased  from  troubling,"  and  Gardiner,  Bonner,  and  Tunstal, 
were  bereft  of  the  power.  Of  the  forty-five  printers  under  Henry, 
fourteen  survived  when  Edward  came  to  the  throne.  While  his 
father,  the  subject  of  loathsome  disease,  was  sinking  into  the 
grave,  and  in  less  than  tAvelve  months  after  his  death,  as  many 
as  eight  new  men  had  started  in  business  as  printers.  Next  year, 
however,  there  were  not  fewer  than  eleven  more,  and  in  the  next 
two,  eighteen,  besides  six  others  ih  1551  and  1552,  or  forty-three 
in  all ;  raising  the  number  of  printers  under  this  youthful  mon- 
arch to  not  fewer  than  fifty-seven,  in  the  brief  space  of  six  years  ! 
Now  if  it  be  inquired,  what  connection  had  all  this  with  the  dif- 
fusion of  the  Divine  Record  ?  it  was  no  less  than  this — that  out 
of  these  fifty-seven  printers,  7norc  than  the  half,  or  not  fewer  than 
thirty-one^  and  these  the  most  respectable^  were  engaged  either  in 
■printing  or  publishing  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

But  the  editions  of  the  Scriptures  themselves  will  now  furnish 
us  with  another  view  of  this  memorable  period.  For  Bibles  in 
folio,  there  may  have  been  not  so  much  need  as  yet,  considering 
the  number  which  had  been  printed  in  1540  and  1541 ;  for  al- 
though Henry  had  licensed  Anthony  Marler  to  print  forfiv^e  years 
longer,  he  was  then  over-stocked,  and  the  sale  must  have  flagged, 
as  the  wayward  monarch  only  frowned  on  the  undertaking  ever 
after.  New  Testaments,  however,  were  in  great  request,  and  the 
people  will  now  discover  which  translation  they  preferred. 

Looking  at  the  entire  period  of  six  years  and  a  half,  there  ap- 


360  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

pear  to  have  been  about  fifty  distinct  publications,  whether  of  the 
Sacred  Vokune  entire,  or  the  New  Testament  separately  ;  that  is, 
fifteen  of  the  former,  and  thirty-five  of  the  latter  ;  though  it  is  not 
improbable  that  one  or  two  more  may  yet  be  discovered. 

Of  Coverdale's  version  there  was  one  edition,  though  in  two 
issues,  first  in  1550  by  Andro  Hester,  and  in  1553  by  R.  Jugge. 
Of  Taverner's  version  there  was  one,  in  five  volumes,  in  1549,  and 
another,  though  this  has  been  questioned,  in  1551.  Of  Cranmer's 
Bible  there  seem  to  have  been  seven  editions.  Of  Matthew's  there 
were  at  least  five ;  but  then  one  of  these,  about  to  be  mentioned, 
was  so  large  an  impression  that  it  has  been  mistaken  frequently 
for  a  number  of  distinct  editions.  Allowing  to  each  separate  in- 
dividual embarked,  his  own  Bibles,  there  were  not  fewer  than  eight 
distinct  issues  of  this  one  edition.  This  would  make  twelve  in  all, 
of  Matthew's. 

With  respect  to  the  New  Testament,  besides  the  English  trans- 
lation inserted  in  the  paraphrase  of  Erasmus  in  1.548,  of  which 
there  was  a  second  edition,  at  least  of  the  first  volume,  in  1551, 
and  one  edition  generally  ascribed  to  Sir  John  Cheke ;  of  Cran- 
mer's Testament  there  appear  to  have  been  eight  editions,  but 
then  of  Tyndale's,  whether  under  his  own  name  or  that  of  Mat- 
thew, there  were  not  fewer  than  twenty-four,  besides  one  of  Cover- 
dale  corrected  by  Tyndale's  version. 

On  the  whole,  therefore,  if  the  public  demand  had  called  for 
Cranmer's  correction  of  Tyndale,  fifteen  times,  it  had  done  so  for 
Tyndale's  version,  as  it  stood,  fully  double  that  number ;  and  if 
six  men  were  concerned  in  the  former,  eighteen,  at  least,  were  in 
the  latter. 

The  edition  of  Tyndale's  or  Matthew's  translation  in  May  1551, 
is  worthy  of  special  notice,  as  indicative  of  the  zeal  now  abroad, 
so  unfettered  by  interference.  In  this  Bible  not  fewer  tlian  nine 
different  respectable  men,  printers  and  booksellers  in  London,  were 
concerned,  and  the  impression,  •therefore,  must  have  been  a  very 
large  one.  It  may  be  regarded  as  an  ornament  of  its  kind,  point- 
ing to  the  reign  of  England's  youngest  monarch.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  one,  to  be  noted,  under  Elizabeth,  London  ever  since 
has  never  furnished  a  parallel.  The  following  is  its  title,  with  a 
colophon  partly  corroborative  of  the  fact  as  now  stated: — 

"The  Bible,  that  is  to  saye,  all  the  holy  Scripture:  In  whiche 
are  contayned  the  Okie  and  newe  Testament,  truly  and  purely 
translated  into  Enghshe,  now  lately  with  great  industry  and  dili- 
gence recognised,"  &.c.  Small  folio.  Colophon — "  Here  endeth 
the  whole  Bible  after  the  translation  of  Thomas  Mathew. — Im- 
prynted  at  London  by  Nycolas  Hyll,  dwelling-  in  Saynct  John's 
Streets,  at  the  cost  and  charges  of  certayne  honest  nienne  of  the 
occiipacyon,  whose  names  be  upon  their  bokes^ 

Separate  titles  were  printed  for  each  of  these  "  honest  menne," 
who  were  at  least  eight  in  number,  viz.,  John  Wyghte,  Willyam 
Bonham,  Thomas  Petyt,  Thomas  Raynolde,  Richard  Kele,  John 
Walley,  Abraham  Veale,  Robert  Toye.     The  first  and  last  three 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  361 

books  are  in  the  Bristol  Museum  ;  and  most  of  the  others,  if  not 
the  whole,  have  been  seen  by  the  writer  in  other  collections.  The 
copies  with  the  names  of  Wyghte  and  Bonham  are  said  to  be 
printed  by  them,  indicativ^e  of  their  being  partners  in  the  expense 
with  Hyll,  the  actual  printer.  The  others  have  Hyll's  name  as 
printer /or  each  of  them,  or  generally,  as  in  the  above  colophon 
for  Robert  Toye  ;  but  the  book  is  the  same  throughout,  tliough  it 
may  have  been  often  mistaken  for  three,  if  not  eight  or  nine,  dif- 
ferent editions. 

Tyndale's  Bibles  Vv^ere  published  under  the  name  of  Matthew  ; 
but  as  for  the  New  Testament  separately,  the  name  of  William 
Tyndale  was  now  inserted  in  the  front  titles  of  fifteen  editions,  if 
not  more.  At  the  same  time  it  may  be  observed,  in  farther  proof 
of  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  of  the  absence  of  all  jealousy  or 
interference  on  the  part  of  Cranmer,  that  the  impressions  of  Mat- 
thew's Bible  took  precedence  of  his  own  in  point  of  time.  That 
of  the  former,  by  Day  and  Seres,  was  finished  in  August  1549,  and 
that  by  Reynolde  and  Hill  in  October  ;  but  Cranmer's,  by  Grafton 
and  Whitchurch,  not  till  December  of  that  year. 

Thus,  if  a  version  ever  received  distinguished  marks  of  public 
approbation,  it  was  that  of  our  first  translator.  There  had  been 
certain  verbal  alterations  in  the  text,  whether  by  Cranmer,  Cover- 
dale,  or  Taverner — some  of  which  were  no  improvements  ;  and  so 
it  now  appears  the  people  at  large  had  thought  throughout  the 
days  of  Edward  the  Sixth.  They  had  said,  in  a  manner  not  to 
be  mistaken,  "  We  decidedly  prefer  the  version  of  our  original 
Translator,  as  he  gave  it  to  his  country." 

Under  Henry  VIII.,  the  history  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in 
English,  has  appeared  to  be  a  separate  or  distinct  undertaking, 
carried  forward  by  a  succession  of  private  individuals,  at  their  own 
proper  cost  and  risk :  but  so  far  from  this  being  observed  to  con- 
tinue under  Edward  VI.,  perhaps  many,  if  not  all,  have  been  ac- 
customed to  regard  the  course  pursued  as  quite  the  reverse.  The 
substantial  procedure,  however,  even  now,  was  neither  suggested, 
undertaken,  or  pursued  at  the  instigation  of  either  the  King  or 
Privy  Council,  the  Convocation  or  the  Parliament.  It  is  true, 
that  before  even  the  first  Parliament  was  assembled,  the  Privy 
Council,  seizing  time  by  the  forelock,  and  grounding  their  pro- 
ceedings upon  that  outrageous  Act  of  Henry's,  by  which  the 
King's  letters  were  to  carry  equal  authority  with  an  Act  of  Par- 
liament, did  issue  certain  injunctions;  and  by  them,  one  chapter 
of  the  Old,  and  another  of  the  New  Testament,  was  to  form  a 
part  of  public  service  ;  the  parish  church,  too,  was  to  be  provided 
with  a  copy  of  the  Scriptures,  of  which  many  of  them  were  still 
destitute,  and  to  this  was  added  the  paraphrase  of  Erasmus  on 
the  Gospels.  But  still,  as  in  the  year  1537,  the  Bible  was  intro- 
duced into  England,  independently  of  the  Privy  Council,  the  Con- 
vocation, or  the  Parliament ;  even  so  now  the  Scriptures  must  be 
plentifully  printed  and  circulated.  No  injunctions  were  issued  on 
this  subject.     There  was  no  royal  proclamation.     Nor  must  the 


362  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Senate  be  permitted  to  have  a  voice  with  regard  to  the  reading 
of  the  Scriptures.  On  the  contrary,  in  the  very  first  year  of  Ed- 
ward's reign,  or  1547,  when  a  certain  bill,  bearing  on  the  subject, 
was  introduced  into  Parliament,  it  failed.  And  when  the  ca- 
pricious, nay  profane  treatment  of  the  Sacred  Volume  by  that  As- 
sembly, as  well  as  by  the  Convocation,  is  remembered,  every  one 
must  see  the  propriety  of  their  not  being  allowed  now  to  interfere, 
in  the  v.^ay  of  hollow,  though  professed  favor.  No,  the  cause  had 
stood  the  battle  and  the  breeze,  without  their  hypocritical  friend- 
ship, bef  jre  Edward  was  born  ;  and  it  will  do  so  again,  when  these 
men  are  either  gone  to  the  grave,  or  have  basely  changed  sides, 
as  many  of  them  did  in  a  few  years.  This  Parliament  may  frown 
upon  the  sanguinary  Acts  of  the  late  King,  and  especially  on  that 
which  so  absurdly  and  cruelly  restrained  the  useful  classes  from 
reading  the  Scriptures  ;  but  they  must  proceed  no  farther.  They 
might  brand  the  deeds  of  the  preceding  Senate,  by  repealing  the 
statutes  they  had  dared  to  pass ;  but  as  for  the  positive  perusal  of 
the  Scriptures,  they  must  not  falsely  enjoy  any  credit  for  enforcing 
it.  They  must  not  legislate.  The  subject  was  mooted,  it  is  true, 
but  it  seems  as  if  this  had  been  intended  only  to  show  more  visibly 
to  posterity  the  independence  which  we  have  observed  all  along. 
Upon  Tuesday  the  15th  of  November,  in  the  House  of  Lords  a 
bill  was  introduced,  by  whom  is  not  stated,  though  Cranmer  was 
present,  "/or  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  f  but  it  actually 
never  reached  a  second  reading,  nor  was  any  such  measure  even 
hinted  throughout  the  reign.  Legislation  was  once  proposed,  but 
it  must  be  abandoned ;  and  although  there  was  no  Act  of  Parlia- 
ment— 710  Act  of  Convocation — no  imperative  injunctions — no 
new  translation — no  new  false  title  pages,  similar  to  the  profane 
mockery  of  Henry's  days,  there  was,  so  far  as  one  individual 
youth  was  concerned,  something  of  far  ditTerent  and  better  effect, 
and  more  congenial  with  God's  own  glorious  purpose  and  design 
— Ed'.rard's  own  visible  and  marked  veneration  for  the  Sacred 
Record  itself. 

The  cause  continues  to  stand  out  as  the  spontaneous  actof  indi- 
vidual enterprise,  in  reply  to  the  voluntary  and  urgent  calls  of  the 
people  themselves,  and  especially  for  the  New  Testament  Script- 
ures. They  were  anxious  to  proceed  according  to  the  good  old 
French  maxim,  '•  Laissez  nous  faire" — Leave  iis  to  act ;  and  the 
Government  was,  providentially,  strong  enough  to  comply.  For 
many  years,  it  is  true,  the  votes  or  voice  of  Parliament  could  have 
formed  no  index  whatever  to  the  consent  or  non-consent  of  the 
people  at  large.  From  the  way  in  which  members  were  sirni- 
moned,  or  both  Houses  constituted,  this  was  impossible  ;  but  then, 
at  the  same  time,  both  Houses  Avere  most  obsequious,  and  had 
wavered  with  the  Crown.  Now,  in  these  circumstances,  it  is  onl)^ 
the  more  observable  that  the  Parliament  of  Edward  should  be- 
come conspicuous  for  non-interference,  when  the  King  himself 
was  a  sincere  and  ardent  admirer  of  the  Scriptures.  Thus, 
though  unconsciously,  the  House  was  witnessing  to  posterity  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  363 

benefits  wich  ensue  from  not  touching  with  this  subject.  Of  these 
benefits  we  have  aheady  given  substantial  evidence ;  and  the 
reader  will  be  still  more  struck  when  he  turns  to  the  particular 
statement  of  all  these  precious  volumes,  in  our  list  at  the  close  of 
this  work.  Meanwhile,  no  one  could  desire  more  evident  proofs, 
in  long  succession,  of  a  "  separated  cause,"  a  sacred  undertaking ; 
and  these,  too,  present  themselves  at  a  period  when  the  unprin- 
cipled changes  perpetu;j.lly  occurring,  whether  in  the  Privy  Coun- 
cil or  the  Parliament,  were  loudly  saying  of  every  other  depait- 
ment — "it  is  but  the  cause  of  men,  of  faUible  and  changing  men." 

Here,  then,  was  the  distinguishing  feature  of  this  brief,  but 
memorable  reign.  In  contrast  with  Edward's  immediate  prede- 
cessor, far  from  anything  to  repel  in  the  young  Prince,  there  is 
much  to  invite  our  love  and  admiration.  Whatever  was  objec- 
tionable during  his  sway — of  which  there  were  more  steps  than 
one  or  two — an  enlightened  judgment  will  ever  ascribe  to  his 
Ministers  ;  for,  in  the  age  in  which  he  flourished  and  faded  so 
soon,  he  stood  like  an  apple  tree  among  the  trees  of  the  wood,  if 
not  as  a  lily  among  thorns.  To  say  nothing  of  the  precocity  of 
his  talents,  which,  no  doubt  has  been  exaggerated,  though  he  must 
have  been  more  than  usually  intelligent,  there  was  his  strong 
aversion  to  the  shedding  of  blood,  which  so  painfully  places  Good- 
rich, and  Cranmer,  and  even  Ridley,  before  us ;  but  above  all,  his 
profound  and  often  expressed  veneration  for  the  Sacred  Volume 
itself  It  was  tiiis  that  brought  him  so  near  to  the  character  of 
Josiah  of  old.  though  even  yet  so  much  younger  than  the  Jewish 
monarch,  when  the  Book  of  the  Law  was  found  and  read  before 
him. 

But  lo  !  the  clouds  are  gathering;  the  young  King,  to  the  grief 
of  many,  and  these  certainly  the  best  in  the  land,  is  seen  to  be 
slowly  descending  to  the  grave;  and  all  the  enemies  of  Divine 
Truth  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  begin  to  rally  and  look  up.  A  lurid 
gloom  begins  to  settle  on  the  realm.  A  time  of  trouble  and  vex- 
tion,  of  banishment  and  blood,  is  at  hand.  But  there  was  no 
Avisdom,  nor  rmderstanding,  nor  counsel,  against  Him  by  whom  all 
things  were  foreseen.  We  must  enter  the  storm,  and  there,  even 
there,  delight  to  trace  once  more,  the  peculiar  care  of  the  Most 
High,  over  his  own  Word. 

It  was  upon  the  evening  of  Thursday,  the  6th  of  July  1553, 
that  Edward  died  of  consumption.  His  favorite  and  inseparable 
friend.  Sir  Henry  Sidney,  had  him  in  his  arms,  when  he  suddenly 
exclaimed — "I  am  faint;  Lord  have  mercy  upon  me,  and  take 
my  spirit !"  He  instantly  expired,  at  the  early  age  of  fifteen  years, 
eight  months,  and  twenty-two  days.  Few  kings  have  fallen  so 
soon  ;  far  fewer  still,  as  safe  ;  and  perhaps  none  in  English  history 
more  sincerely  lamented,  by  discerning  survivors.  Under  such 
counsellors  he  might  have  been  corrupted.  He  was  taken  away 
from  the  evil  to  come. 

Before  King  Edward  was  interred  at  Westminster,  on  the  8th 
of  August,  there  had  already  occurred  great  changes ;   and  that 


364  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Storm  had  commenced,  which  was  to  end  only  with  the  reign  then 
begun.  Had  tlie  short  rule  of  the  deceased  Prince,  been  one  of 
only  un77iixed  good,  the  judgment  which  now  fell  upon  England 
for  about  five  years,  would  have  been  inscrutable.  The  reign  of 
Mary  having  been  so  awfully  tempestuous,  has  always  been  des- 
ignated as  tyrannical  and  bloody  ;  but  since  it  did  occur,  the 
judgment,  as  a  national  one,  must  have  been  righteous.  God  doth 
not  afflict  wilhngly,  not  grieve  the  children  of  men.  Before  leav- 
ing the  present  reign,  therefore,  the  reason,  or  procuring  cause, 
must  be  sought  for  in  the  six  years  and  a  half  which  had  now 
passed  away.  By  how  much  the  following  years  were  severe, 
the  preceding  only  demand  the  more  attention. 

The  Privy  Council  of  the  deceased  King,  therefore,  on  whom  the 
executive  power  had  rested,  and  the  nation^  as  such,  equally  require 
notice.  With  regard  to  the  first  party,  they  had  rendered  them- 
selves notorious,  as  a  set  of  men  fighting  for  their  own  individual 
interests.  But  whatever  might  be  reprehensible  at  other  times— 
and  there  was  not  a  little — it  is  curious  enough,  that  if  we  fix  our 
eye  only  upon  fifteen  days,  or  even  only  three,  at  the  commence- 
ment, and  twelve  or  only  two,  at  the  close  of  their  sway,  we  have 
sufficient  evidence  that  all  was  not  right,  in  the  sight  of  either 
God  or  man.  Over  the  first  three  days,  there  has  long  hung  a  de- 
gree of  mystery  which  has  puzzled  all  our  previous  historians.  Sir 
James  Mackintosh  has  remarked  that  the  delay  of  three  days  in 
officially  announcing  the  death  of  Henry  VHL,  would  be  regarded, 
in  our  time  as  a  piece  of  daring  presumption  ;  but  what  these 
men,  the  Earl  of  Hertford  and  his  associates,  were  doing,  in  the 
course  of  these  days  has  been  the  question,  and  no  one  could  in- 
form us  till  very  recently.  The  validity  of  Henry's  will  has  been 
often  canvassed,  but  whatever  was  its  character,  it  turns  out  that 
this  State  document  was  in  the  Earl's  private  keeping,  and  that 
no  Privy  Counsellor  could  even  see  it,  until  he  sent  the  key  from 
Hertford,  where  he  was,  twenty  miles  distant  from  London,  and 
twenty-five  hours  after  Henry  had  breathed  his  last.  The  truth 
is,  that  as  soon  as  the  King  died,  early  on  Friday  the  2Sth  of 
January  1-547,  Hertford  had  proceeded  to  this  place,  as  Edward 
was  there ;  and  his  letter  to  the  other  executors  is  dated  from 
thence  "  between  three  and  four  in  the  (next)  morning."  Forty- 
four  hours  more  pass  away,  and  Hertford,  at  eleven  o'clock  on 
Sunday  night,  is  only  at  Enfield,  still  ten  miles  distant  from  town. 
Both  Edward  and  Ehzabeth,  (not  Mary)  were  under  his  care,  and 
here  he  first  informed  these  children,  of  their  father's  death. 
Elizabeth  was  left  in  the  country,  and  it  was  not  till  three  o'clock 
on  Monday  that  Edward  had  arrived  at  the  Tower ;  the  decease 
of  the  monarch  not  having  been  communicated  to  Parliament  till 
they  assembled  that  day.  On  Tuesday,  or  the  first  of  February, 
the  greater  part  of  the  nobility  arrived  at  the  Tower,  to  bow  the 
knee  before  their  young  Sovereign  ;  and  to  hear  from  Wriothesly, 
as  Chancellor,  the  purport  of  his  father's  will  and  testament.  The 
deed,  as  far  as  declared,  of  course  exactly  served  the  design  of 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  365 

Hertford  and  his  party  ;  for  what  had  they  actually  done  1  They 
had  opened  the  ivill,  before  either  the  Kinoj  or  the  Parliament 
were  informed  of  Henry's  death,  and  had  held  consultation  what 
portions  were  to  be  communicated !  Thus  while  Parliament 
and  the  nation  believed,  or  were  left  to  suppose,  that  their  Sove- 
reign was  still  alive,  all  the  intended  measures  were  already  fixed, 
and  by  a  faction  to  whom  no  resistance  could  be  made.  In  short, 
the  Earl  of  Hertford  was  already  regarded  as  Protector  by  his  fel- 
lows, three  days  before  the  accession  of  Edward  was  announced. 

There  is  no  occasion  here,  however,  forgoing  on  in  detail.  The 
proceedings  of  Hertford,  who  was  soon  created  Duke  of  Sumerset ; 
of  the  Lord-Admiral  Baron  Seymour,  his  brother;  and  of  Dudley, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  afterwards  Duke  of  Northumberland,  are  well 
known.  The  two  former  had  perished,  and  the  last  is  now  about 
to  die,  on  the  scaffold.  But  if  the  Jirst  steps  taken  under  Edward 
were  wrong,  the  last  were  much  worse.  If  Henry's  last  will  was 
valid,  and  it  had  been  read  as  their  guide,  great  freedoms  had  been 
used  with  it,  by  these  Counsellors,  at  the  beginning ;  but  they 
finished,  by  putting  it  aside  altogether !  The  duplicity  practised 
in  both  cases,  serves  to  show  the  ambition  with  which  they  were 
filled.  To  their  crooked  and  short-sighted  policy  was  then  ulti- 
mately sacrificed  one  of  the  loveliest,  the  best  educated,  and  most 
refined  young  women  in  all  England — Lady  Jane  Grey,  the  illus- 
trious daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Suffolk,  the  Queen  of  ten  days. 
She  had  been  married  only  in  May  to  Lord  Guilford  Dudley,  fourth 
soil  of  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  When  poor  Jane,  like  a  de- 
voted victim,  was  carried  in  state  procession,  on  Monday  the  10th 
of  July,  it  was  intended  that  Law  and  Government,  the  Lord 
Mayor  and  Alderman,  the  Nobility  and  Clergy,  should  all  appear 
to  be  in  her  favor ;  but  though  the  concourse  was  great,  it  was 
merely  to  see  the  pageant ;  there  was  only  faint  praise  from  the 
people,  and  but  few  acclamations  ;  nor  had  the  feeling  of  the  better 
orders  been  at  all  consulted.  At  that  moment,  indeed,  Mary,  little 
else  than  a  lonely  fugitive,  and  fled  to  Flamlingham  Castle,  might 
seem  unlikely  ever  to  be  Queen  of  England  ;  but  a  few  days  only 
passed  away,  when  the  enchantment  of  those  who  had  sought  to 
disinherit  her  was  dissolved.  In  one  week  Henry's  eldest  daugh- 
ter found  herself  supported  by  forty  thousand  men,  foot  and  horse, 
at  their  own  expense,  without  costing  her  a  crown  piece  !  The 
enthusiasm  was  excessive,  and  characteristic  ;  so  that  when  Mary 
was  proclaimed  at  Paul's  Cross,  the  very  next  week,  or  Wednesday 
the  19th,  it  was  amidst  acclamations  from  the  multitude,  which 
drowned  the  voice  of  the  heralds  !  If  Cranmer,  therefore,  and  Riley 
too,  as  well  as  some  others,  would  sit  in  council  with  such  men, 
and  would  "go  in  with  dissemblers,"  they  must  now  abide  the 
consequences ;  but  the  manner  in  which  the  event  was  hailed, 
forcibly  points  us  to  the  people  at  large,  or  the  state  of  the  nation 
as  such. 

We  have  witnessed,  it  is  true,  a  very  remarkable  progress  in  the 
diffusion  of  Divine  Truth ;  but  we  have  also  seen  that  this  was 


366  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

effecled,  not  by  the  encouragement  or  sanction  of  Parliament,  nor, 
of  course,  with  the  consent  of  the  nation  as  such  in  any  form ; — 
no:  the  cause  itself,  though  in  the  kingdom,  was  not  of  {he  king- 
dom ;  since  no  rulers  in  Europe  liad  discovered  greater  hostility  to 
Divine  Revelation.  The  present  convulsion,  therefore,  though  only 
tile  commencement  of  a  storm,  served  at  once  to  clear  the  moral  at- 
mosphere, and  forcibly  distinguish  between  the  passions  of  men,  and 
the  cause  of  God.  It  enables  us,  even  now,  to  see,  with  far  greater 
precision,  the  actual  state  of  things. 

As  til  ere  had  been  a  separate  undertaking,  which  we  have 
described  all  along,  so  it  now  appeared,  as  the  consequence,  that 
there  had  existed  a  separate  people,  not  to  be  identified  or  mingled 
up  with  any  intrigue  of  the  times.  So  far  as  the  human  mind 
was  concerned,  the  changes  which  had  ensued,  from  the  first  step 
taken  by  Henry  VIII.  until  now,  were  not  national  changes.  The 
nation,  as  such,  though  so  long  and  singularly  visited  by  Divine 
Trutli,  cared  not  for  it ;  and  still  clinging  to  its  old  ceremonies  and 
habits,  leaped  at  the  prospect  of  falling  back  into  its  long  repose 
under  the  shade  of  Rome.  As  a  warning  to  the  age,  therefore,  and 
especially  to  posterity,  to  distinguish  things  that  differ,  some  fear- 
ful lesson  of  instruction  was  demanded,  and  this  must  no  longer 
be  withheld. 

Meanwhile,  what  the  Almighty  had  so  mercifully  done  for 
England  was  analogous  to  that  Avhich,  to  use  the  words  of  Script- 
ure itself,  was  done  by  Him, ''  at  the  first,"  when  He  did  "  visit  the 
nations,  to  take  out  of  them,  a  people  for  his  nameP  Such  a 
people,  however  despised  and  trampled  on,  we  have  beheld  in 
England,  in  the  days  of  John  Fryth,  and  before  them.  Some  of 
the  best  among  them  we  have  seen  by  the  light  of  those  fires, 
which  the  enemy  had  kindled  ;  and  they  had  been  increasing  in 
numbers  all  along.  Under  Henry  VIII.  the  war  had  commenced 
against  the  Sacred  Voln.me  itself,  without  even  knowing  the  trans- 
lator ;  and  it  went  on  against  all  who  imported,  received,  or  re- 
tained it.  Under  the  reign  of  his  son,  it  had  been  plentifully 
printed,  purchased,  and  read  ;  and  it  will  now  become  a  decided 
proof  of  progress,  however  heartrending  in  detail,  that  the  perse- 
cution about  to  commence  was  to  be  against  all  who  had  believed 
its  contents,  and  held  its  sacred  truths  to  be  more  precious  than 
life  itself  This,  however,  in  the  end,  will  materially  further  the 
cause  of  Divine  Truth,  not  retard  it. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  367 

SECTION    II. 

REIGN    OF    (iUEEN    MARY. 

A  KEIGN,  DISCOVERING  THE  ACTUAL  STATE  OF  THE  NATION,  AS  SUCH  ;  BUT  ONE, 
HOWEVER  PAINFUL  IN  ITS  DETAILS,  WHICH  SO  FAR  FROM  RETARDING  THE  PROG- 
RESS OF  DIVINE  TRUTH,  ONLY  DEEPENED  THE  IMPRESSION  OF  ITS  VALUE  ;  AND 
AS  IT  BECAME  THE  OCCASION,  SO  IT  AFFORDED  THE  OPPORTUNITY  FOR  THE 
SACRED  SCRIPTURES  BEING  GIVEN  AFRESH  TO  ENGLAND,  MORE  CAREFULLY  RE- 
VISED  THE    EXILES    FROM    THE    KINGDOM    PROVING,  ONCE    MORE,  ITS  GREATEST 

BENEFACTORS. 

Upon  the  6tli  of  July  15.53,  at  the  age  of  thirty-six,  Mary,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Henry  VIII.,  succeeded  to  the  throne,  and 
reigned  as  Sovereign  alone  for  one  year.  Afterwards,  allied  by 
marriage  to  Philip  of  Spaia,  the  Q,ueen  died  in  less  than  four  years 
and  four  months,  on  the  17th  of  November  1558.  T'lis  reign 
throughout,  has  been  all  along,  and  generally,  regarded  as  a  por- 
tion of  Ensflish  history  distinouished  bv  little  else  than  the  sheddinsT 
of  blood.  Few,  however,  have  sufficiently  observed,  that  this  !)lood- 
shedding  for  opinions  held,  did  not  commence  till  February  1555, 
or  more  than  a  year  and  a  half  after  Mary  held  the  sceptre.  And 
if  this  fact  has  been  but  slightly  regarded,  fewer  still  have  ever 
noticed  its  bearing  on  the  Sacred  Volume,  and  those  who  prized  it. 

The  Privy  Council  of  Edward  liad  concluded  his  reign,  as  they 
began  it,  by  a  course  of  dissimulation.  But  they  were  not  now  to 
succeed  as  they  had  done  before.  They  had  placed  double  guards 
to  maintain  greater  secrecy,  and  then  tried  to  conceal  the  King's 
death  for  two  days.  But,  Vvdmt  Vv'as  much  worse,  they  had  sent  a 
false  letter  to  Mary,  the  heir,  at  least  by  her  father's  will,  wliich 
they  formerly  professed  to  follow,  saying  that  "  her  brother  was 
very  ill,  and  earnestly  desired  the  comfort  of  her  presence."  This 
foolish  expedient  to  inveigle  the  Princess,  and  get  her  in  their 
power,  only  served  as  a  sure  token  to  confirm  her  suspicion  of  a 
plot.  Under  the  impression  of  fair  dealing,  she  had  at  first  ac- 
tually set  out  from  Hunsden  in  Hertfordshire  ;  but  by  the  time 
she  was  only  eight  miles  on  her  way,  or  seventeen  from  London, 
she  was  met  at  Hoddesdon  by  her  goldsmith,  sent  direct  from 
town.  He  informed  her  distinctly  of  the  hour  of  her  brother's 
death.  Somewhat  suspicious  of  the  quarter  from  whence  the  in- 
formation came,  the  Princess  ruminated  for  a  little  while  ;  but  the 
snare  was  broken,  and,  with  constitutional  firmness  of  mind,  she 
immediately  bent  her  way  towards  Sawston,  near  Cambridge. 
Early  next  morning,  and  seated  behind  the  servant  of  the  pro- 
prietor. Sir  .John  Huddleston,  Mary  had  left;  but  they  were  not 
out  of  sight  of  Sawstonhall,  before  it  was  in  flames.  Passing 
through  Bury  St.  Edmonds,  she  got  to  Kenninghall,  which  had 
been  assigned  to  her  as  a  residence.  From  thence,  next  day,  or 
the  9th,  she  addressed  the  Lords  of  Council,  claiming  the  Crown. 


368  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Very  foolishly  for  themselves,  and  as  full  of  infatuation  as  ever, 
they  replied  on  the  evening-  of  the  same  day.  Although  Mary 
was  now  to  ascend  the  thione,  in  terms  of  a  will,  parts  of  which 
they  could  read  aloud,  as  law,  when  these  answered  their  own 
ambitious  views  ;  they  now,  in  no  measured  terms,  addressed  their 
correspondent,  as  an  illegitimate  daughter,  by  the  everlasting  laws 
of  God  ;  though  Lady  Jane  Grey  was  certainly  not  even  proclaimed 
till  next  day.  To  this  reply  were  affixed  the  names  of  twenty- 
three  members  of  Council,  at  the  head  of  which  stood  Cranmer's, 
for  to  all  these  proceedings  he  had  been  a  party.  If  they  thus  yet 
dreamt  of  intimidating  the  future  Q,ueen,  never  had  men  so  reck- 
oned without  their  host.  Destitute  of  money,  without  an  army, 
or  even  advisers,  on  the  morning  of  the  11th,  Mary,  on  horseback, 
with  her  female  attendants,  set  off  for  Framlingham  Castle,  twenty 
miles  farther  distant  from  London,  to  be  still  nearer  the  coast,  in 
case  of  any  disaster ;  but  the  moment  she  entered  it,  she  appears 
to  have  acted  at  least,  as  if  the  undisputed  Sovereign  of  England. 
A  courage  and  self-possession  were  displayed,  on  which  the  deluded 
Counsellors  had  never  calculated.  They  proclaimed  Lady  Jane 
to  be  Q.ueen,  in  London,  on  the  10th ;  it  was  but  the  second  day 
after,  when  Mary  ordered  her  own  proclamation  on  the  12th  at 
Norwich  ;  and  remaining  where  she  was,  immediately  formed  a 
Council  out  of  the  gentlemen  who  had  already  resorted  to  her 
presence.  Finding  herself  before  the  end  of  July  surrounded  by 
an  army,  which  had  cost  her  nothing,  so  eager  were  the  people  to 
support  her  claims,  she  moved  forward  from  the  old  Castle  on  the 
31st.,  towards  London.  Her  progress  was  but  one  continued  tri- 
umph, for  she  had  been  proclaimed  even  in  London,  so  early  as 
the  19th.  Her  grand  opponent,  Northumberland,  had  joined  the 
people  in  doing  the  same  thing  at  Cambridge ;  and  he,  as  well  as 
the  Lady  Jane,  with  her  husband,  were  now  in  the  Tower.  On 
her  way,  Q-ueen  Mary  had  been  met  at  Ipswich  by  Cecil,  the  fu- 
ture Lord  Burleigh,  whose  character  has  recently  suffered  so  much, 
as  a  time-server.  As  one  of  the  Counsellors  whose  names  were 
affixed  to  the  preceding  letter,  he  was  the  first  to  approach.  He 
secured  his  own  personal  safety,  and  afterwards  bowed  to  the 
magic  of  "  the  old  learning,"  but  could  never  obtain  office  under 
the  present  Q,ueen.  On  the  3rd  of  August  Mary  entered  her 
capital,  and  going  direct  to  the  Tower,  at  once  a  palace  and  a 
prison,  she  immediately  released  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  Gardiner, 
and  Tunstal,  or  three  men  with  whom  the  reader  has  been  long 
familiar.  Gardiner  was  sworn  into  the  Privy  Council  the  second 
day  after,  and  the  Q,ueen  remained  in  the  Tower  till  after  her 
brother's  funeral. 

Upon  leaving  the  Tower  for  her  palace  at  Richmond,  but  a  few 
days  had  elapsed  before  Mary  issued  her  "Inhibition"  against 
preaching,  reading  or  teaching  any  Scriptures  in  the  churches, 
and  printing-  any  books  !  The  Word  of  God  in  the  vulgar  tongue 
and  the  printing-press,  being  the  objects  of  special  dread.  But 
even  two  days  before  this,  there  were  certain  men  at  large,  who 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  369 

must  be  so  no  longer.  On  the  16th  of  August,  Bradford,  Vernon 
and  Becon,  were  committed  to  the  Tower  ;  while  no  other  than 
John  Rogers,  alias  Mattliew,  the  editor  of  the  Bible  received  by 
Henry  in  1537,  was  commanded  to  keep  himself  within  his  own 
house,  and  to  have  no  communication  with  any  persons  except 
tho3e  of  his  own  family.  They  had  already  taken  certain  steps, 
if  not  commenced  proceedings  against  many  persons,  and  by  the 
15th  of  September,  Latimer,  and  Hooper,  as  well  as  Cranmer, 
were  safe  in  the  Tower.  As  for  Ridlej/,  having  preached  at  Paul's 
Cross  in  favor  of  Queen  .lane,  he  had  chosen,  however  strangely, 
to  proceed  to  Framlingham  to  salute  Mary,  where  he  was  instantly 
despoiled  of  his  dignities,  and  sent  back  to  the  Tower,  by  the  26th 
of  July,  or  only  ten  days  after  he  had  preached  his  sermon.  But 
still  there  were  as  yet  no  tortures,  no  murder,  nor  any  threatened 
martrydom.  All  foreigners  were  allowed  to  depart  without  hin- 
derance.  There  were  not  only  Germans  and  Frenchmen,  but 
Italians  and  Spaniards,  Poles  and  Scotsmen,  harboring  not  in 
London  alone,  but  elsewhere,  and  enjoying  a  degree  of  freedom 
from  molestation,  unknown  at  the  moment  in  any  other  part  of 
the  world  !  They  must  now  seek  safety  by  flight.  Orders  were 
sent  down  to  Rye  and  Dover,  that  no  impediments  should  be  placed 
in  their  way  ;  and  to  these  orders,  not  a  few  of  the  English,  the 
salt  of  the  land,  were  indebted  for  their  escape.  Many  went  un- 
der the  character  of  servants,  and  others,  by  what  means  they 
could,  till  at  last  it  has  been  computed  that  there  were  from  eight 
hundred  to  a  thousand  learned  Englishmen,  beside  those  in  other 
conditions,  who  were  now  to  sustain  the  honorable  character  of 
exiles  from  their  native  land,  on  account  of  their  attachment  to 
Divine  Truth.  There  can  be  no  question  that,  as  far  as  they 
could,  they  took  their  most  valued  treasure,  their  books,  with 
them,  but,  above  all,  their  copies  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  thus  it 
was  that  the  volume  which  had  been  originally  translated  for 
England,  upon  the  European  continent,  was  now  to  be  read  by 
more  than  a  thousand  of  her  sons  and  daughters,  and  all  over 
these  countries,  from  Emden  to  Geneva  ! 

These  exiles,  of  whom  their  native  land  at  the  moment  was  not 
worthy,  found  refuge  at  Emden  in  Friesland ;  at  Wesel  on  the 
Rhine  in  Prussia  ;  at  Diiishnrg,  a  town  of  Guelderland  in  Hol- 
land ;  at  Strashurg  in  France ;  at  Zurich  and  Berne,  Basle, 
Geneva,  and  Aran  in  Switzerland ;  at  Frankfort  in  Germany, 
and  a  few  fled  to  Worm9,  the  spot  where  the  first  English  New 
Testaments  had  been  completed  at  press.  Many  of  these  people 
had,  in  the  end,  no  great  occasion  to  regret  the  storm  that  had 
driven  them  from  home,  so  far  as  they  themselves  were  personally 
concerned.  The  improvement  and  enlargement  of  their  minds 
was  the  result,  in  many  instances ;  while  their  being  all  alike 
sufferers  from  one  common  calamity,  gave  occasion  to  a  far  finer 
display  of  Christian  sympathy  and  bounty,  both  abroad  and  at 
home,  than  they  ever  could  have  experienced  in  other  circum- 
stances, or  ever  left  for  posterity  to  admire.     There  were  at  least 


370  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE, 

three  Ladies  of  title,  at  least  six  Knights,  b35id3^  othei-  persons 
of  property,  among  the  number  who  had  il^d,  and  they  re:rarded 
all  the  rest  as  breLhreu  in  adversity.  Many  piou?  individuals  too, 
chiefly  in  London,  contributed  freely  to  their  relief,  by  sending 
money,  clothes  and  provisions.  Sf.ryp3  give=i  a  list  of  twenty-six 
as  the  mbst  eminent.  Abroad,  the  King  of  Denmark,  Henry, 
Prince  Palatine,  the  Duke  of  Wittenberg,  and  Wolfgang,  Duke 
of  Bipont,  with  all  the  states  and  free  cities  where  the  English 
sojourned,  were  very  bountiful  to  them.  Sowere  foreign  divines, 
especially  those  of  Zurich,  whose  small  stipends  scarcely  served 
to  maintain  themselves.  Peter  Martyr's  house  at  Strasburg  was 
filled,  where  the  inmates,  living  at  one  common  table,  paid,  if 
anything,  easy  charges  for  their  diet.  Several  of  the  learned 
exiles  subsisted  partly  by  their  own  exertions.  John  Foxe  had 
now  leisure  to  compose  and  publish  the  lirst  edition  of  his  hi-.tory 
in  Latin,  and  Grafton  the  printer  had  time  .to  write  his  chronicle, 
to  say  nothing  of  other  works ;  but  we  shall  hear  of  labors  infi- 
nitely more  valuable,  for  which  this  temporary  banishment  from 
their  native  land  was  to  prove  the  tim2  appointed. 

These  may  be  regarded  as  an  army  of  confessors ;  but  there  were 
many  who  could  not,  while  others  would  not,  avail  themselves  of 
safety  by  flight,  and  these  formed  a  distinguished  portion  of  the  noble 
army  of  martyrs.  England,  as  we  have  witnessed,  under  Edward 
VL  had  proved  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed  among  other  nations  :  it 
was  ere  long  to  become  an  Aceldama,  or  field  of  blood.  Li  the 
first  Parliament  under  Mary  at  the  close  of  1553,  the  statutes  of 
the  preceding  reign,  as  well  as  some  of  Henry  VKL,  had  been 
repealed.  The  state  machine  was  rolled  back  to  its  old  position, 
and  the  kingdom  in  1554  was  once  more  placed  under  the  pro- 
tection of  Rome.  Her  Majesty,  though  not  at  all  times  a  quies- 
cent votary  of  the  Pontiff,  was,  both  from  principle  and  past  cir- 
cumstances, a  persecutor ;  while  she  could  not  have  found  in  all 
England  two  spirits  more  congenial  with  her  intentions  than  those 
of  Stephen  Gardiner  and  Edmund  Bonner.  If  they  led,  others 
on  the  bench,  and  many  unprincipled  underlings,  were  ready  to 
follow.  All  statutes  which  stood  in  the  way  being  entirely  re- 
moved, as  there  was  "a  clear  field,"  so  there  was  to  be  "no 
favor."  Men  and  women,  of  whatever  character,  office,  or  con- 
dition, even  the  lame  and  the  blind,  and  from  the  child  to  the 
aged  man,  all  who  had  any  conscientious  opinions  not  in  harmony 
with  the  "old  learning,"  all  were  appointed  u.iLo  deati). 

From  the  4th  of  February  1555,  to  within  only  seven  days  of 
the  (iueen's  exit,  on  the  17th  of  November  155S,  a  poriod  of  only 
three  years,  nine  months  and  six  days,  the  number  burnt  to  ashes, 
and  who  died  by  starvation,  slow  torture,  and  noisome  confine- 
ment in  prison,  can  never  be  given  with  accuracy  by  any  human 
pen.  In  reading  through  the  details,  as  the  heart  grows  sick,  so 
every  one  must  come  to  the  same  conclusion — that  there  is  but 
one  list,  and  that  one  accurate  and  indelible — but  it  is  one  above. 
The  highest  point  of  human  guilt,  is  to  be  found   in  persecution 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  371 

for  the  trutKs  sake,  or  in  violence  done  to  conscience  ;  and  when 
at  last  inquisition  is  made  for  blood,  the  Jadi^e  of  all  will  reiriem- 
bei"  every  drop  that  has  been  she  J,  for  "  the  Word  of  God  and  the 
testimony  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  different  calculations,  however,  which  have  been  made  by 
Foxe  and  Burnet,  by  Strype  and  Speed,  as  well  as  an  account  by 
Cecil  Lord  Burghley,  have  been  carefully  collated  ;  and  we  have 
thus  made  out  a  distinct  list  of  three  hundred  and  eighteen  indi- 
viduals. Of  these,  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  were  consumed 
in  the  flames,  eight  or  ten  were  positively  famished,  and  twenty 
more  pined  and  expired  in  their  dungeons.  Of  almost  all  these 
we  have  the  names,  as  well  as  the  time  and  place  of  their  last 
triumphs  ;  but  the  number  of  deaths,  without  doubt,  must  have 
been  greater,  especially  from  imprisonment.  In  a  treatise  often 
ascribed  to  Lord  Burghley  himself,  but  certainly  sanctioned  by 
him,  and  coming  from  authority,  in  1533,  we  have  the  following 
passage — 

"  In  the  time  of  Q,ueen  Mary,  there  were  by  imprisonment,  tor- 
ments, famine,  and  fire,  of  men,  women,  maidens,  and  children, 
almost  the  number  of  four  hundred — lamentably  destroyed.  And 
most  of  the  youth  that  then  suffered  cruel  death,  both  men, 
women,  and  children,  (which  is  to  be  noted.)  were  such  as  had 
never,  by  the  sacrament  of  baptism  or  by  confirmation,  professed, 
nor  were  ever  taught  or  instructed,  or  ever  had  heard  of  any  other 
kind  of  religion,  but  only  of  that  which,  by  their  blood  and  death 
in  the  fire,  they  did  as  true  martyrs  testify." 

Now,  whatever  maybe  said  as  to  the  precise  number  of  victims, 
the  information  conveyed  by  the  closing  paragraph,  which  we  are 
requested  to  note^  is  of  eminent  value.  This  summar}?^  was  given 
for  a  political  purpose,  and  as  for  these  people  not  having  heard  oi 
any  other  kind  of  religion,  this  was  merely  a  flourish  of  the  pen, 
and  a  very  absurd  one;  but  the  statement,  after  all,  may  be  re- 
ceived as  a  memorable  testimony  to  the  source  from  whence  these 
martyrs  had  derived  their  faith  and  principles  ;  a  testimony  to  the 
power  of  the  Sacred  Oracles  as  read  by  the  youth  of  the  kingdom  ; 
for  as  to  preaching  the  truth,  this  had,  with  a  few  exceptions,  ever 
been  at  the  lowest  ebb. 

But  the  reader  should  not  imagine  that  the  English,  as  a  na- 
tion, had  all  of  a  sudden  become  more  distinguished  for  cruelty 
than  the  neighboring  nations  on  the  Continent.  They  had  in- 
deed, at  first,  asked  for  such  a  Queen  as  Mary,  and  obtained  tiicir 
desire;  they  had  unwillingly  submitted  to  suc!i  a  King  as  Pliilip, 
and  to  such  Ministers ;  and  under  their  united  sway  that  salutary 
horror  was  implanted  in  the  nation,  which  was  not  to  leave  it  for 
generations  to  come  ;  but  it  Avas  the  leaders  of  this  people  who 
destroyed  them,  but  more  especially,  as  a  body,  the  Bishops,  who 
were  now  figluing  with  fury  for  "their  kingdom  of  this  world,"  as 
they  so  manifestly  had  done,  ever  since  the  Scriptures  were  intro- 
duced in  1528.  For  these  five  years  past  they  had  been  power- 
fully backed,  and  occasionally  goaded  on,  by  both  the  King  and 


372  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Q,aeen  ;  nor  had  the  diocese  of  Canterbury  under  Cardinal  Pole 
formed  any  exception  to  the  raging  cruelty. 

In  return  for  all  this  violence  and  bloodshed,  the  moment  of  re- 
action, of  course,  arrived  at  last.  The  day  of  retribution  began 
to  dawn.  Persecution  employed  by  any  Government,  without 
recoiling  on  its  authors,  is  unknown  to  history.  Prevailing  dis- 
ease, by  fever  and  ague,  was  nothing  more  than  the  preface  or 
introduction  to  other  evils ;  but,  by  the  summer  of  1557,  these 
diseases  are  said  to  have  gone  to  such  extent  as  to  endanger  the 
produce  of  tlie  earth.  "  In  some  places  corn  had  stood  and  shed 
on  the  ground,  for  want  of  reapers ;  and  in  others,  they  would 
have  willingly  given  one  acre  of  corn,  to  reap  and  carry  another." 
Disease  too  had  fallen  especially  upon  "  gentlemen  and  men  of 
great  wealth  ;''  but  all  this  was  merely  a  preparation  for  the  year 
1558,  or  Mary's  last. 

In  the  spring  of  1557,  the  Queen  had  been  visited  by  her  cold 
husband,  Philip,  and  for  the  last  time.  He,  without  difficulty, 
drew  her  into  war  with  F'rance  ;  and  by  the  7th  of  January,  1558, 
she  had  lost  Calais  in  seven  days.  It  had  cost  Edward  III.  eleven 
months  of  siege,  the  English  flag  having  floated  on  its  battlements 
for  above  two  hundred  years.  The  loss  was  more  deeply  lamented 
indeed  than  it  deserved  ;  still  it  was  felt,  not  merely  as  a  national 
degradation,  but  by  the  mercantile  interests  especially,  as  one 
which  might  prove  of  serious  injury  to  commerce,  an  object  to 
which  thousands  had  become  much  alive. 

The  summer  and  autumn  of  1558  turned  out  to  be  more  un- 
healthy than  those  of  the  year  preceding.  Parker,  afterwards 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  calculated  that  three  parts  out  of  four, 
throughout  the  country,  were  sick.  Gentlemen,  who  kept  twenty 
or  thirty  servants,  had  not  above  three  or  four  to  help  the  residue. 
Even  the  harvestmen  had  become  so  scarce  that  twelve  pence  Avere 
given  for  work,  wont  to  be  done  for  three.  And  if  it  be  recollected 
that  all  this  misery  occurred  at  the  close  of  five  years  of  violence 
and  injustice,  of  oppression  and  slaughter,  no  wonder  if  thousands 
were  exclaiming  with  one  of  old — "What  .shall  be  the  end  of  these 
things'/"     The  end,  however,  was  now  near  at  hand. 

Parliament  assembled  on  the  5th  of  November.  Financial  em- 
barrassments were  disclosed,  and  pressed  for  consideration.  A 
subsidy  was  proposed,  and  miglit  perhaps  have  passed  the  Upper 
House,  but  what  could  this  signify  now  ?  On  the  14th,  the  Lord 
Chancellor,  the  Treasurer,  and  the  Lords  in  a  body,  came  down 
to  the  Connnons  to  reason  with  them,  but  they  would  not  move, 
and  came  to  no  decision.  The  close  of  Mary's  life  might  well 
serve  as  a  lesson  of  terror  to  all  persecutors.  At  the  outset  of  her 
reign,  she  had  paid  no  regard  whatever  to  freedom  of  opinion,  and 
then  remitted  a  subsidy  in  order  to  fix  herself  on  the  throne.  She 
then  obstinately  determined  to  espouse  a  Spanish  husband,  not 
having  the  sagacity  to  perceive,  that  Charles  V.  and  his  son  Philip 
were  only  practising  their  ambition  upon  her.  It  was  a  step  which 
the  nation  never  forgave.     Then  came  that  outrageous  course  of 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  373 

blood  and  torture,  with  which  thousands  were  now  so  thoroughly 
disgusted.  The  rough  physic  of  Providence  had  produced  its  des- 
tined effect.  On  the  fifth  day  after  this  Parhament  sat  down,  five 
martyrs  had  suffered  at  Canterbury.  They  prayed  at  the  stake, 
that  they  might  be  the  last,  and  they  were  the  last.  And  now,  in 
five  days  more,  the  Government  is  at  an  end  ;  the  supplies  are 
stopped ;  pecuniary  aid  can  be  obtained  no  more,  and  the  Q.ueea, 
full  of  chagrin  and  disappointment,  has  little  more  than  forty-eight 
hours  to  live.  She  had  been  attacked  in  summer  by  the  prevail- 
ing fever,  then  so  fatal;  and  early  on  the  morning  of  Thursday 
the  17th  of  November,  she  breathed  her  last,  at  the  very  moment 
when  her  own  husband  and  Henry  the  Second,  the  Spanish  and 
French  monarchs,  were  meditatmg  the  extension  over  all  Europe, 
of  such  a  tribunal  as  the  Inquisition  had  already  shown  itself  to 
be,  by  its  exercise  of  authority  in  Spain. 

The  Q,ueen  herself,  in  conjunction  with  that  body  of  men  de- 
nominated ecclesiastical,  had  been  the  responsible  agents  in  the 
kingdom,  and  one  naturally  turns  to  this  quarter  as  to  the  moving 
spring  of  all  that  had  been  perpetrated.  Adverting  to  this  period, 
the  close  of  1558,  Mr.  Strype  has  told  us  that  the  mortality  among 
the  priests  was  such  "  that  a  great  number  of  parish  churches,  in 
divers  parts  of  the  realm  were  unserved,  and  no  curates  could  be 
gotten  for  money."  But  with  the  Bisliops,  and  their  immediate 
agents,  la}'^  the  cliief  responsibility ;  and  if  we  can  arrive  at  cer- 
tainty as  to  their  mortality,  as  this  has  never  been  sufficiently  ob- 
served, there  may  be  enough  to  arrest  attention  even  now,  at  the 
distance  of  more  than  two  hundred  and  eighty  years. 

The  Bench  of  Bishops  under  Mary  consisted  of  twenty-seven 
individuals.  Now,  besides  the  hundreds  of  martyrs  whom  they 
had  consigned  to  the  flames,  it  is  well  known  that  they  had  put  to 
death  five  of  their  own  number,  namely,  Hooper  and  Ferrar,  Lat- 
imer and  Ridley  in  1555,  and  Cranmer  in  1556.  How  then  had 
it  fared  with  this  order  of  men  throughout  the  reign  ?  By  the 
month  in  which  Mary  herself  was  interred,  twenty-four  Bishops 
had  expired,  and  in  only  thirteen  months  after,  six  more  had  fol- 
lowed ;  that  is,  thirty  such  men  had  died  '■  by  the  visitation  of 
God."  These  included  two  Lords  Chancellor,  Goodrich  and  Gard- 
iner, and  two  Cardinals,  Pole  and  Peyto.  In  the  short  space  of 
four  years,  from  the  death  of  Gardiner  (the  next  after  Latimer  and 
Ridley)  in  November,  1555,  to  that  of  Tunstal  inclusive,  in  No- 
vember, 1559,  twenty-four  had  died ;  nay,  fourteen  of  these  had 
expired  in  less  than  sixteen  months,  before  and  after  the  Q^ueen's 
own  decease.  Death  has  been  sometimes  denominated  "  a  great 
teacher  ;  but  here  was  a  lesson,  which  surely  could  not  fail  to  be 
the  subject  of  frequent  remark  at  the  time. 

Fuller,  the  old  historian,  had  been  struck  with  this  mortality ; 
and,  in  his  own  quaint  manner,  he  has  said  "  There  were  nine 
Bishops  now  dead,  who  were  the  death-guard  of  Q,ueen  Mary — as 
expiring  a  little  before  her  decease  ;  namely,  John  Capon  or  Salcot, 
Bishop  of  Salisbury  ;  Robert  Parfew,  Bishop  of  Hereford ;  Maurice 


374  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Giiffitl),  {Griffin)  Bishop  of  Rochester ;  William  Glynn,  Bishop  of 
Bangor.  These  were  Q-ueen  Mary's  ushers  to  her  grave.  Or,  as 
expirnig  a  little  after  lier  departure,  as  Reginald  Pole,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  John  Hopton,  Bishop  of  Norwich  ;  James  Brookes, 
Bishop  of  Gloucester  ;  John  Holy  man.  Bishop  of  Bristol ;  Morgan, 
Bishop  of  St.  David's ;  these  were  Q,ueen  Mary's  train-bearers  to 
the  same." 

To  some  persons,  however,  after  such  a  review,  the  greatest 
mystery  of  all,  may  seem  to  be  the  comparative  escape,  and  long 
survival,  of  by  far  the  most  active  agent  in  cruelty  and  blood — tlie 
man  who  appeared  almost  to  congratulate  himself  on  the  number 
of  his  victims.  If  his  original  name  had  been  tSavage,  it  ought 
never  to  have  been  changed.  This  was  Edmund  Bonner,  who 
survived  almost  all  his  contemporaries,  and  his  royal  mistress  nearly 
eleven  years.  Elizabeth  on  her  accession  was  distinguished  for 
caution  in  disclosing  her  intended  course ;  but  of  all  his  brethren 
on  the  Bsnch,  Bonner  was  the  only  man  whom  the  Q,ueen  marked 
out,  by  withholding  her  hand,  when  she  gave  it  to  the  rest,  and 
not  permitting  him  to  touch  it.  Familiar  with  the  Satanic  work 
of  persecution  from  the  earhest  days  of  his  appointment  under 
Henry  the  Eiglith,  eighteen  years  ago,  he  was  now  a  veteran  in 
crime;  and  well  acquainted  with  the  Marshalsea  prison,  he  was 
finally  sent  back  to  it  once  more.  Had  he  expired  soon,  with  so 
many  of  his  fellows,  his  example  might  soon  have  been  forgotten; 
but  Bishop  quondam  as  he  was  called,  shall  live,  in  contempt,  to 
excite  most  salutary  recollections,  and  keep  in  remembrance  the 
llauies  of  Smithfield.  "  A  jail,"  says  Fuller,  "was  conceived  the 
safest  place  to  secure  him  from  the  people's  fury."  Had  he  tlius 
died,  hy  the  hand  of  man,  it  must  have  been  regarded  as  nothing 
more  than  an  act  of  private  revenge  ;  but  surviving  in  disgrace,  as 
the  most  significant  "memento"  of  past  times,  it  was  as  if  Provi- 
dence had  "  set  a  mark  upon  him,"  that  he  might  live  as  the 
standing  object  of  universal  execration.  As  a  living  monument 
of  Divine  displeasure,  he  died  in  prison,  unchanged,  on  the  5th 
of  September  1559,  and  was  buried,  under  the  cloud  of  night, 
among  the  condenmed,  in  Southwark  churchyard.  Midnight  was 
ordered  by  EAmund  Grindal,  as  the  safest  time,  to  prevent  any 
disturbance  by  the  citizens. 

A  far  ditferent  subject,  or  the  history  of  the  English  Bible  dur- 
ing this  reign,  now  claims  our  attention.  It  is  true  that  all  the 
authorities,  styled  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  were  up  in  arms  against 
it;  and  now,  banded  together  as  the  soul  of  one  man,  they  could 
officially  alter  or  destroy  everything  else  of  human  appointment 
or  device  :  but  they  might  as  well  have  expected  to  succeed  in 
rooting  out  the  violet  or  the  rose  from  the  soil  of  England,  as  to 
banish  the  Word  of  Life  from  the  country,  or  snatch  it  from  all  the 
people  who  had  already  received  and  prized  it,  as  their  only  and 
all-sufficient  guide  to  a  better  world. 

No  sooner,  indeed,  had  January  1555  arrived,  than  it  seemed  as 
if  something  of  this  kind  had  been  meditated,  by  their  hasty  at- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  3/5 

tempt  to  brand  certain  persons  with  odium.  There  were  two  in- 
dividuals stil!  remaining  in  England  to  wliom  tlie  country  had 
stood  indebted  for  the  Scriptures — John  Rogers  and  Miles  Cover- 
dale  ;  and  those  were  among  the  earhest  victims  seized  by  Gov- 
ernment. 

When  Q,ii3en  Mary  entered  London,  and  had  reached  the 
Tower,  on  Thursday,  the  3d  of  August,  1553,  on  the  second  day 
after,  she  released  Gardiner,  and  Bonner,  and  Tunstal,  from  im- 
prisonment, styling  them  "  her  own  Bishops."  Tlie  first  of  these 
she  immediately  appointed  to  he  Lord  Chancellor.  He  had  been 
distinguished  as  one  of  the  most  eminent  enemies  of  the  vernacular 
Scriptures,  and  we  have  seen  him,  many  a  time,  vent  his  enmity. 
In  the  year  1537,  when  the  Bible  edited  by  John  Rogers  was  in- 
troduced into  England  by  Grafton,  and  with  such  success,  Gar- 
diner was  in  France  ;  and  that  after  his  return  in  September 
153S,  he  did  all  in  his  pov.'er  to  thwart  the  circulation  of  the  Script- 
ures in  the  English  tongue.  Rogers,  then  on  the  Continent,  had 
remained  for  twelve  years  longer,  ministering  to  a  German  con- 
gregation. During  the  reign  of  Edward,  either  attracted  by  the 
state  of  the  country,  or  personally  invited,  he  had  returned  to 
England  by  the  year  1550,  and  afforded  occasion  for  one  of  those 
singular  scenes,  which  had  not  unfrequently  taken  place  under 
the  roof  of  St.  Paul's.  In  September  1519,  Bonner  had  been  de- 
prived of  his  oflice  as  Bishop  of  London,  and  who  should  be  offici- 
ating in  his  room,  for  the  following  half  year,  but  Gabriel  Dunne, 
as  residentiary  prebend? — the  man  who,  with  Philips,  had  en- 
snared Tyndale  at  Antv.^erp,  and  at  Brussels  did  his  best  to  secure 
his  death  !  Dunne's  official  services,  as  bishop  pro  tempore,  had 
ended  by  the  appointment  of  Nicholas  Ridley  to  the  See  of  London 
in  April  1550,  and  it  is  the  very  next  month  that  we  have  certain 
evidence  of  Rogers  being  in  London.  He  may  have  come  earlier, 
but  we  are  told  that  "when  he  returned  to  England  he  was  ad- 
mitted Rector  of  St.  Margaret  Moyses,  and  after  that.  Vicar  of 
St.  Sepulchres,  London,  on  the  10th  of  May,  1550."  The  Rec- 
tory, ho'vever,  he  resigned  next  year,  on  the  10th  of  September, 
having  been  appointed  by  Ridley,  one  of  the  Prebendaries  of 
St.  Paul,  on  the  24lh  of  August  preceding.  Here  then,  we  have 
Dunne,  as  prebend,  sitting  in  the  twelfth  stall  on  the  right  side 
of  the  choir,  and  Rogers,  as  Pancrass  prebend,  in  the  sixth  on  the 
left;  but  this  is  rendered  still  more  remarkable  from  its  being  the 
very  stall  which  had  been  occupied  by  Robert  Ridley,  the  uncle 
of  Nicholas,  once  so  furious  in  opposition  to  Tyndale  and  his  trans- 
lation ! 

Any  person  can  now  clearly  perceive,  with  what  good  Avill  both 
Gardiner  and  Bonner  must  have  welcomed  the  day  when  they 
should  be  able  to  triumph  over  both  the  Bishop  and  his  Prebend, 
Ridley  and  Rogers,  and  wreak  their  vengeance  on  them  both. 
Ridley,  it  must  be  confessed,  by  the  warmth  of  his  zeal  in  favor 
of  Lady  Jane  Gray,  had  hastened  himself  into  the  Tower  before 
his  fellows  ;  having  been  sent  there  by  Mary,  even  before  her  ar- 


376  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

rival  in  the  capital.     It  was  the  first  specimen  of  her  power,  and 
significant  of  all  that  followed. 

But  John  Rogers  had  done  nothing  to  call  for  any  interference. 
He  had  occasion,  it  is  true,  to  preach  in  his  turn,  at  Paul's  Cross, 
and  then  he  warned  the  people  against  idolatry  and  superstition. 
This  was  after  the  Q^ueen's  arrival  in  London.  He  was  immedi- 
ately charged  Avith  preaching  erroneously,  but  he  so  defended  him- 
self before  the  Council,  that  he  was  freely  dismissed.  At  this 
moment,  had  he  fek  disposed,  he  might  have  escaped  abroad,  and 
he  had  strong  inducement  so  to  do.  He  had  a  wife  and  ten  chil- 
dren, and  in  Germany  he  must  have  been  secure  of  a  living  ;  but 
he  would  not  depart.  By  the  18th  of  August  1553,  a  proclama- 
tion was  issued,  forbidding  all  preacliing  ;  after  which,  Rogers  was 
ordered  to  remain,  as  a  prisoner  in  his  own  liouse.  and  communi- 
cate with  no  one,  save  his  own  family.  He  happened  to  live  not 
far  from  Bonner  himself,  wlio,  witii  the  sanction  of  Gardiner,  as 
Chancellor,  at  last  got  him  sent  to  Newgate,  the  worst  of  all  the 
prisons ;  where,  among  thieves  and  murderers,  he  remained 
throughout  the  whole  of  1554,  and  there  he  is  said  to  have  been 
of  use  to  the  prisoners.  "  My  Lord,"  said  Rogers  to  t.he  Chan- 
cellor, "ye  have  dealt  with  me  most  cruelly  ;  for  ye  have  put  me 
in  prison  ivithout  law,  and  kept  me  there  now  almost  a  year  and  a 
half  For  I  was  almost  half  a  year  in  my  house,  where  I  was 
obedient  to  you,  God  knoweth,  and  spake  witii  no  man.  And 
now  have  I  been  a  full  year  in  Newgate,  at  great  cost  and  charges, 
having  a  wife  and  ten  children  to  find  ;  and  J  had  never  a  penny 
of  my  livings,  which  was  against  the  law."  They  had,  in  short, 
left  him  to  pine  or  perish  in  prison,  and  there  having  been  no  specific 
charofe,  the  whole  course  was  illcfjal. 

O  

At  last,  however,  Rogers  was  called  up  for  examination.  The 
year  1555  was  to  be  distinguished  for  persecution,  and  on  the  1st 
of  January  they  had  commenced  in  good  earnest,  by  the  apprehen- 
sion of  thirty  individuals.  On  the  22d.  both  Rogers  and  Hooper 
were  before  Gardiner,  and  other  members  of  Council,  as  the  Q,ueen's 
Commissioners.  The  parties  present  were  perfectly  characteristic. 
Besides  Gardiner,  there  was  Tunstal,  Heath,  and  Thirlby,  Sir 
Richard  Southwell,  Sir  John  Bourne,  Secretary  of  State,  and  others, 
evidently  eager  to  sit  in  judgment  on  such  a  man  as  this ;  and  as 
if  it  had  been  to  point  out  to  posterity  the  precise  animus  or  spirit 
of  the  persecutors,  as  well  as  give  still  greater  prominence  to  the 
history  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  Rogers  must  die  first  of  all.  He 
must  now  lead  the  van  in  the  army  of  martyrs,  and  obtain  ever 
after  the  honorable  appellation  of  Proto- Martyr  in  Q,ueen  Mary's 
reign. 

Towards  this  good  man,  it  is  evident,  that  Lord  Chancellor 
Gardiner  had  behaved  with  pecuhar  harshness  and  cruelty.  He 
had,  in  fact,  owed  him  a  grudge  for  eighteen  years,  and  now  ille- 
gally had  imprisoned  him,  for  nearly  eighteen  montlis,  though  the 
martyr  had  frequently  implored  his  release.  Rogers  had  married 
when  abroad,  and  presuming  that  a  female,  and  a  foreigner,  and 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  377 

she  not  far  from  the  time  of  her  confinement,  might  have  some  in- 
fluence, he  had  sent  her  to  Gardiner,  with  certain  female  compan- 
ions, so  long  ago  as  Christmas  1553,  and  as  far  as  Richmond, 
"humbly  craving  that  he  might  be  set  at  liberty,"  there  being 
nothing  laid  to  his  charge.  The  only  answer  to  this  was  his  being 
committed  by  Bonner  to  Newgate  !  From  Newgate,  Mr.  Rogers 
had  not  only  sent  two  petitions  to  the  Chancellor,  but  his  wife 
many  times,  without  any  effect.  A  Mr.  Gosnold,  and  other  be- 
nevolent gentlemen,  had  also  petitioned  on  his  behalf,  but  all  was 
in  vain  ;  and  now  that  the  prisoner  is  brought  up  for  examination, 
it  seemed  as  if,  in  the  first  instance,  it  had  been  only  to  gratify 
Gardiner's  spleen  and  passion. 

He  was  called  up  once  more,  before  a  far  more  formidable  array 
of  persecutors,  on  the  28th,  and  finally  the  next  day,  at  nine  o'clock, 
when  Gardiner  read  his  sentence  condemnatory,  giving  him  over 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  Bonner  and  the  Sheriff.  Not  one  word 
had  been  said  respecting  his  publication  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures, 
but  the  Chancellor,  in  condemning  him,  had  thought  this  far  too 
tine  an  opportunity  not  to  cast  a  slur  upon  the  Bible,  and  thus 
hold  up  Rogers  to  the  terror  of  all  its  readers,  at  the  very  com- 
mencement of  this  fiery  day.  In  his  sentence,  when  naming 
Rogers,  three  times,  he  took  special  care  not  to  omit,  "otherwise 
called  Matthew.''^  We  have  no  proof  that  this  was  the  intention, 
but  it  served  such  a  purpose  for  the  moment.  Gardiner  having 
finished,  gratuitously  told  him  that  he  was  now  "in  the  great 
curse,"  and  that  no  man  was  to  speak  to  him.  Rogers,  who 
throughout  had  spoken  with  great  boldness  as  well  as  ability,  and, 
as  we  shall  see  presently,  to  Gardiner's  utter  confusion  if  not  dis- 
may, then  replied — ■ 

"  Well,  my  Lord,  here  I  stand  before  God  and  you,  and  all  this 
honourable  audience,  and  take  Him  to  witness,  that  I  never  wit- 
tingly nor  willingly  taught  any  false  doctrine  ;  and  therefore  have 
I  a  good  conscience  before  God  and  all  good  men.  I  am  sure  that 
you  and  I  shall  come  before  a  Judge  that,  is  righteous,  before  whom 
I  shall  be  as  good  a  man  as  you ;  and  I  nothing  doubt  but  that  I 
shall  be  found  there  a  true  member  of  the  true  Catholic  Church 
of  Christ,  and  everlastingly  saved.  And  as  for  your  false  Church, 
ye  need  not  to  excommunicate  me  forth  of  it.  I  have  not  been  in 
it  these  twenty  years — the  Lord  be  thanked  therefore  !  But  now 
ye  have  done  what  ye  can,  my  Lord,  I  pray  you  yet  grant  me  one 
thing?" 

What  is  that?  said  Gardiner.  "That  my  poor  wife,  being  a 
stranger  (a  foreigner)  may  come  and  speak  with  me,  so  long  as  1 
live — for  she  hath  ten  children,  that  are  her's  and  mine,  and  some- 
what I  would  counsel  her,  what  icere  best  for  her  to  doP  Will  it 
be  believed,  that,  at  once  discovering  a  mind  of  the  vilest  character, 
the  solitary  request,  and  so  touchingly  put,  was  with  disgusting 
barbarity  denied  !  And  Rogers,  though  he  had  told  the  Chancel- 
lor that  he  had  been  married  eighteen  years,  saw  the  man  no  more. 
The  amount  of  such  wickedness,  it  is  not  for  us  to  describe. 


378  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Hooper,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  his  honorable  companion,  had 
been  also  condemned  the  same  day,  and  both  were  to  be  conveyed 
to  Newgate.  There  was  now,  however,  some  cowardly  fear  of 
the  people.  The  sentence  had  not  only  been  pronounced  with 
closed  doors^  but  they  waited  till  nighty  before  their  victims  were 
seat  off.  Even  then,  they  conducted  them  from  the  Clinic  Prison 
to  Winchester's  Jiouse,  close  by,  and  passing  through  it,  along 
London  bridge,  officers  had  been  -sent  before  them,  ordering  the 
costermongers,  v/iio  sat  at  stalls  in  the  street,  to  put  out  their 
lights  !  Why  all  this  caution,  if  there  was  no  apprehension  of  a 
rescue?  Their  coming,  however,  had  been  anticipated,  and  pious 
householders  appeared  on  both  sides  of  tlie  streets,  with  candles. 
On  their  part,  as  tlie  prisoners  passed  along,  there  v/as  nothing 
but  salutations  of  afTectionatc  sympathy,  thanksgiving  for  their 
constancy,  and  earnest  prayers  for  its  continuance. 

This  was  on  Tuesday  the  29th,  and  Rogers  had  onl}^  to  live  till 
Monday  following.  Early  that  morning,  the  4th  of  February,  not 
aware  of  what  awaited  him,  like  Peter  of  old,  he  was  sound 
asleep.  The  jailer's  wife  went  and  had  some  difficulty  in  awak- 
ing him.  She  then  warned  him  to  make  haste,  and  prepare  him- 
self for  the  fire  !  "  If  it  be  so,"  said  the  good  man,  "  I  need  not 
tie  my  points."  Bonner  was  already  in  waiting.  Both  Hooper  and 
he  were  then,  what  they  chose  to  call  degraded,  by  being  bereaved 
of  their  ecclesiastical  trappings  ;  a  process,  which  necessarily  occu- 
pied some  time,  as  they  had  first  to  be  arrayed,  and  then  the  sev- 
eral parts  were  torn  from  them  piecemeal.  Hooper  was  to  be  sent 
off  next  da}'^  to  Gloucester ;  but  the  stake  was  already  prepared 
for  Rogers.  Then  once  more,  to  Bonner  he  tendered  the  same 
solitary  request  he  had  done  to  Gardiner  ;  but  it  was  now  reduced 
to  this — "  that  before  going  to  the  stake,  he  might  be  permitted  to 
speak  di  feiD  words  to  his  wife."  But  this,  like  his  fellow,  the 
inhuman  monster  denied  !  Foxe  supposes  that  it  v.^as  chiefly  to 
inforin  her  of  his  examinations  and  answers,  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, which  he  liad  left  behind  him.  concealed  in  the  prison. 
But  if  it  was,  the  Bishop's  denial  went  for  nothing,  as  they  were 
afterwards  found. 

Upon  being  delivered  up  to  the  Sheriff,  Woodroff,  before  they 
left  the  prison,  urged  Rogers  to  revoke  his  opinions.  "  That."  re- 
plied the  niartyr,  "  which  I  have  preached,  I  will  seal  with  my 
blood."— "Then,"  said  Woodroff,  "  thou  art  an  heretic."— "That,"  re- 
plied Rogers,  "  will  be  seen  at  the  day  of  judgment." — "  Well,  then," 
said  the  Slieriff,  "I  will  never  pray  for  thee." — "But,"  said  Rogers, 
mildly,  "I  will  pray  for  Ihee^     Thus  they  proceeded  to  the  stake. 

Upon  entering  the  street,  they  found  an  immense  crowd  await- 
ing them.  In  walking  towards  Smithfield,  Rogers  was  repeating 
a  portion  of  that  blessed  book  he  had  given  to  his  country— the 
51st  Psalm.  The  people  were  giving  thanks  for  his  constancy ; 
but  there  among  the  crowd,  there  met  him  the  wife,  whom  neither 
Gardiner  nor  Bonner  would  permit  him  to  see.  His  wife,  the  for- 
eigner, with  all  her  children — one  of  these,  a  youth  named  Daniel, 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  379 

if  the  eldest,  now  nearly  seventeen  years  of  age ;  the  youngest, 
or  the  eleventh  child,  an  unconscious  babe,  now  hanging  at  the 
mother's  breast !  In  the  midst  of  this  overwhelming  scene,  the 
husband  and  father  stood  firm,  and  having  got  through  it,  the 
bitterness  of  death  was  past ! 

At  the  stake  they  brought  him  a  pardon,  upon  condition  that  lie 
would  recant.  This,  of  course,  lie  pointedly  refused  to  do,  and  at 
last,  wasliing  his  hands,  as  it  w^ere,  in  the  liames,  he  cried  witli 
his  final  breath,  "Lord,  receive  my  spirit." 

We  have  referred  to  his  examinations  and  answers,  as  they 
were  afterwards  printed  in  full,  from  the  copies  left  behind  ;  and 
by  John  Foxe,  who  knew  the  martyr  well.  It  so  happened  that 
Mrs.  Rogers,  with  her  son  Daniel,  had  gained  access  to  the  prison, 
and  after  looking  in  vain  for  these  n^ianuscripts,  they  were  about,  to 
depart,  Vv^hen  the  youth,  looking  round  once  more,  spied  his  father's 
papered,  deposited  in  a  corner  under  the  stair. 

John  Rogers  appears  to  have  been  the  son  of  a  father  of  the 
same  name,  and  born,  not  in  Lancashire,  as  it  has  sometimes  been 
stated,  but  in  Warwickshire,  at  Deritend,  in  the  immediate  vicinity 
of  Birmingham.  Rogers  had  been  married  in  1537,  or  the  same 
year  in  wliich  he  had  completed  the  Bible,  to  Adriana  Pratt,  alias 
de  Weyden.  She  now  returned  with  her  children  to  Germany, 
and  the  lad  who  had  found  his  father's  papers  was  afterwards 
better  known  as  an  Ambassador  from  Clueen  Elizabeth  to  different 
countries. 

With  regard  to  Miles  Coverdale,  without  farther  explana- 
tion it  must  appear  almost  incredible  that,  only  fourteen  days  after 
the  death  of  Rogers,  or  on  the  18th  of  February,  Queen  Mary  was 
v/riting  a  letter,  of  which  he  was  to  be  the  bearer,  to  tlio  l^ing  of 
Denmark.  He  also  had  been  in  trouble,  as  v.'ell  as  Rogers,  since 
1553,  though  not  confined  to  prison.  Tiiis  letter  was  written  only 
on  Monday  week  after  the  scene  at  Smithfield,  and  tlie  same  day 
on  which  a  splendid  embassy  was  leaving  London  for  Rome  ;  and 
yet  the  ver}^  next  day  Coverdale  had  his  passport,  "for  himself 
and  two  servants,"  by  which  was  most  probably  meant  his  ivife 
and  o)ie  servant ;  and  so  he  left  England  for  Denmark.  Thus, 
if  the  one  man  connected  with  the  Scriptures  must  lead  the  van 
of  martyrdom,  the  other  can  easily  be  extricated  from  the  grasp  of 
Government  by  the  overruling  providence  of  God. 

The  deliverance  has  been  ascribed  solely  to  the  repeated  and 
very  earnest  interposition  of  his  Danish  Majesty  ;  and  but  for  this, 
humanly  speaking,  he  might  not  have  survived:  but  the  truth  is, 
that  on  the  examination  of  Rogers,  Gardiner  let  fall  a  hasty  and 
unfortunate  expression,  "that  the  Queen  went  before  him  in  this 
business,  and  it  was  all  done  at  her  motion."  This  revealed  a 
state  secret,  and  alarmed  the  Government,  as  the  people  were 
greatl}^  excited  when  the  remark  was  noised  abroad.  This  ex- 
citement led  to  a  pause  in  the  work  of  persecution,  and  a  sermon 
was  preached  before  Philip,  and  by  his  order,  on  the  next  Sunday, 
against  religious  persecution. 


380  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Now,  it  was  precisely  at  this  moment  that  Coverdale  was  re- 
leased, and  sent  out  of  the  country.  On  Monday  week  after  this 
sermon,  it  had  heen  thought  advisable  for  the  Q,ueen  at  last  to 
write  her  letter.  It  might  very  conveniently  seem  almost  to  con- 
tradict what  Gardiner  had  said  in  open  court,  that  day  three  weeks 
before,  and  on  Tuesday  the  passport  was  also  ready. 

Once  released,  on  the  18th  of  February  1555,  and  his  passport 
signed  next  day,  with  all  despatch  Coverdale  repaired  to  Copen- 
hagen, and  after  expressing  his  obligations  to  his  Royal  benefac- 
tor^ he  went  to  Wesel  in  Friesland,  where,  by  this  time,  he  met 
with  at  least  one  hundred  refugees  from  England.  After  a  short 
stay  he  proceeded  to  Bergzabern,  at  the  request  of  Wolfgang,  the 
Duke  of  Deux-ponts,  where  he  had  a  pastoral  charge  assigned  to 
him.  In  December  1558,  we  find  him  at  Geneva,  and  next  year 
he  returned  to  England.  Though  urged  repeatedly  to  return  to 
his  office  as  a  Bishop,  he  could  not  now  accept  of  it,  nor  assume  the 
dress  imposed.  Grindal,  however,  in  1563,  gave  him  the  small 
living  of  St.  Magnus,  near  London  Bridge,  remitting  the  tlrst-fruits, 
as  he  had  nothing  to  pay  them,  and  with  respect  to  dress,  he 
was  permitted  to  do  as  he  pleased  ;  but  in  about  two  years  more 
he  either  resigned,  or  was  obliged  to  do  so.  Still,  however,  he  con- 
tinued to  preach  ;  only  he  who  so  zealously  preached  against  the 
sectaries,  about  seventeen  years  before,  was  now  called,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-eight,  to  experience  what  was  involved  in  being  one. 
On  a  Saturday,  his  hearers  used  to  send  inquiring  where  he  was 
to  officiate  next  day,  but  even  this  he  at  last  declined  mentioning, 
lest  it  should  give  offence  !  Yet,  as  long  as  he  was  able  he  con- 
tinued to  preach,  and  died,  most  happily,  in  February  1569,  in  the 
eighty-first  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  honorably  interred 
in  Bartholomew's  Church,  behind  the  Exchange,  on  Saturday,  the 
19th  of  February,  when  a  vast  crowd  attended.  Thus,  in  the  end, 
alas !  was  left  to  England  no  ground  for  congratulation,  with  re- 
■  gard  to  her  treatment  of  any  of  the  men  concerned  in  her  earliest 
editions  of  the  Sacred  Volume  !  Recently,  after  the  Royal  Ex- 
change was  burnt,  Bartholomew's  Church  being  to  be  taken  down, 
the  supposed  bones  of  Coverdale  were  removed  to  the  spot  where 
he  often  ministered,  St.  Magnus,  and  a  marble  tablet  has  been 
erected  to  his  memory,  dated  mdcccxxxvii. 

Throughout  the  month  of  September,  1555,  the  health  of  Gar- 
diner, Bishop  of  Winchester,  had  been  declining  rapidly.  On 
Monday  the  21st  of  Octoljer,  Parliament  was  opened.  That  day 
he  was  present,  and  the  next,  for  the  last  time  ;  when  he  spoke 
and  exerted  himself  beyond  his  strength.  On  Wednesday,  or  seven 
days  after  Latimer  and  Ridley's  martyrdom  at  Oxford,  he  was  con- 
fined to  his  chamber,  and  after  lingering  for  three  weeks,  he  ex- 
pired at  Westminster,  early  on  the  morning  of  Tuesday  the  12th 
of  November.  His  body  was  immediately  removed  to  his  house  in 
Southwark,  but  not  carried  to  Winchester  for  above  three  months, 
or  the  24Lh  of  February  1556.  His  true  character  we  need  not 
now  depict ;  as  it  is  to  be  read  in  the  various  transactions  already 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  381 

recorded.  In  point  of  talent,  he  was  certainly  one  of  the  most  able 
men  of  his  times  ;  but  this  only  increased  an  amount  of  guilt  which 
the  day  of  final  reckoning  will  disclose.  Before  his  death  he  is 
generally  understood  to  have  been  in  great  trouble,  if  not  agony 
of  mind.  At  one  time  he  is  said  to  have  requested  the  account  of 
the  Saviour's  last  sufferings  to  be  read  to  him,  and  when  they 
came  to  the  denial  of  Peter,  he  desired  the  reader  to  stop.  "I 
have  denied,"  said  he,  "  I  have  denied  with  Peter ;  I  have  gone 
out  with  Peter ;  but  I  have  not  as  yet  learned  to  weep  bitterly, 
with  Peter !" 

As  for  Latimer  and  Ridley,  they  died,  it  is  known  and  con- 
fessed by  all,  triumphantly  at  Oxford,  twenty-seven  days  before 
this,  on  the  IGth  of  October.  Cranmer  followed  on  Saturday  the 
21st  of  March  1556,  in  the  sixty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  and  after 
the  manner  which  has  been  so  plentifully  described  elsewhere,  by 
conflicting  authorities.  Whatever  imperfections  were  to  be  found 
in  his  character,  the  virulence  with  whicli  it  has  occasionally  been 
attacked,  only  proves,  that  for  the  part  he  acted  as  a  whole,  he  is 
never,  by  certain  parties,  to  be  forgiven.  His  enemies,  even  still, 
will  scarcely,  if  at  all  allov>',  that  before  his  death  he  had  learnt, 
what  Gardiner  had  never  done — "  to  weep  bitterly  with  Peter ;" 
even  though  a  spectator  of  the  last  scene,  and  he  of  opposite  senti- 
ments, has  told  us  that  he  stood  there  with  a  heart  bursting  with 
grief — "his  face  bedewed  with  tears,  sometime  lifting  his  eyes  to 
heaven  in  hope,  sometime  casting  them  down  to  the  earth  for 
shame  ;  and  to  be  brief,  an  image  of  sorrow.'^  His  recantations 
assuredly  were  the  more  to  be  lamented,  after  the  firm  and  heroic 
testimony  borne  by  his  two  precursors  four  months  before  ;  and 
whom,  it  is  said,  he  saw  from  his  cell  when  they  were  on  the  wa}'' 
to  the  stake.  But  still  the  burning  of  his  right  hand — "  that  un- 
worthy hand" — "  that  hand  hath  offended,"  as  he  emphatically 
repeated,  and  as  long  as  his  tongue  would  suffer  him,  was  a  testi- 
mony to  the  deepness  of  his  regret,  as  powerful  and  expressive,  as 
it  was  then  possible  for  him  to  give  ;  and  still  more  so,  from  its 
being  the  only  one  then  left  to  him. 

Upon  the  accession  of  Henry's  eldest  daughter,  and  with  imine- 
diate  reference  to  the  Scriptures,  it  need  scarcely  be  remarked,  that 
the  country  at  large  was  in  a  very  different  state  from  what  it  had 
been  less  than  thirty  years  ago,  when  there  was  neither  a  printed 
Bible,  nor  even  a  New  Testament  in  print,  within  its  borders. 
Just  before  Mary  assumed  the  Crown,  England  seemed  to  be  fairly 
on  the  way  for  becoming  a  land  as  distinguished  for  the  possession 
of  the  Sacred  Volume,  as  God  had  appointed  it  should  be,  in  the 
end.  About  sixty-five  editions  of  the  New  Testament,  and  thirty 
of  the  entire  Bible  had  passed  through  the  press  :  but  here  now 
was  an  opposing  party,  not  only  in  full  power,  but  determined  to 
exercise  it.  Resolved  to  carry  everything  before  them,  it  might 
naturally  have  been  supposed,  that  one  of  the  very  first  movements 
must  have  been  a  systematic  attempt  to  destroy  all  these  volumes. 
Could  the  burning  of  the  sacred  books,  have  been  a  more  obnox- 


382  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

ions  iiieasiire,  than  the  burning  of  men  and  women,  old  and  young? 
Was  the  seizing  of  the  Scriptures,  and  at  once  burning  them  in 
open  day,  not  as  easy  as  the  seizure  and  imprisonment  of  men.  7 
And  yet,  however  much  blood  was  shed  ultimately,  and  however 
much  cruelty  inflicted,  on  the  part  of  Government  there  was,  on 
the  whole,  a  most  mysterious  silence  maintained,  with  regard  to 
the  English  Bible,  whic'i  has  never  been  sufficiently  observed. 

But  in  the  midst  of  all  the  efforts  to  destroy  the  Sacred  Script- 
ures, they  were  wonderfully  preserved.  This  was  done  chiefly  in 
two  ways  :  one  was  by  their  being  carried  abroad,  beyond  the 
reach  of  danger.  The  pause  at  the  commencement  of  Mary's 
reign  was  not  unimproved  as  to  personal  safety,  and  the  exiles  un- 
questionably availed  themselves  of  the  opportunity  as  to  that 
which  they  valued  above  most  fine  gold.  A  single  copy,  if  more 
could  be  carried  away,  would  not  satisf}^  any  one  among  them; 
and  it  was  far  more  easy  for  thein  to  carry  books  away  at  the 
time  they  went,  than  it  was  afterwards  for  some  of  these  exiles  to 
imj)ort  their  own  writings.  Tiiis,  however,  they  afterVi'ards  did, 
and  to  such  extent,  as  to  provoke  the  royal  inhibition  of  June 
1555,  which,  after  all,  could  not  slem  the  influx.  The  stern  proc- 
lamation of  death  by  martial  law,  three  years  after,  was  a  proof 
oi  failure ;  and  the  Q,ueen  was  thus,  in  effect,  only  declaring — 
what  her  father  before  his  death  had  done — that  royal  edicts,  in 
certain  circumstances,  if  not  nearly  impotent,  possess  no  sovereign 
power. 

But  the  other  mode  of  preservation  was  by  concealment ;  and 
this  was  practised  to  no  suiall  extent,  whether  in  the  crowded  city 
or  the  hamlets  of  England.  Even  in  the  cottages  of  the  latter, 
there  are  supposed  to  have  been  methods  of  concealment  so  in- 
genious as  to  baffle  all  search — • 

"  Pierce,  whisker'd  guards  that  Volume  sought  in  vain, 
Enjoy'd  by  stealth,  and  hid  with  anxious  pain; 
While  all  around  was  misery  and  gloom. 
This  sliow'd  the  boundless  bliss  beyond  the  tomb; 
Freed  from  tlie  venal  priest — the  feudal  rod, 
It  led  the  sutTr  r's  weary  steps  to  God  ; 
And  when  his  painful  course  on  earth  was  run. 
This,  his  chief  wealth,  descended  to  his  son." 

This  course,  however,  from  its  very  nature,  did  not  admit  of  its 
being  put  on  record,  and  yet  we  are  not  wMthout  evidence  of  the 
fact.  The  highly-prized  treasure,  read  often  in  the  dead  of  the 
nigiit,  was  concealed  under  the  bed,  in  hay-lofts,  or  in  out-houses; 
and  we  have  one  notable  instance  of  another  mode.  Mary  had 
not  dismissed  from  her  immediate  service  all  who  had  any  value 
for  trie  Scriplures  ;  on  the  contrary,  Strype  assures  us,  from  manu- 
script, that  the  Gentlemen  Ushers  of  the  Q,ueen  were  "almost  all 
favourers  of  the  Gospel."  These  had  been  in  the  service  of  Ed- 
ward, her  brother,  with  the  exception  of  others  that  she  had  ap- 
pointed. Of  one  of  them  the  same  laborious  author  gives  a  long 
account  in  his  "  Memorials," — Mr.  Underbill,  a  gentleman,  who, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  383 

though  imprisoned  and  molested,  after  all  continued  to  receive  his 
pension,  and  outlived  the  present  reign.  At  one  period,  "  a  diligent 
search  being  made  for  all  suspicious  books,"  he  was  then  living  in 
Wood  Street,  Cheapside.  Underbill  forthv/ith  "  sent  for  a  brick- 
layer, and  built  up  a  wall  in  his  chamber,  against  the  place  where 
all  his  books  were,  and  so  inclosed  them  in  security  from  the  dan- 
ger of  being  taken,  preserving  them  for  himself  against  better 
times."  Similar  precautions  v/cre,  no  doubt,  taken  by  others  ;  and 
it  is  impossible  to  say  how  many  precious  volumes,  if  not  also 
printing  materials,  were  built  up  until  Mary  should  draw  her  lant 
breath. 

It  may  now,  however,  bo  observed  that,  of  all  the  other  books 
printed  up  to  this  period  in  England,  there  are  not  a  few  of  wliich 
not  a  vestige  remains ;  while,  in  reference  to  the  iScriptifres,  of 
which  so  many  editions  had  been  printed,  nay,  and  innumerable 
editions  since,  it  is  a  most  singular  fact,  that  there  are  very  few, 
perhaps  not  above  three  or  four,  of  vv'hich  we  have  not  a  copy,  and 
of  the  great  majority  several  copie.:?,  either  in  England  or  Scotland. 

The  text  of  the  translation  of  the  New  Testament  now  required 
to  be  reviewed  with  far  more  leisure  and  superior  skill  than  it  had 
ever  yet  been  upon  English  ground,  or  since  the  first  edition  by 
Rogers  ;  but  this  cannot  be  done,  or  rather  as  Providence  had  de- 
termined, 97iust  not,  in  any  corner  of  our  native  land.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  fallen  back  into  very  much  the  same  condition  in 
which  it  was  in  1523,  when  Tyndale  found  at  the  last,  that  there 
was  "  not  only  no  room  in  my  Lord  of  London's  house  to  translate 
the  New  Testament,  but  that  there  was  no  place  to  do  it  in  all 
England." 

An  exile  from  his  native  country  first  acconi})lished  the  transla- 
tion, and  some  how  or  other  got  (he  book  introduced  into  the  king- 
dom, in  spite  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  his  Cardinal  Wolsey.  Then, 
an  exile  shall  do  the  same  thing  once  more ;  by  correcting  and 
printing  the  New  Testament,  and  sending  it  into  England  in  spite 
of  either  Philip  or  Mary,  or  their  Cardinal  Pole. 

The  translation,  correctly  speaking,  is  an  improvement  of  Tyn- 
dale's,  on  comparing  it  with  the  Greek  original,  once  more  ;  but 
although  it  cannot  even  yet  be  very  positively  asserted  who  that 
individual  was,  we  now  olfer  some  interesting  particulars  respect- 
ing one,  which  will  probably  leave  no  hesitation  as  to  his  being  the 
person  to  whom  his  country  stood  indebted. 

WiUiam  Whittingham,  the  branch  of  a  family  not  extinct,  in 
the  male  line,  till  so  recently  as  1758,  was  born  in  the  year  1524 
at  Holmeset  afterwards  called  Holmeside  Hall,  six  miles  from 
Durham,  in  the  parish  of  Lanchester.  His  father,  William  Whit- 
tingham, Esq.  of  Holmeset,  had  sent  him  to  Oxford,  where  he  be- 
came a  commoner  at  Brazen-nose  College,  about  1540,  and  made 
such  proficiency  in  learning,  that  in  1545  he  was  elected  a  fellow 
of  All-Souls.  Anthony  Wood  affirms  that  he  was  after  this  chosen 
one  of  the  senior  students  in  Christ  Church,  formerly  Cardinal 
College ;  "  Henry   VIII.    endeavoring   to   7'eplenish   it   with    the 


384  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

choicest  scholars  in  the  University,"  precisely  as  the  reader  may 
remember,  Wolsey  had  first  attempted.  This  is  curious  enough, 
as  Whittingham  was  thus  fallowing  in  the  same  path  by  which 
John  Fryth  had  been  led,  twenty  years  ago.  Whittingham,  how- 
ever, so  far  from  being,  like  his  predecessor,  confined  in  the  dun- 
geon below,  in  May  1550  had  leave  granted  him,  by  the  dean  and 
canons,  to  travel  for  three  years.  He  embarked  for  France,  in- 
tending to  go  into  Italy  ;  but  being  taken  unwell  at  Lyon,  he  pro- 
ceeded first  to  Paris,  and  then  to  Orleans  University,  spending  at 
least  a  year  and  a  half  between  these  two  cities.  After  having 
visited  several  parts  of  Germany,  his  travels  terminated  at  Geneva, 
where  he  remained  till  about  May  1553,  when  his  three  years  had 
expired.  But  what  a  change  awaited  him  on  his  return  !  Ed- 
ward died  on  the  6th  of  July.  Christ  Church  now,  must  soon 
have  proved  as  dangerous  to  him,  as  Cardinal  College,  or  the  same 
spot  had  done  to  Fryth.  Whittingham,  with  a  mind  now  en- 
lightened, had  no  idea  of  waiting  till  another  Cardinal  should 
bear  sway,  and  his  agents  at  Oxford  burn  Bibles,  as  Wolsey  had 
treated  the  New  Testament  Scriptures.  Instead,  therefore,  of 
"  leave  granted"  a  second  time,  just  as  if  to  make  the  parallel 
more  complete,  like  Fryth  or  Tyndale  before  that,  he  must  now 
*fly  to  the  Continent,  where  he  arrived  in  safety,  and  at  Frankfort, 
on  the  27th  of  June  1554,  with  the  first  exiles  who  there  took  up 
their  abode. 

Whittingham  had  lived  a  single  life,  but  after  retiring  to  Geneva, 
where  he  had  arrived  in  the  autumn  of  1555,  he  was  married  to 
Catiiarine,  the  sister  of  John  Calvin.  Whatever  may  have  been 
the  date  of  his  marriage,  this  was  the  time  in  which  he  must  have 
applied  assiduously  to  the  English  New  Testament,  with  "  the 
most  approved  Greek  examples"  before  him.  To  his  recension  of 
Tyndale's  version,  he  prefixed  two  things.  First,  "  an  Epistle  de- 
claring that  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  Law,  by  John  Calvin,"  his 
brother-in-law ;  and  then  his  own  address,  of  three  leaves,  "  To 
the  reader."  In  this,  he  speaks  throughout  in  the  singular  num- 
ber, taking  the  entire  responsibilit}^  upon  himself;  and  after  the 
broil  in  which  he  had  previously  been  involved  at  Frankfort,  his 
language  becomes  the  more  impressive.  Adverting  to  three  dis- 
tinct classes  of  men,  he  says — 

"Some  nre  malicious  despisersof  the  Word,  and  graces  of  God, who 
turn  all  things  into  poison,  and  a  farther  hardening  of  their  hearts: 
others  do  not  openly  resist  and  contemn  the  Gospel,  because  they 
are  stricken  as  it  were  in  a  trance  with  the  majesty  thereof;  yet 
either  they  quarrel  and  cavil,  or  else  deride,  and  mock  at  Avhatsoever 
thing  is  done,  for  the  advancement  of  the  same.  The  third  sort 
are  the  simple  lambs,  which  partly  are  already  in  the  fold  of 
Christ,  and  so  hear  willingly  their  Shepherd's  voice,  and  partly 
wandering  astray  by  ignorance,  tarry  the  time  till  the  Shepherd 
find  them,  and  bring  them  unto  his  flock.  To  this  kind  of  people, 
in  this  translation,  /  chiefly  had  respect^  as  moved  with  zeal, 
counselled  by  the  godly,  and  drawn  by  occasion,  both  of  the  place 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  386 

where  God  hath  appointed  us  to  dwell,  and  also  of  the  store  of 
htavenly  learnhig-  and  judgment,  which  so  aboundeth  in  this  city 
of  Geneva.  .  .  .  To  those,  therefore,  who  are  of  the  flock  of 
Christ,  which  know  their  Father's  will,  and  are  affectioned  to  the 
truth,  /  render  a  reason  of  tny  doing  in  few  lines,  (fcc." 

"  Counselled,"  as  he  tells  us,  by  others,  it  is  evident  that  the 
writer  had  obtained  the  pahn  for  scliolarship  among  his  brethren : 
now  as  Whittingham  will  come  before  us,  presently,  as  the  chief 
person  engaged  with  the  entire  Scriptures,  or  the  Geneva  Bible  of 
1560,  there  can  remain  little  or  no  doubt  that  he  is  the  man  now 
speaking  in  this  preface.  Afterwards  he  will  appear  to  have 
availed  himself  of  the  learning  of  some  other  individuals,  though 
by  no  means  to  the  extent  which  has  been  all  along  so  vaguely 
reported. 

This  New  Testament,  in  duodecimo,  neatly  printed  in  roman 
and  italic  types,  consists  of  456  leaves,  including  the  title — "  The 
Newe  Testament  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  conferred  diligently 
with  the  Greke  and  best  approued  translations.  With  the  argu- 
ments as  wel  before  the  chapters  as  for  every  Boke  and  Epistle  : 
also  diversities  of  readings  and  nioste  proffitable  annotations  of  all 
harde  places  ;  whereunto  is  added  a  copious  table. — ^At  Geneva, 
printed  by  Co.nrad  Badius,  m.d.lvii."  And  at  the  end,  "  Printed 
by  Conrad  Badius,  m.d.lvii.  this  x  day  of  June."  The  date  is 
worth  notice  on  one  account,  that  Whittingham  died  only  six 
miles  from  the  spot  where  he  was  born,  or  at  Durban),  on  the 
very  sa7ne  day,  twenty-two  years  afterwards,  the  10th  of  June 
1579.  A  copy  of  this  book,  at  public  sale,  has  brought  as  much 
as  Xll,  5s. 

Here,  then,  was  one  set-off  for  the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  which 
she  and  her  husband  would  have  gladly  dispensed  with.  Liter- 
ally, in  the  time  of  "  blood  and  fire,  and  vapor  of  smoke,"  in  a 
dark  and  cloudy  day  for  England,  that  was  accomplished  which 
had  never  been  overtaken  all  the  time  of  King  Edward.  The 
New  Testament  did  require  revision,  but  it  must  be  done  by  an 
exile  upon  foreign  ground,  and  be  printed  much  nearer  to  Rome 
than  London,  while  the  book,  as  we  have  seen,  was  already  in 
the  kingdom.  More  than  this,  the  entire  Bible,  still  more  im- 
proved by  a  careful  comparison  of  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek, 
was  already  commenced  ;  nay,  during  the  last  year  of  this  Q,ueen's 
reign,  the  revisers  at  Geneva  were  engaged  with  it  literally  night 
and  day.  Whatever,  therefore,  had  been  overturned  or  trodden 
down  in  England,  this  cause  had  sensibly  advanced.  The  storm 
had  only  enlivened  its  progress,  and  actually  brought  it  into  a/ar 
better  state  than  it  was  before.  We  have  yet  to  see  how  it  fared 
with  "  the  Exiles' "  Bible,  and  what  a  blessing  it  proved  to  the 
families  of  our  native  land,  for  a  period  equal  to  ten  times  the 
duration  of  Q,ueen  Mary's  reign.  The  Queen  expiring  on  the 
17th  of  November  1558,  she  was  succeeded  by  her  sister 
Elizabeth. 

25 


386  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE 

SECTION     III. 

REIGN    OP    ELIZABETH. 

A  REIGN,  EXTENDING  TO  MORE  THAN  FORTY-FOUR  YEARS,  BUT  HOWEVER  POW- 
ERFUL IN  EVERY  OTHER  DEPARTMENT,  HAVING  NO  ACTUAL  CONTROL  OVER 
THE  CHOICE  OR  PREFERENCE  OF  THE  PEOPLE  OF  ENGLAND,  WITH  REGARD 
TO  THE  SACRED  SCRIPTURES  IN  THEIR  NATIVE  TONGUE,  AMD  THUS  PRESENT- 
ING   THE    ONLY    EXCEPTION    TO   UNLIMITED    SWAY. 

The  second  daughter  and  only  surviving  child  of  Henry  VIII., 
or  the  last  branch  of  the  Tudor  family,  now  ascended  the  throne 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five.  Born  with  the  finest  natural  capacity, 
the  education  of  Elizabeth,  followed  by  the  discipline  tb rough 
which  she  had  passed,  enabled  her  to  hold  the  sceptre  with  a  firmer 
grasp  than  that  of  any  of  her  family  who  had  preceded  i\cr ;  and 
throughout  the  long  period  of  above  forty-four  years,  England 
had  no  occasion  to  complain  for  want  of  what  certain  persons 
have  styled  a  strong  government.  The  preservation  of  the  Queen 
to  the  present  hour  was  very  remarkable,  and  it  proves,  in  the 
most  striking  manner,  that  a  nation  can  no  more  judge  of  what 
may  contribute  to  its  stability,  than  any  single  man  can  tell  what 
is  good  for  him  all  the  days  of  his  vain  life,  which  he  sp-ndeth  as 
a  sliadow.  Thus,  the  English  people,  when  Mary  was  proclaimed, 
had  drowned  with  joy  the  voice  of  the  iieralds;  but  their  hearts 
revolted  at  the  very  prospect  of  her  marriage  to  a  Spanish  prince, 
and  the  step  once  taken  was  never  forgiven.  Yet  that  prince 
must  come  into  the  country,  and  enjoying  as  he  did,  enlire  sway 
over  his  English  Q,ueen,  thus  prove  one  instrument,  and  in  no  in- 
ferior degree,  of  preserving  her  sister  from  the  block.  The  life  of 
no  heir  to  a  throne  was  ever  worth  less  than  that  of  Elizabeth 
at  one  period  ;  and  had  Mary  only  remained  s'ngle,  with  Stephen 
Gardiner  for  her  adviser,  humanly  speaking,  her  sister  might  have 
ended  her  days  on  the  scaffold. 

Whatever  may  have  been  her  private  sentiments  as  to  the  cir- 
culation of  the  Bible,  she  commenced  her  reign  with  great  cau- 
tion. On  the  14th  of  January  1559,  in  a  public  procession  in 
London  when  an  elegant  English  Bible  was  presented  to  her 
majesty,  at  the  Conduit,  in  Cheapside,  she  received  it  with  a  grace 
peculiar  to  herself,  and  kissing  it,  said,  while  pressing  it  to  her 
bosom,  that  she  would  "  oftimes  read  that  holy  book."  The  Q,ueen 
had  just  passed  the  spot  where  the  Scriptures  had  been  often 
burnt ;  and  the  present  gift  had  been  adopted,  no  doubt,  with  the 
view  of  drawing  forth  some  pointed  declaration  ;  but  it  went  no 
farther,  and  then,  the  very  next  morning,  or  that  of  her  corona- 
tion, it  was  7iot  to  be  understood  that  she  had  already  signified  her 
approbation  of  either  printing  or  circulating  the  Sacred  Volume ! 

"  Q,ueen  Ehzabeth,"   says  Lord  Bacon,  "  the  morrow  of  her 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  387 

coronation,  it  being  the  custom  to  release  prisoners  at  the  inaugu- 
ration of  a  prince,  went  to  the  chnpel,  and,  in  the  great  chamber, 
one  of  her  courtiers,  who  was  well  known  to  her,  eitlier  out  of  liis 
own  motion,  or  by  the  instigation  of  a  wiser  man,  presented  her 
with  a  petition,  and,  before  a  number  of  courtiers,  besought  her, 
with  a  loud  voice, — '  That  now  this  good  time,  there  might  be  four 
or  five  principal  prisoners  more  released.'  It  was  inquired  who  they 
were,  when  he  replied, — '  These  were  the  four  Evangelists  and 
the  Apostle  Paul,  who  had  been  long  shut  up,  as  it  were,  in  prison, 
so  as  they  could  not  converse  with  the  common  people,  who  were 
eager  to  see  them  abroad.'  The  Queen,  however,  answered  very 
gravely, — '  That  it  was  best  first  to  inquire  of  themselves,  whether 
they  would  be  released  or  no.' " 

The  last  Queen  had  now  been  dead  two  months,  but  nothing 
definite  had  ever  escaped  from  the  lips  of  her  successor.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  steps  actually  taken  conveyed  no  certainty  of  sig- 
nification, so  that  the  hopes  and  fears  of  two  adverse  parties  were 
ahke  quivering  in  the  beam.  Thus,  in  reference  to  her  Council, 
Elizabeth  had  retained  a  majority  of  professed  disciples  of  "the 
old  learning,"  some  of  whom  had  been  active  in  its  defence,  and 
all  of  them  men  distinguished  either  for  capacity  or  influence  ;  but 
to  these  she  added  eight  others  of  opposite  sentiments,  not  ex- 
empting some  who  had  suffered  imprisonment  or  exile  for  their 
opinions.  Cecil,  the  Queen's  principal  adviser  and  Secretary,  as 
well  as  herself,  had  co)iforined  under  the  late  reign,  and  though  it 
was  understood  that  they  had  merely  bowed  to  the  storm,  from  a 
Council  so  constituted,  it  was  impossible  to  airgur  anything. 
There  was  in  fact  a  very  different,  or  secret  cabinet,  of  much 
smaller  dimensions,  with  whom  rested  the  power  of  control. 

A  number  of  steps  had  only  prolonged  the  public  uncertainty. 
Thus,  on  the  14th  of  December  Elizabeth  had  buried  her  sister, 
with  all  the  rites  of  the  old  learning,  and  on  the  23rd  ordered  a 
solemn  dirge  for  the  soul  of  the  Emperor  Charles  :  but  then  two 
days  after,  the  prisoners  on  account  of  religious  opinion  were  re- 
leased,while  on  the  27th  all  preaching  by  any  party  was  impera- 
tively suspended,  till  consultation  was  held  by  the  Queen  with  the 
three  estates.  She  had  passed  through  London  indeed  with  great 
eclat ;  but  the  very  next  morning,  as  we  have  seen,  checked  her 
too  forward  courtier.  The  Princess  Regnant  must  be  let  alone,  to 
think  out,  and  resolve  upon,  her  own  course,  and  to  consult  farther 
with  Cecil  and  Bacon ;  but  this  is  not  to  be  done  now,  in  open 
Hall,  and  before  the  Crown  has  yet  been  set  upon  her  head.  Par- 
liament itself  must  first  assemble,  as  it  did  in  ten  days  after,  when 
her  Majesty  had  no  reason  to  be  dissatisfied  with  the  amount  of 
power  conferred  upon  her.  Its  very  opening  however  must  be  dis- 
tinguished by  the  characteristic  ambiguity.  It  was  on  the  25th  of 
January,  when  Elizabeth  assisted,  in  state,  at  a  solenm  high 
mass ;  but  after  this  followed  a  sermon,  and  by  no  other  than  Dr. 
Cox,  the  tutor  of  Edward,  and  one  of  thee.ri/e^  just  returned  from 
banishment.     Not  a  little  business  was  done,  while  a  cautious  ex- 


388  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

pediency  is  still  very  observable.  Certain  laws  of  Henry  the 
Eighth  were  renewed,  many  of  Edward's  revived,  and  those  of 
Mary  repealed  :  but  in  Parliament  there  must  not  be  a  single 
movement  as  io  faith  of  any  kind.  They  were  summoned  to  con- 
sult respecting  an  uniform  "order"  of  religion.  Analogous  to 
Cranmer's  proposal,  twenty-three  years  ago,  they  must  first  de- 
cide upon  the  ceremonial  or  external  order ;  only  now  no  "  Arti- 
cles" in  reference  to  doctrine  or  the  fundamental  truths  of  Christ- 
ianity must  be  once  propounded.  In  the  Convocation  indeed,  also 
assembled,  "and  which,  owing  to  the  times,"  says  Fuller,  "was 
very  small  and  silent,"  the  adherents  of  "  the  old  learning,"  with 
Bonner  for  their  leader,  were  broaching,  for  the  last  time,  certain 
articles,  but  though  presented  to  Bacon,  the  Lord  keeper,  and  they 
led  to  a  discussion  afterwards,  such  subjects  are  not  to  be  admitted 
within  the  walls  of  Parliament. 

The  "Supremacy,"  however,  must  now  be  both  discussed,  and 
settled.  But  here  again,  her  Majesty  had  objected  decidedly  to  a 
title  first  assumed  by  her  Father,  and  one  in  which  he  gloried, — 
"the  Head  of  the  Church."  The  world,  it  has  been  said,  is  ruled 
by  names  ;  and  so  the  apparent  rejection  of  a  cherished  title  on 
the  one  hand,  and  non-interference,  as  to  faith,  at  present,  on  the 
other,  must  have  had  their  respective  objects.  Abroad  at  least, 
the  first  movement  might  sound  auspiciously  for  the  moment,  and 
the  last,  if  it  had  no  softening  effect  at  home,  at  least  left  the  way 
still  open  for  indulging  a  pleasing  dream,  or  the  hope  of  amalga- 
mating two  hostile  parties.  Meanwhile  the  title  by  which  Eliza- 
beth chose  to  be  distinguished  was  that  of  "  Governor  of  the 
Church  ;"  but  according  to  Fuller,  complaints  were  heard  still, 
"  that  the  simplicity  of  poor  people  was  abused  ;  because  while 
the  Queen  declined  the  former  title,  and  assumed  the  latter,  though 
less  offensive^  it  was  more  expressive ;  so  that  while  their  ears 
were  favored,  in  her  waiving  the  word,  their  souls  were  deceived 
with  the  sense  under  another  expression." 

There  was  now  to  be  no  Parliament  or  Convocation  for  three 
years,  but  at  last,  and  without  therefore  having  consulted  either 
the  one  or  the  other,  about  midsummer  or  the  autumn  of  this  year 
we  hear  something  respecting  the  Scriptures  ;  and  by  virtue  of 
Elizabeth's  authority,  certain  injunctions  were  issued.  Among 
these  were  the  following,  left  with  every  parish  visited. 

"  To  provide  witliin  three  months  after  this  visitation,  at  the 
charges  of  the  parish,  one  book  of  the  whole  Bible  of  the  largest 
volume  in  English,  and  within  one  twelve  months  the  paraphrases 
of  Erasmus  also  in  English,  and  the  same  to  be  set  up  in  some 
convenient  place  within  the  said  Church,  where  the  parishioners 
may  most  conveniently  resort  and  read  the  same.  All  parsons 
under  the  degree  of  A.  M.,  shall  buy  for  their  own  use  the  New 
Testament  in  Latin  and  English  with  paraphrases,  within  three 
months.  Enquiry  was  to  be  made  whether  any  Parsons,  Vicars, 
or  Curates,  did  discourage  any  person  from  reading  any  part  of  the 
Bible,  either  in  Latin  or  English." 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  389 

No  intimation  was  given,  here,  or  anywhere  else,  as  to  how  or 
where  such  vokinies  were  to  be  found,  and  hence  it  has  been  in- 
ferred by  Lewis,  that  under  the  late  reign  they  had  not  been  de- 
stroyed or  burnt  to  any  very  great  extent.  At  the  same  time,  it  may 
be  observed  that  this  was  nothing  more  than  a  royal  injunction ; 
buried  too  among  not  fewer  than  fifty  others,  some  of  which  are 
strange  enough  ;  and  if  the  effects  resembled  those  which  resulted 
from  Heiiry''s  voice,  then  there  would,  in  many  instances,  be  a 
rehictant,  in  others,  only  a  tardy  compliance. 

Before  Elizabeth  had  done  anything,  nay,  when,  as  Jewel  in- 
forms Peter  Martyr,  she  was  "  wonderfully  afraid  of  any  innova- 
tions," Richard  Grafton  appears  again  in  sight,  and  quite  in 
character,  as  if  summoning  afresh  to  their  work,  the  friends  of 
Divine  Truth.  But  before  he  called,  they  were  answering,  for 
they  had  been  busy  "night  and  day."  Only,  let  it  be  observed, 
that  as  it  happened  in  the  days  of  Henry,  the  answer  or  echo  will 
once  more  come  from  abroad.  It  was  in  1559  that  Grafton  began 
by  a  reprint,  first  published  at  the  accession  of  Edward  in  1547, 
after  his  father  had,  only  with  his  breath,  ceased  to  frown.  The 
title  is, — "A  godly  invective  in  the  defence  of  the  gospel,  against 
such  as  murmur  and  work  what  they  can^  that  tlte  Bible  should 
not  have  free  passage,  very  necessary  to  be  read  of  every  faithful 
Christian.  By  Philip  Gerrard,  yeoman  of  King  Edward's  cham- 
ber." We  are  thus  reminded  of  the  "  Supplication"  which  preceded 
the  New  Testament,  under  the  Q,ueen's  father,  as  well  as  of  the 
fine  opening  of  King  Edward's  reign  :  but  the  reigning  Princess  is 
resolved  to  be  as  cautious  as  she  was  vigilant  and  powerful.  We 
shall  see,  therefore,  whether  these  can  prevent  her  from  being 
overruled,  and  to  the  end  of  her  long  sovereignty. 

While  Elizabeth  was  yet  in  jeopardy  of  her  life,  and  under  the 
guardianship  of  Sir  Thomas  Pope,  we  have  already  seen  that  an 
edition  of  the  New  Testament  had  been  printed  at  Geneva — that 
copies  x^ere  finding  their  way  into  England,  in  despite  of  all  oppo- 
sition,— and  that  an  edition  of  the  entire  Scriptures  was  already 
commenced,  in  the  same  city.  The  exiles  themselves  inform  us 
7vhen  this  was  begun.  It  was  when  "  the  time  was  dangerous, 
and  the  persecution,  in  England,  sharp  and  furious."  The  fact  is, 
that  no  sooner  had  the  New  Testament  left  the  press,  than  Whit- 
tingham,  with  one  or  two  others,  were  preparing  for  their  larger 
undertaking,  and,  at  the  latest,  by  January  1558  they  had  com- 
menced. These  men  tell  us  that  "  they  thought  they  could  bestow 
their  labours  and  study  in  nothing  more  acceptable  to  God,  and 
comfortable  to  his  Church ;"  and  they  add,— "God  knoweth  with 
what  fear  and  trembling  we  have  been  for  the  space  of  two  years 
and  more,  day  and  night,  occupied  herein."  The  space  referred 
to,  therefore,  was  from  January  1558  to  the  10th  of  April  1560, 
when  the  last  sheet  was  put  to  press. 

Considering  the  high  character  of  this  version,  and  the  number 
of  editions  through  which  it  passed,  it  would  have  been  gratifying 
could  we  have  fixed,  with  more  positive  certainty,  on  the  indi- 


390  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

viduals  to  whom  the  nation  stood  indebted.  Tliey  were  most 
probably  not  more  than  three  in  number,  or  four  at  the  most ;  but, 
whether  it  aroiie  from  modesty  or  motives  of  prudence,  we  are  left 
to  find  out  the  leal  parties.  The  revision  has  been  often,  it  is 
true,  and  very  loosely,  ascribed  to  six^  and  even  nine,  individuals, 
as  though  engaged  in  one  body :  viz.,  William  Whittingham,  An- 
thony Gilby,  Miles  Coverdale,  Thomas  Sampson,  Christopher  Good- 
man, Thomas  Cole,  John  Knox,  John  Bodleigh  and  John  PuUain. 
This,  however,  is  doing  notiiing  else  than  numbering  up  certain 
men  possessed  of  learning,  who  happened  to  be  then  living  at 
Geneva.  It  requires  but  a  little  investigation  to  reduce  the  num- 
ber to  one-third,  and  then,  we  presume,  the  great  burden,  if  not 
the  entire  responsibility,  will  appear  to  have  fallen  upon  three  of 
these  scholars.  It  is  true  that  all  these  men,  with  many  others, 
were  intimately  and  affectionately  connected  with  each  other. 
They  were  members  of  the  same  Christian  church,  and  a  church, 
be  it  observed,  who  as  a  body  felt  deeply  interested  in  this  edition 
of  tlie  Sacred  Volume.  The  entire  expense  not  only  of  this  Bible, 
but  of  an  edition  of  the  Psalms  by  itself  was  to  be,  and  was  de- 
frayed by  "such  as  were  of  most  ability  in  that  congregation." 
There  was  no  application  to  their  native  country,  no  solicitation 
of  one  farthing  from  without.  Amidst  the  storm  that  raged  against 
the  truth,  they  had  been  driven  into  a  corner,  and  thus  the  Church 
was  employed.  In  the  fulness  of  their  hearts,  the  sound  learning 
of  certain  members,  and  the  pecuniary  substance  of  others,  being 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  their  common  Saviour,  nothing  could  be  a 
finer  exhibition  of  Christian  zeal  for  the  highest  interests  of  their 
native  land.  Thus,  as  the  first  translation  of  the  Sacred  Word, 
commenced  in  1524,  had  sprung  from  the  devoted  zeal  of  a  soli- 
tary Christian  exile,  whese  heart  had  bled  with  pity  for  his  coun- 
try ;  so  the  next  thorough  revision  of  the  entire  Sacred  text,  must 
come  from  the  bosom  of  a  small  Christian  community,  also  in  exile, 
"  for  the  word  of  God  and  the  testimony  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  accession  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  however,  in  November  1558, 
naturally  filled  this  entire  circle  with  joy,  and  the  men  we  have 
named,  as  well  as  others,  were  as  naturally  separated ;  but  then 
this  was  with  the  exception  of  those  who  had  devoted  themselves 
to  the  revision  and  printing  of  the  Bible.  The  good  news  had 
reached  Geneva  in  December,  and  at  that  moment,  we  are  in- 
formed that  the  greater  part  of  the  book  was  not  finished  ;  but 
"  Whittingham,  with  one  or  tico  more,  did  tarry  at  Geneva  an  year 
and  a  half  after  Queen  Elizabeth  came  to  the  Crown,  being 
resolved  to  go  through  with  the  lOorkP  Le  Long  has  affirmed 
that  "the  chief  and  most  learned"  of  the  men  already  mentioned, 
were  Coverdale,  Whittingham,  and  Gilby;  but  Coverdale,  now 
seventy  years  of  age,  cannot  be  traced  as  at  Geneva  sooner  than 
December  1558,  and  it  is  certain  that  he  returned  in  1559  ;  how 
early  we  cannot  tell.  He  was  preaching  at  Paul's  Cross  on  the 
12th  of  November.  In  short,  Knox  had  left  Geneva  as  early  as 
January  1559 ;    Goodman  followed  him   to  Scotland,  where  we 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  391 

find  him  in  September ;  while  it  is  as  certain  that  Coverdale  and 
Cole,  Pidlaia  and  Bodleigh,  returned  to  England  in  the  same 
year.  The  only  three  left,  therefore,  were  Whittingham,  Gilby, 
and  Sampson,  and  with  their  names  only  the  translation  should 
have  been  associated  ;  since  the  men  who  completed  "  the  greater 
part,"  must  have  been  those  by  whom  it  had  been  begun.  Many 
of  their  brethren,  indeed,  they  tell  us,  ^'■pnt  them  on  this  work  by 
their  earnest  desire  and  exhortation;"  while  others  encouraged 
them  "  not  to  spare  any  charge  for  the  furtherance  of  such  a 
benefit  and  favour  of  God  toward  his  Church." 

Although  we  cannot  now  notice  every  edition  here,  but  refer  to 
our  list,  yet  as  the  only  English  Bible  distinctly  pointed  out  in  any 
patent,  from  Elizabeth  downwards,  and  especially  as  the  basis  of 
so  many  editions  for  above  eighty  years  to  come,  this  demands 
some  farther  notice. 

Title — "The  Bible  and  Holy  Scriptures  conteyned  in  the 
Olde  and  Newe  Testament.  Translated  according  to  the  Ebrue 
and  Greke,  and  conferred  with  the  best  translations  in  divers  Ian- 
gages.  With  moste  profitable  annotations  upon  all  the  harde 
places,  and  other  thinges  of  great  importance  as  may  appeare  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  reader."  Beneath  is  a  wood-cut,  of  the  Israel- 
ites passing  through  the  Red  sea.  "  At  Geneva.  Printed  by  Rou- 
land  Hall,  mdlx."  Collation. — ^After  a  dedication  to  the  Q,ueen, 
and  an  Epistle  to  the  Readers,  about  to  be  noticed,  we  have  the  text 
from  Genesis  to  2d  Maccabees,  fol.  i.,  474.  "  The  Newe  Testa- 
ment of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  &c.,  with  the  same  wood-cut  and 
imprint  as  before.  "  The  Holy  Gospel,"  &c.,  fol.  ii.,  cxxii.  A  table 
of  interpretation  of  proper  names — of  principal  things — the  years 
from  Adam  to  Christ — and  the  years  from  Paul's  conversion. 
There  is  no  Colophon.  The  Sacred  text  is  in  roman,  the  con- 
tents of  chapters  in  italic  type.     A  full  page  contains  63  lines. 

Not  at  all  aware,  perhaps,  of  the  cautious  expediency  by  which 
the  Queen  of  England  was  now  guided,  they  subjoined  a  dedica- 
tion to  her  Majesty,  remarkably  free  from  that  fulsome  adulation 
which  had  been  far  too  common,  and  expressing  with  great  frank- 
ness their  zeal  for  fiuther  progress  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  right- 
eousness. But  there  was  a  second  address  or  "  Epistle,"  still  more 
worthy  of  notice.  In  what  they  had  done,  the  translators  now 
fixed  an  eye  of  sympathy  and  love,  not  upon  England  alone,  but. 
taking  a  nobler  flight,  upon  all  those  to  whom  the  English  lan- 
guage was  vernacular.  Such  was  the  happy  effect  of  adversity 
and  travel;  the  one  softening,  the  other  enlarging  their  minds. 
Their  epistle  of  explanation,  therefore,  as  to  this  version,  is  ad- 
dressed to  no  particular  party  ;  but — "To  our  beloved  in  the 
Lord;  the  brethren  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ire- 
land." A  most  judicious  title,  and  if  there  must  be  any  Epistle 
to  the  Christian  Reader  at  all,  it  would  have  been  well  for  the 
interests  of  the  United  Kingdom  had  the  words  been  preserved 
inviolate  from  that  day  to  this.  Amidst  all  that  has  occurred 
since,  it  is  the  only  one  to  which  no  objection,  worth  notice,  could. 


392  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

or  can,  be  brought ;  to  say  nothing  of  its  being  so  akin  to  the  sim- 
ple majesty  of  the  Divine  Record,  and  to  that  only  light  in  which 
God  has  regarded  the  entire  number  of  his  people,  in  this  highly 
favored  country,  all  along. 

The  last  sheet  of  this  Bible  having  been  committed  to  the  press 
on  the  10th  of  April  1560,  Whittingham,  Gilby,  and  Sampson  re- 
turned home  immediately  ;  but  of  all  the  men  already  mentioned, 
there  was  one,  who  had  not  only  fostered  the  translation  when 
proceeding  at  Geneva,  but  was  specially  interested  in  its  circula- 
tion throughout  England,  immediately  afterwards,  and  he  must 
not  now  be  passed  over. 

John  Bodley,  Esq.,  was  a  native  of  Exeter,  according  to  the 
statement  of  his  own  son.  "  In  the  time  of  Q,ueen  Mary,"  he 
says,  "after  being  cruelly  threatened  and  narrowly  observed,  by 
those  that  maliced  his  religion,  for  the  safety  of  himself  and  my 
mother,  (formerly  Miss  .loan  Hoan,  an  heiress  in  the  hundred  of 
Ottery  St.  Mary,)  who  was  wholly  affected  as  my  father,  knew  no 
way  so  secure  as  to  fly  into  Germany ;  where,  after  a  while,  he 
found  means  to  call  over  my  mother,  with  all  his  children  and 
famil)^,  whom  he  settled  for  a  while  at  Wesel  in  Cleveland,  and 
from  thence  we  removed  to  the  town  of  Frankfort.  Howbeit,  we 
made  no  long  tarriance  in  either  of  these  towns,  for  that  my  father 
had  resolved  to  fix  his  abode  in  the  city  of  Geneva,  where,  as  far 
as  I  remember,  the  English  Church  consisted  of  some  hundred 
members."  Here  it  was  that  the  father  first  took  that  deep  interest 
in  the  Geneva  Bible,  which  comes  before  us  presently,  and  here 
too  it  was  that  this  son  acquired  that  taste  for  literature  and  books, 
for  which  so  many  generations,  ever  since,  have  had  such  reason 
to  revere  his  memory.  For  who  was  this  son  ?  No  other  than 
Thomas,  afterwards  Sir  Thomas  Bodley,  who,  under  his  father's 
care,  spent  from  his  twelfth  to  his  fifteenth  year  in  Geneva,  and 
then  studying  Greek  and  Hebrew,  as  well  as  other  subjects,  under 
the  best  teachers.  On  returning  home,  his  father  in  1.559  or  1560 
placed  him  in  Magdalene  College  under  Mr.  Laurence  Humphry, 
and  in  six  years  after,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  was  reading 
publicly  a  Greek  lecture  in  Merton  Hall,  or  the  College  of  Wic- 
liffe.  The  founder  of  the  Bodleian,  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
of  all  libraries,  at  home  or  abroad,  is  annually  remembered  by  a 
solenm  speech  in  the  schools;  and  certainly  on  the  day  when  the 
visitation  of  the  library  is  held,  all  petty  prejudice  aside,  Geneva 
may  well  be  glanced  at,  as  the  spot  where  the  seeds  of  learning 
were  first  sown  in  the  founder's  mind,  and  his  taste  for  literature 
was  first  implanted.  At  all  events,  whatever  be  done  or  said  at 
Oxford,  in  the  present  day,  let  not  the  zeal  of  his  worthy  father 
be  forgotten  elsewhere,  on  behalf  of  the  Sacred  Volume  itself,  and 
that  in  a  translation  which  was  read  in  the  families  both  of  Eng- 
land and  Scotland,  for  more  than  half  a  century  to  come. 

The  first  distinct  notice  of  the  Geneva  Bible  having  arrived  in 
England  is  by  no  less  than  a  patent  from  the  Queen,  granted  in 
favor  of  John  Bodeleigh  already  mentioned.     AVhether  this  patent 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  393 

was  of  much  advantage  to  the  patentee  is  at  present  of  secondary 
moment ;  but  it  forcibly  reminds  us  of  Henry  VIII.,  in  the  year 
1537.  It  presents  Elizabeth  before  us,  now  at  the  first  call  from 
abroad,  and  without  any  hesitation,  lierself  opening  the  way  for 
the  general  circulation  of  this  Bible  throughout  her  dominions,  for 
seven  years  to  come. 

As  only  eleven  months  had  elapsed  between  Henry's  winking 
at  the  martyrdom  of  Tyndale  and  the  royal  sanction  of  his  trans- 
lation, so  only  eleven  months  had  now  passed  between  the  evasive 
or  cautious  reply  of  his  daughter  and  her  royal  patent.  Both 
volumes  had  been  prepared  upon  foreign  ground,  and  both  in  the 
face  of  clouds  and  darkness,  or  the  frown  of  the  reigning  govern- 
ment; yet  the  second  has  come  into  England,  as  did  the  first,  by 
the  declared  consent  of  the  Sovereign.  Henry  had  not  read  the 
Bible  he  sanctioned,  nor  had  his  daughter  assuredly  examined  the 
present  volume. 

Under  these  circumstances,  the  patent  granted  to  Mr.  Bodley 
for  the  Geneva  Bible,  with  annotations,  must  appear,  in  its  true 
light,  as  not  a  little  extraordinary.  As  Crumwell  formerly  at  once 
obtained  Henry's  admission  of  Tyndale's  Bible,  without  the  King 
being  aware  of  what  he  was  doing,  so  some  one  now,  perhaps 
Cecil,  had  gained  the  assent  of  Elizabeth.  Such,  however,  was 
the  fact.  The  Bible,  completed  by  these  exiles,  being  intended 
for  English  eyes,  the  habitual  caution  of  the  Q.ueen  must  be  laid 
aside,  and  her^r^^  official  act  in  reference  to  the  Scriptures,  sanc- 
tion its  printing  in  England,  and  that  without  the  slightest  refer- 
ence to  any  Bible  previously  admitted  or  sanctioned  by  her  father 
or  brother. 

Such  was  the  commencement  of  those  numerous  editions  of  the 
Geneva  version  which  followed,  not  only  during  the  long  reign  of 
Elizabeth,  but  down  to  nearly  the  middle  of  the  next  century. 
After  that  two  editions  had  been  executed  abroad,  besides  two  of 
the  New  Testament  in  a  separate  form,  it  was  certainly  time  for 
the  English  printers  to  bestir  themselves ;  and  the  man  who  had 
printed  for  Queen  Mary  all  along,  John  Cawood,  must  be  allowed 
to  take  the  lead.  He  had  changed  with  the  times,  and  now  came 
forward  with  an  edition  of  Cranmer's  Bible  in  quarto  ;  while 
Richard  Jugge,  silent  since  the  days  of  Edward,  now  gave  two 
editions  of  the  New  Testament,  one  of  Tyndale's,  and,  it  has 
been  affirmed,  one  of  Covcrdale's.  Richard  Harrison,  too,  though 
not  printer  to  her  Majesty,  having  obtained  license,  had  printed  an 
edition  of  Cranmer's  Testament.  Thus,  and  before  the  year  1561 
had  expired,  it  is  curious  enough,  the  people  had  Tyndale  and 
Coverdale,  Cranmer  and  the  Geneva  version  all  before  them. 

In  the  year  1562,  an  edition  of  Cranmer's  Bible  appeared,  the 
first  in  folio  under  Elizabeth :  and  it  is  worthy  of  notice,  that 
this  came  from  neither  of  her  Majesty's  printers,  but  from  the 
press  of  Richard  Harrison,  already  mentioned. 

About  twenty-eight  years  ago,  or  in  1.538,  the  reader  cannot 
fail  to  remember  an  edition  of  Matthew's  Bible  being  commenced 


394  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE. 

under  Coveidale's  inspection  at  Paris,  which  however  had  to  be 
finished  in  London.  But  if  the  state  of  France  was  un propitious 
to  such  an  attempt  then,  it  seemed  to  have  been  much  more  so 
now.  There  happened,  however,  to  be  a  short  pause  in  the  civil 
wars  which  for  forty  years  iiad  desolated  that  fine  country.  The 
King-  of  Navarre  liad  been  killed  at  a  siege,  the  Duke  of  Guise 
assassinated,  and  fifty  thousand  Hugonots  already  slain.  Eliza- 
beth, for  her  own  safety's  sake,  had  aided  this  people  ;  and  in 
1553  a  peace  was  concluded  which  lasted  till  1567.  A  gentleman, 
then  living  at  Rouen  in  Normandy,  belonging  to  the  customs,  and 
of  good  repute,  resolved  to  seize  tli^e  opportunity  here  presented 
him  ;  and  at  his  own  cost  and  charges,  committed  to  the  press  an 
edition  of  Cranmer's  Bible  in  folio.  This  is  a  very  fine  book,  on 
royal  paper,  printed  "at  Rouen  by  C  Hamillon,  cum  privilegio, 
1556.''  This  gentleman,  Richard  Carmarden,  the  frequent  corre- 
spondent of  Cecil,  as  in  the  Lansdowne  manuscripts,  was  afterwards 
in  the  London  Custom  House,  and  living  as  late  as  the  year  1599. 

The  other  instance  referred  to,  at  home,  was  no  other  than  the 
last  edition  printed  by  the  same  man,  wiio  in  the  midst  of  actual 
pestilence,  and  with  but  doubtful  prospect  of  success,  ^/-^^  brought 
the  Bible  of  1537  into  England,  Richard  Grafton.  He  had 
weathered  the  storm  in  Mary's  reign,  and  now  saw  his  old  virulent 
enemy,  Bonner,  still  living,  but  under  general  contempt,  and  in 
prison.  Though  advanced  in  life,  Grafton  ventured  on  an  edition 
of  Cranmer's  Bible,  evidently  intended  for  family  use.  It  was  the 
first  edition  of  the  English  Bible  in  one  volume  octavo  ;  and  seems 
to  have  been  a  very  large  impression. 

At  last,  in  1568,  or  the  tenth  year  after  Elizabeth  had  ascended 
the  throiie,  the  first  edition  of  the  Bible,  superiiitended  b}'^  Parker, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbmy,  was  published.  Great  care  had  been 
taken  in  this  revision  of  the  text,  by  more  than  fifteen  learned 
men,  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholars,  besides  Parker  himself,  who 
superintended  the  several  portions,  as  they  came  from  the  hands 
of  those  to  whom  he  had  committed  them. 

Parker  had  now  at  last  accomplished  that  which  Cranmer  had 
attempted  in  vain,  or  a  version  of  the  English  Bible,  generally  re- 
vised from  the  preceding,  in  conjunction  with  certain  brethren  on 
the  Bench,  and  other  scholars.  It  was  a  decided  improvement  on 
the  whole.  They  had  watched  Cranmer's  or  Coverdale's  leaning 
to  the  Vulgate  ;  they  expunged  the  three  verses  from  the  four- 
teenth-Psalm, which  the  latter  first  inserted  at  Paris,  and  in  Tim- 
othy, they  altered  Cranmer's  rendering  "  by  authority  of  the 
prieslhood^^  to  that  of  "  the  eldership."  besides  other  amendjnents 
of  the  text.  This  Bible,  as  presented  to  the  Queen,  was  by  far 
the  most  splendid  that  had  ever  been  printed,  containing  not 
fewer  than  143  engravings  in  copper  or  wood,  of  maps,  portraits, 
and  coats  of  arms.  The  portraits  include  one  of  Elizabeth  on  the 
title  ;  one  of  Dudley,  Earl  of  Leicester,  at  the  beginning  of  Joshua  ; 
and  one  of  Cecil,  afterwards  Lord  Burleigh,  at  the  Psalms. 

It  has  been  long  erroneously  supposed  that  this  revision  was 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  395 

UNDERTAKEN  by  Roi/al  com?nand.  There  is  not  only  no  direct, 
proof,  but  the  evidence  presented  forbids  any  such  idea. 

As  far  as  printing-  editions  could  carry  it,  all  justice  had  now 
been  done  to  the  Bishops'  Bible  ;  and  backed  by  the  influence  of 
so  many  men  on  the  Bencli,  personally  interested,  it  must  have 
been  presumed  that  this  book  would  at  last  carry  {he  palm  of  su- 
periority, and  put  not  only  Cran)ner's  version  out  of  sight  and  out 
of  mind,  but  the  Geneva  Bible  also.  Such  was  the  state  of  tilings 
in  the  year  when  Archbishop  Parker  expired.  With  regard  to 
that  version  of  the  Bible  frecjuently  distinguislied  by  liis  name,  and 
that  wliich  had  been  accomplished  by  his  expatriated  countrymen, 
matters  now  stood  very  much  iji  the  same  position  as  they  had  done 
in  the  days  of  Henry  and  Edward,  when  Tyndale'sand  Cranmer's 
versions  were  before  the  people  of  England. 

We  are  now  met  by  a  course  of  events,  the  most  signal  features 
of  Elizabeth's  reign,  which,  after  all  that  has  been  written,  have 
been  passed  over  by  most  historians,  and  never  fully  explained  by 
any.  An  e.vtraordinarp  demand  for  the  Sacred  Volume,  and  supplied 
by  means  not  less  extraordinary,  can  never  be  unimportant  in  the 
estimation  of  many  ;  while  at  the  same  time  the  cause  of  this  de- 
mand was  of  such  a  character  as  to  form,  in  the  history  of  the 
English  Bible,  one  of  its  brightest  pages.  To  each  of  these  in 
turn,  therefore,  the  attention  of  the  reader  is  now  solicited.  This 
eager  desire  for  the  w^ord  of  life,  and  decided  preference  for  it,  in 
the  Geneva  Version,  were  simultaneous,  in  the  year  1575. 

Had  the  government  of  Elizabeth  not  been  distinguished  for 
economy,  and  at  the  same  time  the  advancement  of  several  great 
national  objects,  it  could  never  have  been  endured.  Frugal  in  her 
own  expenditure,  she  could  carry  measures  in  Parliament  with  a 
higher  hand  than  her  father.  Instead  of  contracting  debt,  she 
discharged  that  of  her  deceased  brother  and  sister,  both  principal 
and  interest.  She  restored  the  debased  coin  to  its  former  purity ; 
and  so  far  from  receiving  any  pension  from  France,  like  her  pre- 
decessors, or  from  any  foreign  power,  she  controlled  foreign  poli- 
tics by  the  money  of  England.  But  then,  on  the  otlier  hand,  this 
determination  of  Elizabeth's  to  economize,  led  to  different  modes 
of  procuring  supplies ;  and,  among  these,  to  one  which  it  might 
have  been  supposed  such  a  Q,ueen  could  never  have  deigned  to 
stoop — moneys  received  for  granting  monopolies  to  her  subjects. 

"The  question  itself,"  said  the  late  Robert  Hall  one  day,  at 
Leicester,  "whether  the  Sacred  Volume  was  designed  to  be  com- 
municated to  mankind  at  large  without  distinction,  or  to  a  par- 
ticular class,  with  a  discretionary  power  of  communicating  it  at 
such  times,  and  in  such  proportions  as  tliey  may  deem  fit,  can  only 
be  determined  by  itself.  If  it  bear  decisive  indications  of  its  being 
intended  for  private  custody  ;  if  it  be  found  to  affirm,  or  even  to 
insinuate,  that  it  is  not  meant  for  universal  circulation  ;  we  must 
submit  to  hold  it  at  the  discretion  of  its  legitimate  guardians,  and 
to  accept,  with  becoming  gratitude,  such  portions  as  they  are 
pleased  to  bestow.     From  the  Word  of  God  there  can  be  no  ap- 


396  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

peal:  it  must  decide  its  own  character,  and  determine  its  own  pre- 
tensions. Thus  much  we  must  be  allowed  to  assume;  that  if  it 
was  originally  given  to  mankind  indiscriminately,  no  power  upon 
earth  is  entitled  to  restrict  it ;  because,  on  the  supposition  which 
we  are  now  making,  since  every  man's  original  right  in  it  was 
equal,  that  right  can  be  cancelled  by  no  authority  but  that  which 
bestowed  it.  If  it  was  at  first  promulgated  under  the  character  of 
a  universal  standard  of  faith  and  practice,  we  are  bound  to  recog- 
nize it  in  that  character  :  and  every  attempt  to  alter  it,  to  convert 
into  private  what  was  originally  public  property,  or  to  make  a 
monopoly  of  a  imiversal  grant,  is  an  act  of  extreme  presump- 
tion and  impiety.  It  is  to  assume  a  superiority  over  revelation 
itself." 

Whether  the  "patent  of  privilege"  first  granted  by  Q,ueen 
Elizabeth,  including  as  it  did,  the  Holy  Scriptures,  did  not  come 
within  the  sweep  of  this  pointed  and  solemn  language,  we  shall 
leave  the  reader  to  determine,  after  he  has  read  a  few  pages 
farther.  But,  in  the  meanwhile,  her  Majesty  began  and  continued 
to  abound  in  granting  patents  of  various  descriptions,  to  the  close 
of  her  career. 

In  four  years  she  increased  the  number  so  that  in  the  Parlia- 
ment of  1601,  at  the  close  of  the  session,  a  debate  ensued,  and 
such  confusion  as  the  Secretary  of  State  had  never  before  wit- 
nessed. A  list,  though  imperfect,  of  such  commodities,  for  the 
exclusive  traffic  in  which  patents  had  been  granted,  was  read 
to  the  House  by  Sir  Robert  Wroth.  These  had  been  given 
away  in  certain  cases,  as  rewards  for  service  done,  or  to  be  done — 
not  a  very  princely  mode  of  payment ;  but,  in  general,  they  had 
been  sold  to  the  parties  concerned.  This  list  comprehended  not 
only  such  important  necessaries  of  life  as  salt  and  coal,  leather 
and  cloth,  but  steel  and  lead,  tin  and  glass,  jSpattlsh  wool  and 
Irish  yarn ;  or.  in  short,  above  forty  different  articles,  and  cer- 
tainly a  sufficient  proof  of  the  extent  to  which  the  evil  had  gone. 
After  the  list  was  finished,  a  member  of  the  House,  and  of  con- 
siderable celebrity,  Mr.  Hakewil,  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  rose  and  in- 
quired— Is  not  bread  there  ?  "iJrea^,"  said  one, — "  Bread,"  said 
another,  "this  voice  seems  strange."  "Nay,"  said  he,  "if  no 
remedy  be  found  for  these,  bread  will  be  there,  before  the  next 
Parliament."  After  four  days  of  warm  debate,  the  (iueen  and 
Council  at  last  taking  alarm,  a  gracious  message  from  the  throne 
was  sent  down  to  the  House,  which  the  Secretary  of  State,  Robert 
Cecil,  improved  by  an  assurance  that  the  existing  patents  should 
be  repealed,  and  no  more  granted. 

But  still  a  list  of  these  very  monopolies  granted  by  Elizabeth, 
indorsed  by  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  is  to  be  found  unrepealed 
under  the  next  reign.  It  is  dated  25th  May  1603,  or  two  months 
after  the  Q^ueen  had  ceased  to  live,  and  they  were  still  about  forty 
in  number  ! 

To  all  who  have  only  glanced  at  the  history  of  patents,  it  is 
well  known  that  the  noble  art  of  printing  did  not  escape.     On  the 


HISTOllY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  397 

contrary,  it  was  about  the  earliest  of  the  arts  which  came  under 
their  power,  whether  direct  or  indirect.  Under  the  reign  of  Ehza- 
beth  there  were  two  gentlemen,  Francis  Flower,  Esq.,  a  Just- 
ice of  the  Peace,  afterwards  in  the  service  of  the  Lord  Chancellor, 
Sir  Christopher  Hatton ;  and  Thomas,  afterwards  Sir  Thomas 
Wilkes,  well  known  as  Clerk  to  the  Privy  Council,  as  an  Am- 
bassador of  Elizabeth's  to  France,  Holland,  and  Germany,  and 
who,  but  for  Lord  Burleigh's  influence,  would  have  succeeded  Sir 
Francis  Walsingham  as  Secretary  of  State.  To  the  former  was 
granted,  in  1573,  one  of  those  ^'■Patents  of  Privilege"  as  "  her 
Majesty's  printer  of  the  Latin ;"  and  to  Sir  Thomas,  about  1575, 
another  as  her  printer  of  the  English  tongue.  The  former,  of 
inferior  value,  was  forthwith  farmed  out  to  more  assignees  than 
one,  Thomas  VautroUier,  a  Frenchman,  being  one,  if  not  the 
chief. 

Wilkes,  immediately  after  obtaining  his  patent,  first  bestowed 
the  chief  part  of  it  on  John  Jugge,  son  of  Richard  the  printer, 
with  whose  name  we  are  already  familiar.  The  evidence  on 
which  this  fact  is  founded  is  no  other  than  a  formal  complaint, 
addressed  to  the  authorities,  and  subscribed  by  twenty-five  station- 
ers and  printers,  in  the  name  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-five,  all 
members  of  the  Stationers'  Company.  To  this  are  adhibited  the 
names  of  all  in  London  who  lived  by  bookselling,  being  free  of 
other  Companies,  but  "  also  hindered  by  the  said  privileges."  This 
document,  subscribed  by  forty-five  men,  in  name  of  not  fewer  than 
one  hundred  and  eighty-five,  being  the  ^rst  formal  voice  raised  in 
England,  upon  record,  against  what  they  conceived  to  be  the  in- 
jurious operation  of  such  privileges,  is  not  only  curious  in  itself, 
but  entitled  to  special  notice  by  any  who  wish  to  understand  a 
subject  hitherto  involved  in  obscurity. 

"  The  privileges  lately  granted  by  her  Majesty,  under  her 
Higness^s  Great  Seal  of  England,  to  the  persons  widerwritten, 
concerning  the  art  of  printing  books,  hath  and  will  be  the  over- 
throw of  the  printers  and  stationers  within  this  city,  being  in 
number  175,  besides  their  tvives,  children,  apprentices,  and  fami- 
lies, and  thereby  the  excessive  prices  of  books,  prejudicial  to 
the  state  of  the  whole  realm,  besides  the  false  printing  of  the 
same. 

"  1.  John  Jugge,  besides  the  being  her  Majesty^s  printer,  hath 
gotten  the  privilege  for  the  printing  of  Bibles  and  Testaments, 

THE  which  W^AS  COMMON  TO  ALL  THE  PRINTERS." 

Thus,  whatever  may  be  said  of  this  unanimous  opinion,  the 
language  of  the  complaint  establishes  two  historical  facts.  First, 
That  for  a  period  of  about  forty  years,  or  from  1536,  when  the 
New  Testament  first  began  to  be  printed  in  London,  up  to  the 
present  moment  in  1576,  the  printing  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in 
England  had  been  com^non  to  all  printers — that  is,  to  any  printer 
who  apphed  and  secured  a  license  for  the  edition,  or  to  any  gen- 
tleman, such  as  Marler  and  Bodley,  both  of  whom  had  obtained 
one.     Second,  That  the  printing  of  the  Sacred  Volume  had  never, 


398  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

all  along,  been  regarded,  as  in  any  sense  or  degree  attached  to  the 
office  or  title  of  the  King's  or  Queen's  printer. 

Ji)h!i  Jns,-ge.  of  whom  all  the  stationers,  including  Christopher 
Barker,  here  complained,  lived  but  a  very  short  time,  and,  in  fact, 
never  once  exercised  the  privilege  field  up  as  so  injurious.  He 
never  printed  either  a  Bible  or  even  a  New  Testament.  On  the 
contrary,  from  what  soon  followed,  or  so  early  as  September  1577, 
it  is  almost  evident  that  he  must  have  been  dead  before  then.  At 
all  events,  the  consequences  deprecated  by  the  printers  and  book- 
sellers commenced  not  with  him.  It  was  on  the  28th  of  Septem- 
ber 1.577,  that  an  exclusive  patent  was  purchased,  not  from  her 
Majesty  for  (Iiis  tinie,  but  from  Mr.  Wilkes,  and  of  a  far  more 
extensive  character  than  that  of  which  complaint  had  been  niade, 
but  very  specially  including  the  Old  and  New  Testament  in  the 
English  language  ;  nay,  and  of  whatever  translation,  ivith  notes, 
or  without  them  !  ! 

By  whom  was  the  purchase  of  this  unwxmted  patent  from 
WiLKKS  secured?  J^y  no  other  than  one  of  the  men  who  had 
complained  so  lately  and  so  loud — Christopher  Barker. 

The  extensive  patent  of  Christojjher  Barker  and  Robert  Barker 
his  son,  once  secured,  in  regard  to  the  Scriptures,  it  embraced  "all 
Bibles  and  Testaments  whatsoever,  in  the  English  language,  of 
whatever  translation,  with  notes,  or  without  notes,  printed  before 
then,  or  afterwards  to  be  printed  by  our  command."  The  privi- 
leges are  granted,  professedly,  in  consideration  of  Mr.  Barker's 
great  improvement  in  the  art  of  printing.  But  the  most  singular 
feature  of  the  document  at  such  a  crisis,  is  this,  that  no  notice 
whatever  is  taken  of  any  o;?e  translation,  as  preferable  to  another, 
no,  nor  of  any  one  as  having  been  either  ordered  or  sanctioned  by 
the  Queen.  This  too  becomes  more  remarkable,  when  it  is  ob- 
served that  the  patent  was  granted  under  the  sway  of  Whitgift, 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  the  strenuous  promoter  of  uniformity 
in  everything  else,  and  whose  decided  preference  of  the  Bishops' 
version,  had  only  the  year  before  been  strongly  marked  and  en- 
forced. Burleigh,  indeed,  and  Sir  Francis  Walsingham,  jnay  be 
presumed  to  have  acquiesced  in  a  license  so  broad  ;  but  at  all 
events,  here,  under  one  of  the  most  powerful  Monarchs  that  had 
ever  held  the  English  sceptre,  and  as  rigid  a  Primate  as  had  occu- 
pied the  See  of  Canterbury,  since  the  invention  of  printing,  if  we 
look  to  what  followed,  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  there,  an  overruling 
hand  once  more.  Whatever  maybe  said  of  Glueen  Elizabeth, 
assuredly  Archbishop  Whitgift  did  not  intend  to  promote  the  pe- 
rusal throughout  all  England  of  any  version  of  the  Scriptures, 
save  one,  now  sanctioned  by  "  the  Synod  of  Bishops  ;"  but  then 
here  comes  her  Majesty,  with  open  eyes,  and  by  her  sign  manual, 
she  has  left  the  people  free  to  choose,  in  the  highest  sense,  when, 
so  far  as  her  power  extended,  she  would  on  no  account  allow  it, 
in  any  other. 

No  one  will  stand  up  now,   to  justify  the  course  pursued  by 
Barker  from  the  beginning.     It  was  a  most  mercenary  affair  from 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BBILE.  399 

first  to  last ;  and  yet  even  when  a  man  is  so  influenced,  the  con- 
sequences, whether  immediate  or  remote,  by  the  hand  of  God  may 
easily  be  overruled  for  good.  One  consequence,  at  all  events,  is 
here  worthy  of  special  observation.  Even  under  an  exclusive  pat- 
ent, granted  by  a  Q,ueen  imperative  even  to  trifles,  since  the  sup- 
ply was  after  all  regulated  solely  by  the  demand,  and  only  the  sor- 
did prospect  of  remuneration.,  we  are  able  to  see,  and  as  clearly  as 
we  did  under  Edward  the  Sixth,  what  was  t!ie  taste  or  choice  of 
the  great  body  of  Englisli  readers. 

In  contemplating  this  long  and  powerful  reign,  with  immediate 
reference  to  the  Sacred  Volume,  there  are  three  distinct  points 
alike  worthy  of  notice  and  recollection.  The  first  is,  the  number 
of  editions  on  the  whole,  so  very  far  beyond  that  which  has  ever 
been  observed.  A  second  peculiarity  is  very  inanifest,  or  the  num- 
ber of  impressions  in  what  is  usually  styled  the  Geneva  version, 
in  comparison  with  others,  or  Avith  Crantner's  and  Parker's  ver- 
sions taken  together.  But  the  third  point  cannot  escape  notice — 
the  large  number  of  Bibles,  as  compared  with  the  editions  of  the 
New  Testament  separately. 

Apprehension,  approaching  nearly  to  horror,  had  been  expressed 
in  Parliament,  at  the  very  idea  of  a  patent  for  bread ;  but  here 
was  a  commodity  infinitely  above  it,  in  point  of  importance  and 
value — the  bread  of  Life ;  and  since  it  had  been  delivered  into 
the  hands  of  one  man,  to  deal  it  out  in  conformity  to  privilege 
granted  ;  this  being  the  first  movement  of  tlie  kind,  every  reader 
must  be  curious  to  observe  the  experiment  in  its  first  operation 
and  consequences.  Here,  then,  he  may  now  do  so,  at  the  distance 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  years,  and  for  a  space  of  time  equal  to 
that  of  (he  entire  generation  first  so  circumstanced. 

From  the  year  1560  to  that  of  1603  inclusive,  there  had  been 
certainly  not  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  distinct  issues  of 
Bibles  and  Testaments,  or  about  eighty-five  of  the  former  and 
forty-five  of  the  latter,  which  presents  an  average  af  three  issues 
annuaUy  throughout  the  entire  reign  ;  and  notwithstanding  all  the 
caution  exercised  for  the  first  sixteen  3^ears.  With  reference  to  the 
Geneva  version,  out  of  the  gross  issues  now  stated,  the  number 
approaches  to  ninety  editions,  thus  leaving  only  forty  for  all  others. 
Or  if  we  speak  of  Bibles  alone,  while  the  number  of  Craniner's  and 
Parker's  version  put  together  we  state  as  twenty  five,  that  of  the 
Geneva  Bible  had  amounted  at  least  to  sixty  editions.  The  very 
remarkable  disproportion,  however,  between  the  New  Testaments 
issued  as  compared  with  the  Bible  entire,  demands  more  particular 
observation,  and  it  will  come  before  us  presently. 

When  the  general  character  and  proceedings,  not  to  say  the' 
superior  acquirements  or  talents  of  her  Majesty  are  calmly  reviewed ; 
since,  ofificially,  she  never  appears  to  have  much,  if  at  all,  concerned 
herself  with  one  translation  more  than  another;  perhaps  one  of 
the  most  melancholy  circumstances  of  the  time  was  this,  that 
Elizabeth  never  seems  to  have  understood  or  felt,  that  the  circida- 


400  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

tinn  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  was  by  far  the  most  important 
feature  of  her  eiithe  reiffn. 


SECTION    IV. 

JAMES  THE  FIRST  TO  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 

ACCESSION    OF    JAMES CONFERENCE     AT     HAMPTON     COURT    EXPLAINED REVISION 

OF    THE    SCRIPTURES — OUR     PRESENT     VERSION — THE     REVISORS INSTRUCTIONS 

GIVEN PROGRESS     MADE REVISION      OF     THE     WHOLE MONEY     PAID     BY    THE 

PATENTEE THE    PRESENT    VERSION   PUBLISHED NO    PROCLAMATION,    NO   ORDER 

OF    PRIVY    COUNCIL,    OR    ANY    ACT    OF    THE    LEGISLATURE    UPON    RECORD,  ON  THE 

SUBJECT DID    NOT   BECOME    THE    VERSION    GENERALEY    RECEIVED  THROUGHOUT 

ENGLAND,   SCOTLAND,    AND    IRELAND,    TILL    ABOUT    FORTY    YEARS    AFTERWARDS 
THE    LONDON    POLYGLOT    BIBLE  PUBLISHED  BY  THE  PEOPLE,  FOR   THE    PEOPLE. 

Up  to  the  present  moment,  the  history  of  the  Enghsh  Bible  had 
maintained  a  character  pecuhar  to  itself.  Originating  with  no 
mere  patron,  whether  royal  or  noble,  the  undertaking  had  never 
yet  been  promoted  at  the  personal  expense  of  any  such  party. 
But  now  in  regard  to  that  version  of  the  Sacred  Volume  which 
for  two  hundred  and  thirty  years  has  been  read,  with  delight,  from 
generation  to  generation,  and  proved  the  effectual  means  of  knowl- 
edge, holiness,  and  joy  to  millions  ;  it  may  be  imagined  by  some, 
as  there  was  now  another  and  a  final  cliange,  that  our  history 
must,  at  last,  change,  or  in  other  words,  forfeit  its  character.  If, 
however,  the  accounts  frequently  given  of  our  present  version  have 
been  involved  in  as  much  inaccuracy  of  statement,  as  they  have  been 
with  regard  to  all  the  preceding  changes,  there  is  the  greater  neces- 
sity for  the  public  mind  being  disabused  ;  and  that,  too,  whether  in 
Britain  or  America,  or  the  British  foreign  dependencies.  This  is 
a  subject  which  alike  concerns  them  all,  as  they  all  read,  and  prize 
the  same  version. 

If,  because  that  a  dedication  to  James  the  First  of  England  has 
been  prefixed  to  many  copies,  though  not  to  many  others  ;  and  if 
because  not  only  historians  at  their  desks,  but  lawyers  at  the  bar, 
and  even  judges  on  the  bench,  have  made  most  singular  mistakes 
— it  has  therefore  been  imagined  by  any,  or  many,  that  the  pres- 
ent version  of  our  Bible  was  either  suggested  by  this  monarch  ;  or 
that  he  was  at  any  personal  expense  in  the  undertaking  ;  or  that 
he  ever  issued  a  single  line  of  authority  by  way  of  proclamation 
with  respect  to  it,  it  is  more  than  time  that  the  delusion  should 
come  to  an  end.  The  original  and  authentic  documents  of  the 
time  are  so  far  explicit,  that,  just  in  proportion  as  they  are  sifted, 
and  the  actual  circumstances  placed  in  view,  precisely  the  same 
independence  of  personal  royal  bounty,  and,  on  the  part  of  the 
people  at  large,  the  same  superiority  to  all  royal  dictation,  which 
we  have  beheld  all  along,  will  become  apparent.     James  himself, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  401 

however  vain,  is  certainly  not  so  much  to  be  blamed  for  any  differ- 
ent impression,  as  some  others  who  have  misrepresented  his 
Majesty.  On  the  other  hand,  his  character  was  such  that  to  many 
writers  it  has  occasioned  some  exercise  of  patience  even  to  refer  to 
it.  But  since  his  name  occurs  in  connection  with  this  final  revision 
of  the  English  Bible,  it  is  of  the  more  importance  to  ascertain  the 
exact  amount  of  this  connection.  From  the  moment  in  which  he 
was  invited  to  the  throne,  and  to  be  King  of  Great  Britain,  his  own 
favorite  term,  down  to  the  year  in  which  our  present  version  was 
published,  his  "  royal  progress"  is  forced  upon  our  notice. 

Elizabeth  had  expired  on  the  24th  of  March  1 603,  when  the  King 
of  Scotland  succeeded  as  James  the  First,  finally  assuming  the 
style  of  King  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland.  Having  left 
Edinburgh  for  England  on  Tuesday  the  5th  of  April,  James  pro- 
ceeded by  way  of  Berwick  and  Newcastle,  through  York  to  London, 
where  he  did  not  arrive  till  the  7th  of  May.  Throughout  this 
journey  he  had  already  furnished  a  strong  contrast,  in  point  of 
character,  to  his  predecessor.  With  regard  to  rewards,  whether  in 
point  of  honor  or  emolument,  Elizabeth  had  been  so  sparing,  that 
she  has  been  charged  with  avarice.  But  James,  having  once  pro- 
cured from  London  such  supplies  as  might  enable  him  to  advance 
in  befitting  style,  actually  hunted  most  of  the  way,  scattering  the 
honors  of  knighthood  with  such  profusion  along  the  road,  that  by 
the  day  he  entered  his  capital,  the  number  of  his  knights  was 
about  one  hu)rdred  and  fifty  ;  and  before  one  fortnight  had  passed, 
or  by  the  20th  of  May,  they  were  "  accounted  at  two  hundred  and 
thirty-seven,  or  better,  since  the  time  he  entered  Berwick,"  on  the 
6th  of  April.  The  Queen,  with  her  children,  having  followed  in 
June,  the  coronation  took  place  in  July ;  after  which,  his  Majesty 
immediately  returned,  with  great  ardor,  to  his  favorite  sport  of 
hunting.  Though  now  entered  into  his  thirty-ninth  year,  and 
having  affairs  to  manage  which  had  demanded  all  the  talents  of 
an  Elizabeth,  never  was  a  boy  let  loose  from  school  more  bent 
upon  his  amusement. 

Of  the  learning  or  talent  to  be  found  in  England,  where  he  had 
done  little  else  than  follow  the  hounds  and  the  hares,  James  as 
yet  could  know  next  to  nothing.  Of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  he 
was  equally  ignorant.  He  had  not  called  any  circle  of  learned 
men  around  him,  nor  indeed  ever  did.  Such  also  was  the  state 
of  his  finances,  when  necessity  forced  him  to  call  a  Parliament. 
"It  was,"  says  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  "his  last  resource.  He 
had  exhausted  his  credit  with  the  money-dealers,  both  in  London 
and  Holland,  to  supply  his  prodigalities,  before  he  issued  his  proc- 
lamation for  the  meeting  of  Parliament  on  the  19th  of  March." 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  his  sport  at  Wilton,  and  his  preparations 
for  the  arraignment  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh,  that  James  issued  a 
proclamation,  dated  the  24th  of  October — "  Touching  a  meeting 
for  the  hearing,  and  for  the  determining,  things  pretended  to  be 
amiss  in  the  Church."  This  meeting,  known  ever  since  as  "  the 
Conference  at  Hampton  Court^''  was  held  in  the  diawing-room 

26 


402  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

there,  on  Saturday,  Monday,  and  Wednesday,  the  14th,  16th,  and 
18th  of  January  1604.  The  conference,  it  will  be  understood, 
was  not  with  any  official  body  of  men  whatever  ;  and  it  should 
also  be  remembered,  that  however  exalted  were  the  ideas  of  James 
himself  as  to  his  prerogative,  or  of  his  right  and  title  to  the 
throne ;  strictly  speaking,  or  according  to  law,  he  was  not  yet 
King  of  England,  nor  could  he  be,  till  the  assembling  of  Par- 
liament. That  was  the  point  to  which,  as  we  have  seen,  Lord 
Cecil  was  looking  forward.  This  was  a  conference,  therefore,  of 
the  King  by  courtesy,  for  the  time  being,  with  only  nine  Bishops, 
eight  Deans,  an  Archdeacon,  two  Professors  of  Divinity  from 
Oxford,  two  from  Cambridge,  to  which  one  native  of  Scotland, 
Mr.  Patrick  Galloway,  formerly  of  Perth,  was  also  admitted. 
Nor  were  even  all  these  parties  present  on  any  one  day. 

The  16th  of  January  was  the  time  appointed  for  hearing  of 
things  "pretended  to  be  amiss,"  as  the  proclamation  had  phrased 
it ;  and  it  was  among  them  that  the  necessity  for  another  revision 
or  translation  of  the  Bible  was  first  mentioned. 

Dr.  John  Ratnolds,  a  man  of  high  and  unblemished  char- 
acter, then  in  his  55th  year,  was  at  that  time  nearly,  if  not  alto- 
gether, the  most  eminent  individual  for  learning  and  erudition  in 
the  kingdom.  He  was  now  the  President  of  Corpus  Christi  Col- 
lege, and  the  chief  speaker  on  this  occasion.  Having  alluded  to 
other  subjects — After  that,  continues  Dr.  Barlow — "He,  Rainolds, 
moved  his  Majesty,  that  there  might  be  a  new  translation  of  the 
Bible ;  because  those  which  were-  allowed  in  the  reign  of  King 
Henr}'^  the  Eighth  and  Edward  the  Sixth,  were  corrupt,  and  not 
answerable  to  the  truth  of  the  original  For  example  ;  first,  Gal. 
4.  25,  the  Greek  word  is  not  well  translated  as  now  it  is,  hordereth ; 
neither  expressing  the  force  of  the  word,  nor  the  Apostle's  sense, 
nor  the  situation  of  the  place.  Secondly,  Ps.  105.  28,  '  They 
were  not  obedient ;'  the  original  being,  '  They  were  not  disobe- 
dient.' Thirdly,  Ps.  106.  30,  'Then  stood  up  Phinehas  and 
prayed ;'  the  Hebrew  hath  it,  executed  judgment. 

"To  which  motion  there  was  at  the  present  no  gainsaying: 
the  objections  being  trivial  and  old,  and  already  in  print,  often 
answered:  Only  my  Lord  of  London  (Bancroft)  well  added — 
'  That  if  every  man's  humour  should  be  followed,  there  would  be 
no  end  of  translating.' 

"Whereupon  his  Highness  wished  that  some  special  pains 
should  be  taken  in  that  behalf  for  one  uniform  translation  (pro- 
fessing that  he  could  never  yet  see  a  Bible  well  translated  into 
Eiighsh  ;  but  the  worst  of  all,  his  Majesty  thought  the  Geneva 
to  be ;)  and  this  to  be  done  by  the  best  learned  in  both  Universi- 
ties ;  after  them  to  be  reviewed  by  the  Bishops  and  the  chief 
learned  of  the  Church  ;  from  them  to  be  presented  to  the  Privy 
Council ;  and  lastly  to  be  ratified  by  his  royal  authority ;  and  so 
this  whole  Church  [of  England]  to  be  bound  unto  it,  and  none 
other.  Withal  he  gave  this  caveat  (upon  a  word  cast  out  by  my 
Lord  of  London)  that  no  marginal  notes  should  be  added — hav- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  403 

ing  found  in  them  which  are  annexed  to  the  Geneva  translation 
(which  he  saw  in  a  Bible  given  him  by  an  English  lady)  some 
notes  very  partial,  untrue,  seditious,  and  savouring  too  much  of 
dangerous  and  traitorous  conceits.  As  for  example,  the  first  chap- 
ter of  Exodus  and  the  19th  verse,  where  the  marginal  note  al- 
loweth  disobedience  unto  kings.  And  2  Chron.  15.  16,  the  note 
taxeth  Asa  for  deposing  his  mother  only,  and  not  killing  her. 
And  so  he  concluded  this  point,  as  all  the  rest,  with  a  grave  and 
judicious  advice, — First,  that  errors  in  matters  of  faith  might  be 
rectified  and  amended;  Second,  that  matters  indifferent  might 
rather  be  interpreted,  and  a  gloss  added." 

It  was  at  the  close  of  this  day's  conference  that  Barlow,  in  the 
genuine  spirit  of  sycophancy,  repeats  the  expressions  of  certain 
parties,  bordering  on  profanity,  in  praise  of  his  Majesty  ;  and  he 
himself,  not  willing  to  be  far  behind,  must  conclude  the  whole, 
though  not  in  very  elegant  terms,  by  saying,  that  "  all  who  heard 
the  King  might  justly  think  him  to  be  'a  living  library,  and  a 
walking  study  !' " 

Barlow's  account  of  the  entire  conference  has  justly  been  regarded 
not  only  as  inaccurate,  but  chargeable  with  great  omissions  ;  but 
as  his  statement  of  what  passed  respecting  the  Bible  is  still  re- 
ferred to,  we  have  allowed  him  to  tell  his  own  tale ;  and  with 
what  credit  to  those  he  labored  to  gratify  and  extol,  let  the  reader 
judge.  On  the  other  hand,  the  account  given  by  Galloway, 
was  corrected  by  the  King's  own  hand.  In  this,  the  second 
of  the  articles,  comprehended  in  the  note  of  such  things  as 
shall  be  reformed,  and  as  presented  by  Raiuolds,  was  the  fol- 
lowing : — 

"  That  a  translation  be  made  of  the  whole  Bible,  as  consonant 
as  can  be  to  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek  ;  and  this  to  be  set 
out  and  printed,  without  any  marginal  fiotes,  and  only  to  be  used 
in  all  Churches  of  England,  in  time  of  divine  service."  Now, 
by  this  version  of  the  story,  the  exclusion  of  all  marginal  notes 
ORIGINATED  with  Raiuolds,  as  well  as  the  proposal  of  a  ?iew 
translation. 

The  first  Parliament  held  by  the  King  assembled  on  the  19th 
of  March  1604,  and  the  Convocation  on  the  following  day.  The 
Primate  Whitgift  having  expired  on  the  29th  of  February,  Ban- 
croft, the  Bishop  of  London,  was  appointed  to  preside.  James 
had  commenced  these  proceedings  with  a  speech  longer  than 
many  a  sermon,  but  at  last,  not  being  in  the  best  humor  with  his 
English  Parliament,  he  dissolved  it  on  the  7th  of  July,  and  the 
Convocation  rose.  Among  all  the  business  of  either  House,  not 
one  word  was  spoken  there  respecting  the  Scriptures ;  nor  do  we 
hear  of  any  movement  in  consequence  of  what  had  passed  in 
January  at  Hampton  Court,  till  the  end  of  June,  Some  time  had 
been  required  for  the  selection  of  suitable  scholars,  and  before  the 
end  of  that  month  a  list  was  presented  to  James  for  his  accept- 
ance. They  had  been  selected  for  him,  and  he  of  course  ap- 
proved.    To  the  intended  translators,  on  the  30th  of  June,  Ban- 


404  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

croft  notified  his  Majesty's  acceptance  of  the  names  given  him ; 
and  so  to  those  at  Cambridge  he  thus  Avrote — 

"  His  Majesty  being  made  acquainted  with  the  choice  of  all 
theni  to  be  empio3'^ed  in  the  translating  of  the  Bible,  in  such  sort 
as  Mr.  Lively  can  inform  you,  doth  greatly  approve  of  the  said 
choice.  And  for  as  much  as  his  Highness  is  very  desirous  that 
the  same  so  i-eligious  a  work  should  admit  no  delay,  he  has  com- 
manded me  to  signify  unto  you  in  his  name  that  his  pleasure  is, 
you  should  with  all  possible  speed  meet  together  in  your  Univer- 
sity and  begin  the  same."  Concluding  his  letter  in  these  terms — - 
"I  am  persuaded  his  royal  mind  rejoiceth  more  in  the  good  hope 
which  he  hath  for  the  happy  success  of  that  work,  than  qf  his  peace 
concluded  with  Spain.     At  Fulham  the  last  of  June  1604." 

As  the  primacy  of  Canterbury  was  now  vacant,  on  the  22nd  of 
July  the  King  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Bishop  of  London,  then 
acting  for  that  See,  and  soon  to  be  chosen  to  it,  equally  intended 
for  all  his  brethren  ;  and  to  the  same  purport,  Cecil,  on  the  same 
day,  as  Chancellor  of  Cambridge,  addressed  that  University.  By 
the  31st  of  that  month,  Bancroft  was  ready,  and  the  following  is  a 
copy  of  the  letter  which  must  have  been  sent  to  all  the  Bishops, 
as  in  duty  bound. — 

"  After  my  hearty  commendations  unto  your  Lordship,  I  have 
received  letters  from  his  most  excellent  Majesty,  the  tenor  whereof 
followeth  : — - 

•• '  Right  trusty  and  well  beloved,  we  greet  you  well.  Whereas 
we  have  appointed  certain  learned  men,  to  the  number  of  four 
and  fifty,  for  the  translating  of  the  Bible,  and  that  in  this  number 
divers  of  them  have  either  no  ecclesiastical  preferment  at  all,  or 
else  so  very  small,  as  the  same  is  far  unmeet  for  men  of  their 
deserts,  afid  yet,  We  of  ourself  in  any  convenient  time  cannot 
well  remedy  it :  therefore  We  do  hereby  require  you,  that  presently 
you  write,  in  our  name,  as  well  to  the  Archbishop  of  York,  as  to 
the  rest  of  the  bishops  of  the  province  of  Canterbury,  signifying 
unto  them,  that  We  do  will,  and  straitly  charge,  every  one  of 
them,  as  also  the  other  bishops  of  the  province  of  York,  as  they 
tender  our  good  favour  towards  them,  that  (all  excuses  set  apart) 
when  any  prebend  or  parsonage,  being  rated  in  our  book  of  taxa- 
tions, the  prebend  to  twenty  pounds  at  least,  and  the  parsonage  to 
the  like  sum  and  upwards,  shall  next  upon  any  occasion  happen 
to  be  void,  and  to  be  either  of  their  patronage,  or  of  the  patronage 
and  gift  of  any  jierson  v)hatever,  they  do  make  stay  thereof,  and 
admit  none  unto  it,  until  certifying  Us,  of  the  avoidance  of  it,  and 
of  the  name  of  the  Patron,  if  it  be  not  of  their  own  gift,  that  We 
may  commend  for  the  same,  some  such  of  the  learned  men,  as 
we  shall  think  fit  to  be  preferred  unto  it  ;  not  doubting  of  the 
bishop's  readiness  to  satisfy  us  herein,  or  that  any  of  the  laity, 
when  we  shall  in  time  move  them  to  so  good  and  religious  an  act, 
will  be  unwilling  to  give  us  the  like  due  contentment  and  satisfac- 
tion ;  We  ourselves  having  taken  the  same  order  for  such  prebends 
and  benefices  as  shall  be  void  in  our  gift. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  405 

"  '  What  we  write  to  you  of  others,  you  must  apply  it  to  your- 
self;  as  also  not  forget  to  move  the  said  Archbishop  and  all  tlie 
Bishops,  with  their  Deans  and  Chapters  of  both  provinces,  as 
touching  the  other  point,  to  be  imparted  otherwise  by  you  unto 
them.  Furthermore,  We  require  you  to  move  all  our  Bishops  to 
inform  themselves  of  all  such  learned  men  within  their  several 
dioceses,  as,  having  especial  skill  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  tongues, 
have  taken  pains,  in  their  private  studies  of  the  Scriptures,  for  the 
clearing  of  any  obscurities  either  in  the  Hebrew  or  in  the  Greek, 
or  touching  any  difficulties  or  mistakings  in  the  former  English 
translation,  which  we  have  now  commanded  to  be  thoroughly 
viewed  and  amended,  and  thereupon  to  write  to  them  ;  earnestly 
charging  them  and  signifying  our  pleasure  therein,  that  they  send 
such  their  observations  either  to  Mr.  Lively,  our  Hebrew  reader  in 
Cambridge  ;  or  to  Dr.  Harding,  our  Hebrew  reader  in  Oxford ;  or 
to  Dr.  Andrews,  dean  of  Westminster,  to  be  imparted  to  the  rest 
of  their  several  companies,  (fcc.  Given  under  our  sio-net  at  our 
palace  of  Westminster,  the  two  and  twentieth  of  July,  in  the 
second  year  of  our  reign  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  and  of 
Scotland  xxxvii.'  " 

But,  before  proceeding  with  our  narrative,  it  is  necessary  to  give 
here  the  list  of  translators,  with  their  respective  tasks,  to  which  a 
few  particulars  are  subjoined,  from  the  best  authorities. 

WESTMINSTER.     Genesis,  to  II.  Kings  inclusive. 

Dr.  Lancelot  Andrews,  then  Dean  of  Westminster,  who  is 
reported  to  have  been  such  a  linguist  that  he  understood  fifteen 
languages.  Afterwards  Bishop  of  Chichester,  1605  ;  then  of  Ely 
in  1609 ;  and  finally  of  Winchester  in  1619.  Died  21  Sep.,  1626, 
aged  71. 

Dr.  .Tohn  Overall,  then  Dean  of  St.  Paul's.  Bishop  of  Lich- 
field and  Coventry,  1614.  Of  Norwich  in  1618.  Died  12  May, 
1619,  aged  60. 

Dr.  Adrian  a  Saravia,  then  Canon  of  Westminster.  Of 
Spanish  extraction  ;  the  friend  of  Hooker,  and  tutor  of  Nicholas 
Fuller.  Afterwards  Prebend  of  Gloucester,  and  Canterbury,  where 
he  died  15  January  1613,  aged  82. 

Dr.  Richard  Clarke,  then  Fellow  of  Christ  Coll.,  Cambridge ; 
Vicar  of  Minster  and  Monkton  in  the  isle  of  Thaiiet :  died  in  1634, 
and  a  folio  volume  of  his  sermons  published  in  1637. 

Dr.  John  Laifield,  then  Fellow  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
afterwards  Rector  of  St.  Clements  Danes.  A  Fellow  of  Chelsea 
College,  which,  however,  was  never  founded.     Died  in  1617. 

Dr.  Robert  Tighe,  or  Teigh,  [not  Leigh  as  often  misnamed,) 
then  Archdeacon  of  Middlesex,  and  Rector  of  All-Hallows,  Bark- 
ing. An  excellent  textuary  and  profound  linguist.  He  died  in 
1616,  leaving  his  son  £1000  a-year. 

Dr.  Francis  Burleigh,  then  Vicar  of  Bishop  Stortford,  if  not 
of  Thorley,  Herts,  and  died  in  1619  ? 


406  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Dr.  Geoffry  or  Wilfrid  King,  then  Fellow  of  King's  Col- 
lege, Cambridge.  As  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  that  Uni- 
versity, he  succeeded  Robert  Spalding,  about  to  be  mentioned. 

Richard  Thompson,  M.  A.,  of  Clare  Hall,  Cambridge  ;  born 
in  Holland  of  English  parents  ;  an  admirable  philologer,  but  better 
known  in  Italy,  France,  and  Germany,  than  at  home. 

William  Bedwell,  the  best  Arabic  scholar  of  his  time.  The 
tutor  of  Erpenius  and  Pocock  ;  (but  not  W.  Bedell  of  Kilmore,  as 
has  been  conjectured  ;  he  was  then  at  Venice.)  "  The  industrious 
and  thrice-learned,"  said  Lightfoot,  "  to  whom  I  will  rather  be  a 
scholar,  than  take  on  me  to  teach  others." 

CAMBRIDGE.     1  Chronicles  to  Ecclesiastes  inclusive. 

Edward  Livlie,  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  for  thirty  years 
in  this  University  ;  an  eminent  linguist,  in  high  esteem  by  Ussher 
and  Pocock.  His  death,  in  May  1605,  is  supposed  to  have  retarded 
the  work  in  hand. 

Dr.  John  Richardson,  then  Fellow  of  Emmanuel  College. 
Afterwards  Master  of  Peter  House,  then  of  Trinity  College.  He 
is  not  to  be  confounded  with  Ussher's  friend  of  the  same  name. 
Died  in  1625. 

Dr.  Laurence  Chaderton,  distinguished  for  Hebrew  and 
Rabbinical  learning,  then  first  Master  of  Emmanuel  College. 
"If  you  will  not  be  Master,"  said  Sir  Waker  Mildmay,  "I  will  not 
be  Founder^  He  was  tutor  of  Joseph  Hall  of  Norwich  and  W. 
Bedell  of  Kilmore,  who  retained  the  highest  veneration  for  him, 
and  died  the  year  after  him.  Chaderton,  who  never  required  the 
aid  of  spectacles,  died,  according  to  his  epitaph,  at  the  age  of  103  ! 
Born  in  1537,  he  lived  to  13th  November  1640.  His  life,  in  Latin, 
by  W.  Dillingham,  was  published  in  1700. 

Francis  Dillingham,  then  Fellow  of  Christ's  College,  an 
eminent  Grecian.  He  was  Parson  of  Dean,  and  beneficed  at 
Wilden,  Beds.  As  an  author,  he,  as  well  as  Overall,  continued  to 
quote  the  Geneva  version  years  after  our  present  one  had  been 
published.     He  died  a  single  and  a  wealthy  man. 

Thomas  Harrison,  Vice-Chancellor  of  Trinity  College,  was 
eminently  skilled  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  tongues,  as  his 
own  University  has  borne  witness.  D3^er  ascribes  to  him  a  Lexicon 
Pente  Glotton. 

Dr.  Roger  Andrews,  brother  of  Lancelot,  then  Fellow  of 
Pembroke  Hall,  and  afterwards  master  of  Jesus  College,  and  Pre- 
bendary of  Chichester.     Died  in  1618. 

Dr.  Robert  Spalding,  then  Fellow  of  St.  John's  College, 
and  afterwards  the  successor  of  Livlie  as  Regius  Professor  of  He- 
brew, a  sufficient  proof  of  his  skill  in  that  language. 

Dr.  Andrew  Byng,  [not  Burge,  as  in  Burnet  and  Wilkins.) 
then  Fellow  of  St.  Peter's  College.  In  1606  subdean  of  York,  and 
in  1618  Archdeacon  of  Norwich.  As  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew, 
he  succeeded  King;  who  had  succeeded  Spalding,  already  mentioned. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  407 


OXFORD.     Isaiah  to  Malachi  inclusive. 

Dr.  John  Harding,  then  Regius  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the 
University,  and  afterwards  President  of  Magdalen  College,  and 
also  Rector  of  Halsey  in  Oxfordshire. 

Dr.  John  Rainolds,  President  of  Corpus  Christi  College ;  or 
the  man  who  moved  the  King  for  this  new  translation.  "  The 
memory  and  reading  of  that  man,"  said  Bishop  Hall,  "  were  near 
to  a  miracle ;  and  all  Europe  at  the  time  could  not  have  produced 
three  men  superior  to  Rainolds,  Jewell,  and  Ussher,  all  of  this 
same  College."  At  the  age  of  58,  he  died  21st  May,  1607.  Even 
during  his  5icA"/?e5.*f,  his  coadjutors  met  at  his  lodgings  oncea-week, 
to  compare  and  perfect  their  notes. 

Dr.  Thomas  Holland,  then  Fellow  of  Balliol  College,  after- 
wards Rector  of  Exeter,  and  Regius  Professor  of  Divinity  in  Ox- 
ford. "  Another  Apollos,"  says  Wood,  "  and  mighty  in  the  Script- 
ures."    Died  17th  March  1613,  aged  73. 

Dr.  Richard  Kilby,  the  Rector  of  Lincoln  College,  highly  es- 
teemed by  Isaac  Walton.  He  was  afterwards  prebendary  of  Lin- 
coln, and  Professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  University  of  Oxford.  He 
left  commentaries  on  Exodus,  drawn  from  the  Rabbins  and  Hebrew 
interpreters.     Died  November  1620. 

Dr.  Miles  Smith,  then  Canon  of  Hereford.  A  Hebrew  and 
Chaldee,  Syriac  and  Arabic  scholar.  He  is  underetood  to  have 
been  the  waiter  of  the  preface.  He  and  Bilson,  we  shall  find  to  be 
the  final  examinators  of  the  whole  work.  Bishop  of  Gloucester  in 
1612. 

Dr.  Richard  Brett,  then  Fellow  of  Lincoln  College.  Emi- 
nent as  a  linguist  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  to  which  he  added 
Chaldee,  Arabic,  and  Ethiopic.  Rector  of  Q,uainton,  Bucks,  where 
he  died  15th  April  1637. 

Richard  Fairclough,  of  New  College,  Oxford?  The  Rector 
of  Bucknell,  Oxfordshire,  who  died  there  in  1638. 

OXFORD.     Matthew  to  the  Acts  inclusive,  and  the  Revelation. 

Dr.  Thomas  Ravis,  then  Dean  of  Christ-Church.  Afterwards 
on  the  14th  March  1605,  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  and  in  1607,  of 
London,  Avhere  he  died  14th  December  1609. 

Dr.  George  Abbot,  then  Dean  of  Winchester  and  Vice-Chan- 
cellor  of  Oxford.  Bishop  of  Litchfield  and  Coventry  in  1609  ;  of 
London  in  1610,  and  Bancroft  dying  2d  November,  Abbot  became 
primate  in  1611.     Died  4th  August  1633,  aged  71. 

Dr.  John  Aglionby,  then  Principal  of  St.  Edmund's  Hall  and 
Rector  of  Islip,  and  afterwards  chaplain  in  ordinary  to  the  King. 
"Accomplished  in  learning  and  an  exact  linguist."  Dr.  Richard 
Eedes  was  indeed  the  first  appointed,  but  he  died  19th  November 
1604 ;  Aglionby  died  6th  February  1610. 

Dr.  Giles  Tomson,  then   Dean   of  Windsor,  afterwards  in 


408  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

March  1611  Bishop  of  Gloucester,  but  died  14th  June  next  year. 
"  He  had  taken  a  great  deal  of  pains  in  translating." 

Sir  Henry  Savile,  Greek  tutor  to  Elizabeth  and  Provost  of 
Eton.  He  was  knighted  by  James  this  year,  and  losing  his  son 
about  that  period,  he  devoted  his  time  and  fortune  to  the  encour- 
agement of  learning.  He  contributed  several  rare  books  and 
MSS.  to  the  Bodleian,  besides  Greek  type  and  matrices  to  the  Ox- 
ford press.  His  fine  edition  of  Chrisostom^s  Works,  in  Greek, 
with  notes  by  John  Bois  after-mentioned,  and  of  which  1000 
copies,  in  8  volumes  folio  were  printed,  is  said  to  have  cost  him 
£8000.     He  died  at  Eton,  19th  February  1622,  aged  73. 

Dr.  John  Peryn,  Professor  of  Greek,  and  afterwards  Canon 
of  Christ-Church,  died  9th  May  1615. 

Dr.  Leonard  Hutten,  then  Vicar  of  Flower,  Northampton- 
shire ;  an  excellent  Greek  scholar,  and  learned  in  other  branches. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  75,  17th  May  1632.  Dr.  Ravens  had  been 
first  appointed,  but  his  place  vacated. 

Dr.  John  Harmar,  had  been  Professor  of  Greek,  Warden  of 
Winchester  College.  A  noted  Ijatin  and  Greek  scholar.  He 
published  Latin  translations  from  Chrysostom,  and  his  translation 
of  Beza's  sermons  into  English,  bespeaks  him  an  excellent  writer 
of  English.     He  died  11th  October  1613. 

WESTMINSTER.     Romans  to  Jade  inclusive. 

Dr.  William  Barlow,  made  Dean  of  Chester  in  December 
1604,  Bishop  of  Rochester  in  1605,  of  Lincoln,  1608.  Died  7th 
September  1613. 

Dr.  Ralph  Hutchenson,  then  President  of  St.  John's  College, 
Oxford.     Wood's  Athense,  by  Bhss,  ii.  p.  92. 

Dr.  John  Spencer,  Fellow  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  and 
afterwards  Chaplain  to  the  King.  On  the  death  of  Dr.  Rainolds 
he  succeeded  him  as  President  of  Corpus  Christi,  and  died  3d 
April  1614. 

Dr.  Roger  Fenton.  it  has  been  supposed  ;  if  so,  Fellow  of 
Pembroke  Hall,  Cambridge  ;  and  Minister  of  St.  Stephen's,  Wal- 
brook.  London. 

Michael  Rabbett,  B.D.,  was  Rector  of  St.  Vedast,  Foster 
Lane,  London. 

Dr.  Thomas  Sanderson,  of  Balliol  College,  Oxford  ?  Arch- 
deacon of  Rochester  in  1606. 

William  Dakins,  B.D.,  then  Greek  Lecturer,  Cambridge,  and 
afterwards  junior  Dean  in  1606.  He  had  been  chosen  for  his 
skill  in  the  original  languages,  but  died  February  1607. 

To  these  men  the  King  is  reported  to  have  given  the  following 
Instructions  or  Rules  : — 1.  The  ordinary  Bible  read  in  the  Church, 
commonly  called  the  Bishops'  Bible,  to  be  followed,  and  as  little 
altered  as  the  original  will  permit.  2.  The  names  of  the  Prophets 
and  the  holy  writers,  with  the  other  names  in  the  text,  to  be  re- 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  409 

tained  as  near  as  may  be,  according  as  they  are  vulgarly  used. 
3.  The  old  ecclesiastical  words  to  he  kept  :  as  the  word  church 
not  to  he  translated  congregation,  &c.  4.  When  any  word 
hath  divers  significations,  that  to  be  kept  which  hath  been  most 
commonly  used  by  the  most  ancient  Fathers,  being  agreeable  to 
the  propriety  of  the  place,  and  the  analogy  of  faith.  5.  The  divi- 
sion of  the  chapters  to  be  altered  either  not  at  all,  or  as  little  as 
may  be,  if  necessity  so  require.  6.  No  marginal  notes  at  all  to  be 
affixed,  but  only  for  the  explanation  of  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  words, 
which  cannot  without  some  circumlocution,  so  briefly  and  fitly  be 
expressed  in  the  text.  7.  Such  quotations  of  places  to  be  margin- 
ally set  down,  as  shall  serve  for  the  fit  reference  of  one  Scripture 
to  another.  8.  Every  particular  man  of  each  company  to  take 
the  same  chaptei",  or  chapters  ;  and,  having  translated  or  amended 
them  severally  by  himself  where  he  thinketh  good,  all  to  meet  to- 
gether, confer  what  they  have  done,  and  agree  for  their  part  what 
shall  stand.  9.  As  one  company  hath  dispatched  any  one  book  in 
this  manner,  they  shall  send  it  to  the  rest,  to  be  considered  of  se- 
riously and  judiciously  :  for  his  Majesty  is  careful  in  this  point. 
10.  If  any  company  upon  the  review  of  the  book  so  sent,  shall 
doubt  or  differ  upon  any  places,  to  send  them  word  thereof,  note 
the  places,  and  therewithal  send  their  reasons  :  to  which,  if  they 
consent  not,  the  difference  to  be  compounded  at  the  general  meet- 
ing, which  is  to  be  of  the  chief  persons  of  each  company  at  the 
end  of  the  work.  11.  When  any  place  of  special  obscurity  is 
doubted  of,  letters  to  be  directed  by  authority,  to  send  to  any 
learned  man  in  the  land,  for  his  judgment  in  such  a  place.  12. 
Letters  to  be  sent  from  every  bishop  to  the  rest  of  his  clergy,  ad- 
monishing them  of  this  translation  in  hand;  and  to  move  and 
charge  as  many  as,  being  skilful  in  the  tongues,  have  taken  pains 
in  that  kind,  to  send  his  particular  observations  to  the  company, 
either  at  Westminster,  Cambridge,  or  Oxford.  13.  The  Directors 
in  each  company  to  be  the  Deans  of  Westminster  and  Chester  for 
that  place ;  and  the  King's  Professors  in  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
in  each  University.  14.  These  translations  to  he  used,  when  they 
agree  hetter  with  the  text  than  the  Bishops''  Bihle  :  viz.,  1.  Tyn- 
daWs ;  2.  Matthew'' s ;  3.  CoverdaWs  ;  4.  Whitchur Che's  (i.  e. 
Cranniei'^s) ;  5.  The  Geneva. 

The  authority,  however,  or  the  accuracy  of  these  Rules  is  con- 
siderably shaken  by  the  account  delivered  in  to  the  Synod  of  Dort 
on  the  20th  of  November  1618.  They  state  that  only  seven  rules 
were  ultimately  prescribed,  and  that  after  each  individual  had  fin- 
ished his  task,  twelve  men  (not  six)  assembhng  together  revised 
the  whole.  Their  first,  second,  and  fourth  rules  coincide  with  the 
first,  sixth,  and  seventh  of  the  preceding  list. 

It  has  been  questioned  when  these  men  sat  down  to  their  work ; 
whether  immediately,  or  not  till  1607 ;  but  to  suppose  that  they 
did  not  commence  till  then,  is  out  of  the  question ;  and  indeed 
Anthony  Wood  gives  1607  as  the  termination  of  their  first  revis- 
ion.    Livelie,  a  fine  and  ardent  scholar  answering  to  his  name, 


410  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    UIBLE. 

would  certainly  not  delay ;  and  above  all,  the  original  proposer 
of  the  work,  Dr.  Rainolds,  was  busy,  as  we  have  seen,  to  his  dying 
day,  in  1607.  The  different  parties  might  not  all  commence  at 
the  same  moment,  but,  on  the  whole,  it  may  be  presumed  that, 
with  the  Hebrew  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Greek  of  the  New 
before  them  all  along,  the  first  revision  of  the  Sacred  text,  by  the 
forty-seven,  occupied  about  four  years ;  the  second  examination 
by  twelve,  or  two  selected  out  of  each  company,  nine  months  more, 
and  the  sheets  passing  through  the  press,  other  two  years,  when 
the  Bible  of  1611  was  finished  and  first  issued. 

Twelve  men  paid  at  the  rate  of  thirty  shillings  each,  was  equal 
to  £18  weekly,  and  for  the  thirty-nine  weeks  £702  must  have 
been  expended,  which  expense  was  probably  borne  by  Barker,  who 
had  the  patent  for  printing  the  Bible. 

The  honor  of  payment  for  the  whole  concern,  so  often  ascribed 
to  James  the  First,  is  by  no  means  to  be  taken  from  him,  if  one 
shred  of  positive  evidence  can  be  produced  ;  but  this,  it  is  pre- 
sumed, lies  beyond  the  power  of  research.  In  this  case,  therefore, 
to  speak  correctly,  we  have  come  at  last,  not  to  an  affair  of  gov- 
ernment, not  to  a  royal  undertaking  at  his  Majesty''s  expense,  ac- 
cording to  the  popular  and  very  erroneous  historical  fiction,  but 
simply  to  a  transaction  in  the  course  of  business.  If  we  inquire 
for  any  single  royal  grant,  or  look  for  any  act  of  personal  gener- 
osity, we  search  in  vain. 

There  is  one  other  inquiry  to  be  made  ;  and  this,  to  some  minds, 
may  be  not  the  least  important.  It  is  this.  By  whose  influence 
or  authority  was  it,  that  our  present  version  of  the  Sacred  Volume 
came  to  be  read,  not  in  England  alone,  but  in  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land? This,  too,  is  a  question  the  more  interesting  to  millions, 
as  it  is  now  the  Bible  of  so  many  distant  climes — read  not  only 
in  the  Americas  and  Canada,  but  in  all  the  wide-spread  and  daily 
extending  British  colonies. 

The  reigning  King  had  indeed  signified  his  approbation  of  the 
undertaking,  and  when  the  Bible  was  published  it  bore  on  its  title 
page,  that  the  version  had  been  "  newly  translated  out  of  the 
original  tongues,  and  with  the  former  translations  diligently  com- 
pared and  revised,  by  his  Majesty's  special  commandment."  In  a 
separate  line  below,  and  by  itself,  we  have  these  words,  "  Appointed 
to  be  read  in  churches."  Now  as  the  book  never  was  submitted 
to  Parliament,  never  to  any  Convocation,  nor,  as  far  as  it  is  known, 
ever  to  the  Privy  Council,  James,  by  this  title-page,  was  simply 
following,  or  made  to  follow,  in  the  train  of  certain  previous  edi- 
tions. As  for  Elizabeth,  his  immediate  predecessor,  we  have 
already  seen,  that  under  her  long  reign  there  was  another  version, 
beside  the  Bisiiops',  and  that  the  former  enjoyed  the  decided  pre- 
ponderance in  public  favor :  so,  in  the  present  instance,  that  there 
might  be  no  mistake  or  misapprehension,  in  regard  to  the  influence 
or  authority  by  which  our  present  Bible  came  to  be  universally 
received,  a  result  somewhat  similar  took  place. 

Thus,  for  seven  or  eight  years  after  the  present  version  was  pub- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  411 

lished,  we  find  Barker,  or  Norton  and  Bill,  still  printing  the  Geneva 
Bible,  at  least  in  ten  editions,  besides  four  of  the  New  Testaments 
separately.  The  fact  is,  that  the  royal  patentee  went  on  to  print 
both  versions  to  the  year  1617  or  1618.  After  tliat  the  Geneva 
Bibles,  so  frequently  printed  in  Holland,  were  imported  and  sold, 
withovit  the  shadow  of  inhibition  during  the  entire  reign  of  James 
the  First,  and  longer  still.  As  for  Scotland,  from  whence  the 
King  had  come,  that  Bible  continued  to  be  as  much  used  there,  as 
the  present  version,  for  more  than  twenty  years  after  James  was 
in  his  grave.  The  influence  or  authority  of  James,  therefore,  can- 
not once  be  mentioned,  when  accounting  for  the  final  result. 

The  Bible  was  indeed  first  published  in  1611,  and  being  still 
farther  corrected  in  1613  ;  but  did  James,  as  a  King,  take  one  step 
to  enforce  its  perusal  7  Not  one  ;  a  fact  so  much  the  more  notable, 
when  t"lie  overweening  conceit  of  that  monarch,  and  the  high 
terms  in  which  he  so  frequently  expressed  himself  as  to  his  pre- 
rogative, are  remembered.  "  We  can  assign,"  says  one  of  the  loest 
living  authorities  in  the  kingdom,  "  we  can  assign  no  other  aii- 
thoriiij  for  using  the  present  version  of  the  Bible,  except  that  of 
the  conference  at  Hampton  Court."  But  that  conference  has  been 
already  described,  and,  in  the  circumstances,  it  actually  amounted 
to  no  authority  at  all  in  point  of  law ;  James  was  not  then  King 
of  England  ;  though  had  it  been  otherwise,  that  conference  cer- 
tainly had  not  the  slig'htest  influence  in  recommending  the  version 
to  which  it  gave  rise.  However,  innnediately  after  his  Majesty 
had  been  recognized  by  Parliament,  he  had  spoken  OHce,  as  we 
have  heard :  and  his  solitary  letter  we  have  given  at  length.  It 
was  in  part  abortive,  and  after  that,  it  seems,  he  must  speak  no 
more  :  a  circumstance  more  worthy  of  notice,  as  James  was  no- 
toriously so  fond  of  speaking  officially,  and  especially  by  procla- 
mations. In  the  first  nine  months  of  his  reign,  he  had  issued  at 
least  a  round  dozen,  but  here  there  was  nothing  of  the  kind. 
"  After  this  translation  was  published,"  says  one  writer,  "  the 
others  all  dropped  oif  by  degrees"  that  is,  in  about  forty  years, 
"  and  this  took  place  of  all,  though  I  don't  find  that  there  was  any 
canon^  proclamation^  or  act  of  parUa?n€nt,  to  enforce  the  use  of 
it."  "  The  present  version,"  says  Dr.  Symonds,  '•  appears  to  have 
made  its  way^  without  the  interposition  of  any  authority  tvhatso- 
ever ;  for  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  any  traces  of  a  proclamation, 
canon,  or  statute  published  to  enforce  the  use  of  it." 

As  for  the  "  appointment,"  noted  on  the  title-page  merely,  it  is 
to  be  borne  in  mind  that  this  extended  no  farther  than  to  public  as- 
semblies of  the  people,  here  indefinitely  enough  styled  "  Churches ;" 
and  taking  the  translators  themselves  for  our  guide,  they,  in  their 
dedication,  looked  no  farther  than  England.  Now,  even  there, 
while  there  had  been  a  proclamation  and  canons  with  regard  to 
Matthew's  and  Cranmer's,  and  the  Bishops'  Bible,  in  1538,  1.571, 
and  1603,  it  becomes  very  observable  that  neither  the  one  nor  the 
other  was  ever  issued  as  to  our  'present  version.  It  is  true  that  in 
various  "  Articles  of  Inquiry"  on  episcopal  visitation,  in  succeeding 


412  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

reigns,  such  a  question  as — "  Have  you  a  large  Bible  of  the  last 
translation  ?"  had  been  put  to  church-wardens.  Such  occasional 
inquiries  however  proceeded,  in  all  cases,  simply  in  virtue  of  the 
King's  personal  authority  over  that  Church  of  which  he  was 
recognized  as  Head ;  and  they  amount  to  nothing,  as  soon  as  we 
inquire  for  the  cause  of  universal  usage,  whether  in  Scotland,  or 
even  in  England  throughout. 

As  royal  authority,  therefore,  had  no  influence  in  accounting  for 
the  change,  one  circumstance,  far  more  tangible,  must  be  ob- 
served, and  it  is  well  worthy  of  special  notice.  Our  present  ver- 
sion, on  the  whole,  was  no  doubt  superior  to  its  predecessors,  but 
then  besides,  it  liad  one  mighty  additional  advantage  in  its  favor. 
It  was  WITHOUT  NOTE  AND  COMMENT.  Oil  the  Other  hand  the 
Geneva  of  1560,  though  an  excellent  version,  and,  for  the  sake  of 
comparison,  well  worthy  of  another  fresh  edition  even  now,  had 
been  almost  always  accompanied  with  these  appendages.  What- 
ever may  be  said  of  the  notes,  no  intelligent  person  can  speak 
lightly  of  the  version  itself;  but  these  notes  proved  the  dead  weight 
which  at  last  sunk  the  translation  into  an  oblivion  which,  but  for 
them,  the  version  might  have  longer  survived.  Thus  once  more, 
or  from  Tyndale's  down  to  our  present  version,  was  Divine  provi- 
dence marking  out  to  this  country  the  true  and  only  path  to  uni- 
versal usage  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  whether  in  this  or  in  every 
other  land.  It  was  tlie  Bible,  but  it  must  be  without  note  and 
comment. 

To  these  Geneva  notes  Archbishop  Laud  inherited  far  more 
hatred  than  James  had  ever  felt.  The  King  after  his  one  sally  at 
the  conference,  seems  to  have  let  the  matter  alone ;  not  so  the 
Prelate,  and  under  his  sway  the  history  of  the  English  Bible  had 
assumed  a  very  singular  aspect.  He  comes  before  us  in  proof  of 
the  impotence  of  royal  authority,  and  even  of  the  royal  patent, 
whether  for  correct  printing,  or  supplying  the  public  demand. 
This  was  about  the  year  1632,  when  Laud,  and  very  properly, 
was  fining  his  Majesty's  printer.  Barker,  for  incorrect  printing  of 
the  Bible  at  home.  Robert  Barker,  and  Martin  Lucas,  King's 
printers,  having  published  a  Bible  this  year,  in  which,  among  other 
errata,  the  word  not  was  left  out  of  the  seventh  commandment, 
the  impression  was  called  in,  and  the  printers  fined  £300,  not 
£3000  as  sometimes  stated.  With  this  money  a  fount  of  fair 
Greek  types  was  provided.  Robert  Barker,  sen.,  did  not  die  till 
1645,  and  could  not  have  sunk  into  prison  under  such  a  sum  as 
this.  Indeed,  when  Charles  I.  referred  to  the  amount,  thus  he 
expressed  himself, — "  and  our  further  wull  and  pleasure  is,  that  the 
said  Robert  Barker  and  Martin  Lucas,  our  patentees  for  printing, 
or  those  which  either  now  are,  or  shall  hereafter  succeed  them, 
being  great  gainers  by  their  patent,  shall  at  their  own  proper 
cost  and  charges  of  ink,  paper,  and  workmanship,  print,  or  cause 
to  be  printed,  in  Greek,  or  Greek  and  Latin,  one  such  volume  in  a 
year,  be  it  bigger  or  less,  as  the  Right  Rev.  Father  aforesaid,  (Au- 
gustine Lindsell,  Bishop  of  Peterborough,)  or  our  servant,  Patrick 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  413 

Young-,  (King's  Librarian,)  or  any  other  of  our  learned  subjects, 
shall  make  ready  for  the  press." 

But  at  the  same  time,  and  with  the  strangest  inconsistency,  he 
was  laboring,  with  all  his  might,  to  prevent  the  importation  of 
Bibles  printed  in  Holland,  chiefly  on  the  acknowledged  ground  of 
their  superior  excellence  in  every  point  of  view  !  When  put  on 
his  trial,  some  years  after,  and  called  to  account  for  many  other 
things,  it  was  one  of  the  charges  against  him,  that  "  one  of  the 
first  books  most  strictly  prohibited  to  be  printed,  imported,  or  sold 
by  this  Archbishop,  was  the  English  Geneva  Bible,  with  marginal 
notes  and  prefaces,  though  printed  here  in  England,  not  only 
without  the  least  restraint,  but  cum  privilegio  regim  Majcstatis 
during  all  Q,ueen  Elizabeth  and  King  James,  their  reigns,  by  the 
Q-ueen's  and  King's  printers,  and  since  our  printers  have  neglected 
to  print  them,  for  fear  of  hindering  the  sale  of  the  last  translation, 
without  notes,  tl^sy  have  been  sold  without  any  contradiction  till 
this  Archbishop  began  to  domineer." 

It  happened  about  eight  years  after  the  death  of  Laud,  and  four 
after  that  of  Charles  the  First,  that  a  Bill  was  introduced  into 
the  Long  Parliament,  on  the  11th  of  January,  1653,  for  "  a  new 
English  translation  of  the  Bible  out  of  the  original  tongues."  Such 
a  bill,  it  must  be  remembered,  had  never  before  been  laid  before  any 
previous  Parliament  in  England.  Once  upon  a  time  indeed,  under 
Edward  VI.,  we  have  seen  that  a  bill  was  brought  before  the 
Senate  referring  simply  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  which  was 
never  mentioned  a  second  time,  or  heard  of  more;  but  lespecting 
any  version  or  revision  of  the  Scriptures,  as  the  consent  of  Con- 
vocation had  never  been  deemed  necessary,  so  that  of  Paliament 
had  never  been  consulted.  At  a  period,  therefore,  when  there  was 
no  King  upon  the  throne,  no  Primate  in  existence,  nor  any  House 
of  Lords,  such  a  proposed  Bill  excites  special  notice  ;  while  as  an 
attempt  on  the  part  of  official  power  to  interfere,  it  becomes  the 
more  striking,  as  being  of  a  new  character.  The  Bill  was  once 
mentioned,  and  only  once  ;  but  the  Parliament  of  the  Lord- 
Brethren  must  no  more  invade  the  peculiar  character  of  this 
cause,  than  the  Parliament  of  royalty  ;  nor  must  the  sovereignty 
of  the  people  be  flattered  any  more  than  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Prince.  This  Parliament  had  already  sat  for  more  than  twelve 
years,  retaining  the  supreme  authority  in  their  hands,  so  that  this 
Bill  sunk  into  oblivion  by  the  well-known  dissolution  of  the  House 
soon  after.  On  the  20th  of  April,  Cromwell,  surrounded  by  some 
of  his  officers,  and  several  hundred  men,  repaired  to  the  Parlia- 
ment, and  after  hearing  them  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  discuss  the 
question  as  to  the  form  of  their  own  dissolution,  he  rose  and  per- 
emptorily settled  it.  In  the  way  which  has  been  so  often  described, 
he  upbraided  certain  members,  dissolved  the  House,  ordering  the 
members  t  j  disperse,  the  mace  to  be  taken  away,  and,  carrying  the 
keys  of  the  House  with  him,  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  he 
also  dissolved  the  Council  of  State. 

But  though  Parliament  under  any  regime  must  not  interfere; 


414  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

there  was  nothing  to  prevent  individuals,  as  such,  from  prosecuting" 
any  enterprise  vvitli  reference  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  On  the 
contrary,  the  iucident  just  mentioned  becomes  far  more  observable 
from  the  time  of  its  occurrence.  Only  a  few  weeks  before,  certain 
individuals,  moved  by  ardent  desire  for  the  promotion  of  sacred  lit- 
erature, with  great  zeal  had  already  embarked  in  an  undertaking 
of  the  noblest  character,  involving  great  expense.  We  refer  to  the 
London  Polyglot  Bible,  by  far  the  most  important  biblical  work 
ever  issued  from  the  British  press,  which  has  rendered  immense 
service  to  the  interpretation  of  Scripture,  as  well  as  conferred  im- 
perishable honor  on  its  projectors  and  its  editor,  Brian  Walton. 

Three  works  of  the  same  nature  had  been  previously  published 
on  the  Continent.  The  Complutensian  Polyglot  of  1517,  at  the 
charge  of  Cardinal  Ximenes — the  Antwerp  in  1572,  by  Arias 
Montanus,  at  the  charges  of  the  King  of  Spain — the  Parisian  in 
1645,  by  Michael  le  Jay,  by  authority  of  Cardinals  Richelieu  and 
Mazarin.  All  these  were  by  disciples  of  the  old  learning,  under 
the  authority  of  Royal  or  Cardinal  patronage  ;  but  the  London 
Polyglot,  by  disciples  of  the  new,  originated  with  the  people  them- 
selves, and  by  them  it  was  triumphantly  carried  through.  In  1652, 
it  was  first  started  ;  and  on  the  11th  of  July  the  Council  of  State 
had  indeed  signified  their  approbation,  and  allowance  of  the  work; 
but  that  Council,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  sent  adrift  by  Crom- 
well, a  circumstance  in  reference  to  the  Polyglot  of  no  moment 
whatever,  as  the  event  vv^ill  prove. 

A  prospectvis  and  proposals  being  printed,  they  had  said — 
"  Whereas  the  former  editions,  though  less  perfect  than  that  pro- 
posed, and  not  so  fit  for  use,  have  been'  printed  at  the  public 
charge  oi  Princes  and  great  persons,  and  the  charge  of  this  work 
will  exceed  the  ability  of  an  ordinary  person,  whereupon  divers 
persons  of  worth  have  expressed  their  readiness  to  join  in  the 
charge  of  the  impression  ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  others,  who  wish 
well  to  learning  and  religion,  will  assist — and  whatsoever  monies 
shall  be  raised,  shall  be  paid  into  the  hands  of  William  Humble, 
Esq.,  treasurer,  for  this  purpose,"  Here  then  was  one  of  the  finest 
tests  for  proving  to  what  extent  zeal  for  such  learning  existed  in 
the  country,  or  deep  interest  in  the  Original  Scriptures,  There 
was  no  parade,  nor  one  sounding  title  to  usher  in  the  day,  but 
with  Hamhle  for  a  treasurer,  let  us  see  how  the  design  proceeded. 
"The  work,"  said  they,  "will  not  be  begun  till  there  be  enough 
to  finish  the  first  volume  containing  the  Pentateuch,  viz.  about 
£1500  ;  nor  the  other  volumes  till  a  proportional  sum  for  each  be 
brought  in,  viz.,  about  £1200,"  As  there  were  to  be  six  volumes 
in  all,  it  was  then  supposed  that  at  the  least  £7500  would  be  re- 
quired, and  the  whole  to  be  thus  published  by  subscription,  if  there 
was  encouragement.  Those  that  advanced  ten  pounds,  were  to 
have  one  copy,  or  six  copies  for  £50,  and  so  for  any  greater  sum, 
to  be  paid  by  instalments — And  what  was  the  result?  Why  that 
just  before  the  English  Bible  had  been  once  hinted  at  in  Parlia- 
ment, where  however  it  must  not  be  touched ;  or  by  the  end  of 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  415 

that  year  (1552)  in  which  the  subject  was  broached,  nearly  four 
thousand  pounds  had  been  subscribed,  and  in  only  four  months 
after,  or  by  the  4th  of  May  1653,  the  subscriptions  to  the  work  had 
not  only  risen  to  nine  thousafid  pounds,  but  according  to  Walton's 
own  words,  much  more  was  likely  to  be  added !  This  noble  un- 
dertaking then  commenced  at  press  in  the  autumn  of  this  year, 
and  the  first  volume  was  delivering  to  the  subscribers  in  Septem- 
ber following.  The  second  volume  was  finished  in  July  1655,  tbe 
third  in  July  1656,  and  the  three  last  volumes  by  the  end  of  1657. 
Two  presses  were  engaged  from  the  beginning,  and  afterwards 
more,  but  the  whole  work  was  completed  in  only  four  years ; 
while  the  Parisian  Polyglot  had  been  seventeen  years  in  the  press. 

Thus  the  most  complete  collection  of  the  Sacred  Writings  ever 
published,  and  far  surpassing  all  former  works  of  the  kind,  was 
prepared  and  published  bi/  the  people  for  the  people.  The  pro- 
posal was  laid  before  them,  and  they  answered  in  a  style  worthy 
of  Araunah  the  Jebusite.  Above  fifty  eminent  individuals,  though 
of  different  sentiments,  have  been  mentioned  by  name,  as,  with 
one  consent,  deeply  interested  in  the  stupendous  undertaking : 
and  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that,  among  the  innumerable 
works  since  published  by  subscription  in  this  kingdom,  correctly 
speaking,  this  must  ever  stand  at  the  top  of  the  list.  Tiie  Lon- 
don Polyglot  Bible,  for  the  use  of  the  learned,  superior  to  all  its 
predecessors,  and  thus  executed,  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  en- 
tire history  of  the  English  Bible  for  the  use  of  the  people  at  large. 

It  was  just  at  the  time  that  the  London  press  was  occupied  with 
the  last  volumes  of  Walton's  Polyglot,  that  the  final  attempt  to 
interfere  with  our  present  version  occurred.  Walton  and  a  few 
others  appear  as  though  they  were  about  to  reconsider  it ;  that  is, 
they  were  deputed  to  do  so,  but  as  they  come  before  us  under  the 
orders  of  a  jjarllamentarp  sub-committee,  they  were  not  allowed 
to  proceed.  The  existing  parliament  had  been  summoned  by 
Cromwell,  as  the  Lord-Protector,  to  represent  England,  Scotland, 
and  Ireland.  They  had  chosen  what  they  w^ere  pleased  to  style 
"  The  grand  committee  for  Religion,"  but  whatever  else  they  had 
done,  or  did  after,  they  must  not  interfere  in  regard  to  the  Script- 
ures. This  Committee  assembled  at  the  house  of  Lord  Commis- 
sioner Whitlock,  who  has  himself  recorded  their  fruitless  attempt 
in  the  following  words: — 

"  Jan.  16,  1656,"  (that  is  1657)  "  ordered  that  it  be  referred  to 
a  sub-committee  to  send  for  and  advise  with  Dr.  Walton,  Mr. 
Hughes,  Mr.  Castell,  Mr.  Clarke,  Mr.  Poulk,  Dr.  Cudworth,  and 
such  others  as  they  shall  think  fit ;  and  to  consider  of  the  Trans- 
lations and  impressions  of  the  Bible,  and  to  offer  their  opinions 
therein  to  this  committee ;  and  that  it  be  specially  commended  to 
the  Lord  Commissioner  Whitlock  to  take  care  of  this  business." 

This  Committee  accordingly  often  met,  from  this  date  to  No- 
vember following,  when  they  gave  in  a  Report.  They  might  say 
what  they  pleased,  as  to  any  existing  impressions  of  the  Bible, 
but,  as  an  official  body,  they  must  not  touch   the  Translation 


416  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

itself.  Accordingly  they  had  occasion  to  reprobate  the  incorrect- 
ness of  certain  editions,  but  particularly  one,  printed  by  John  Field 
for  the  Barkers,  in  16.53,  or  twenty  years  after  their  father  had 
been  fined  under  Charles,  for  the  same  crime.  As  for  the  Trans- 
lation itself,  tiiey  made  several  remarks  upon  some  mistakes;  while 
they  agreed,  that,  as  a  whole,  it  was  "  the  best  of  any  translation 
in  the  World.'"  In  this  testimony  AValton,  Castell,  PocOck,  Sel- 
don,  and  others  concurred ;  but  with  an  eye  on  all  the  past,  the 
reader  may  anticipate,  that  official  authority,  of  course,  could  not 
be  admitted  to  proceed  any  farther. 

Parliament  was  soon  dissolved,  and  from  about  this  period  the 
general  acquiescence  of  the  nation  in  that  version  of  the  Bible, 
which  has  been  read  and  revered  ever  since,  may  be  considered  as 
having  taken  place.  The  reader  cannot  fail  to  remark  the  season 
of  this  very  important  national  occurrence ;  but  of  this,  we  must 
refrain  from  taking  any  farther  notice,  till  the  History  of  the  Bible 
in  Scotland  be  brought  down  to  the  same  period. 


BOOK  IV.-SCOTLAND. 

FROM  JAMES  THE  FIFTH  TO  THE  COMMONWEALTH. 


INTRODUCTION. 

BRIEF  NOTICE  OF  SCOTLAND  DURING  THE  FOURTEENTH  AND  FIFTEENTH  CENTURIES 
— THE  OPENING  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  BEFORE  THE  SACRED  SCRIPTURES  IN  PRINT 
WERE  FIRST  IMPORTED. 

Before  the  Sacred  Volume  in  our  vernacular  tongue,  and  in  a 
printed  form,  was  brought  into  England  itself,  we  had  occasion  to 
notice  the  two  preceding  centuries  ;  and  it  would  be  doing  injust- 
ice to  the  northern  part  of  our  island,  were  we  not  now  to  glance, 
however  briefly,  at  the  same  period. 

The  early  connection  of  Scotland  with  France,  is  distinguished 
by  the  institution  of  the  Scots  College,  or  "  Seminaire  des  Ecos- 
sais,^^  in  Paris,  founded  in  1325,  by  the  Bishop  of  Moray  ;  and  in 
the  revival  of  literature  during  the  fourteenth  century,  such  as  it 
was,  individual  natives  of  Scotland  must  have  taken  an  interest, 
if  one  of  her  sons  may  be  admitted  in  evidence.  In  furnishing  a 
poetical  historian,  contemporary  with  Wickliffe  and  Chaucer,  of 
whom  an  Enghshman,  even  Wharton,  has  told  us,  that  he 
"adorned  the  English  language  by  a  strain  of  versification,  ex- 
pression, and  poetical  imagery,  far  superior  to  the  age  ;"  Caledonia 
had  so  far  already  proved  herself  to  be  no  unmeet  "nurse  for  a 
poetic  child."  We  refer,  of  course,  to  John  Barbour,  Archdeacon 
of  Aberdeen,  the  author  of  "  The  Bruce" — a  soothfast  history  of 
the  life  and  adventures  of  Robert  the  First ;  for,  independently  of 
its  poetical  merits,  it  is  acknowledged  to  be  a  book  of  good  au- 
thority. "  Barbour,"  says  Dr.  Irving,  "  was  evidently  skilled  in 
such  branches  of  knowledge  as  were  then  cultivated ;  and  his 
learning  was  so  well  regulated  as  to  conduce  to  the  improvement 
of  his  mind :  the  liberality  of  his  views,  and  the  humanity  of  his 
sentiments,  appear  occasionally  to  have  been  unconfined  by  the 
boundaries  of  his  own  age."  His  apostrophe  to  Freedom,  like  the 
earliest  lark  of  the  morning,  though  hailing  a  day  which  he  could 
not  anticipate,  has  been  quoted  with  admiration  in  his  own  coun- 
try, at  the  distance  of  more  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  years. 

Ah  !  freedom  is  a  noble  thing  ! — 
Though  he  that  aye  has  lived  free 
May  not  know  well  the  property. 

27 


418  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

This  work,  finished  about  the  year  1375,  was  written  while  Wick- 
hffe  was  yet  busy  with  his  translation  of  the  Scriptures  ;  and  we 
notice  them  together,  simply  for  the  purpose  of  remarking,  that  as 
there  was  but  little  difference  in  the  phraseology  of  the  Scottish 
and  English  writers  of  this  period,  so  the  prose  of  Wickliffe  must 
have  been  as  intelligible  in  North  Britain,  as  the  poetry  of  Barbour 
in  the  south.  "  The  obscure  and  capricious  spelling,"  it  has  been 
said,  may  perhaps  deter  some  readers  from  a  perusal  of  "  The 
Bruce,"  (a  supposition  equally  applicable  to  Wickliffe;)  "but  it  is 
very  remarkable  that  Barbour,  who  was  contemporary  with  Gower 
and  Chaucer,  is  more  intelligible  to  a  modern  reader,  than  either 
of  these  English  writers."  Nor  was  the  language  unfelt  by  those 
who  first  read  it.  On  the  contrar}^,  so  highly  was  the  work  ap- 
preciated, that,  by  Robert  II.,  the  author  had  a  pension  assigned 
to  him,  which  was  punctually  paid  until  the  day  of  his  death  in 
1395. 

Seventeen  years,  however,  before  that  event,  this  man,  along 
with  the  rest  of  his  countrymen,  had  taken  part  in  that  great  con- 
troversy, which  agitated  all  Europe,  when  Scotland  and  England 
became  divided  in  opinion,  and  on  a  point  of  such  vital  importance 
as  the  Pontificate  itself.  To*  this  subject,  reference  has  already 
been  made,  in  our  introduction  to  the  first  volume ;  but  to  under- 
stand it  now,  so  far  as  Scotland  was  concerned,  we  know  not  of  a 
shorter  method,  than  that  of  exhibiting  the  two  countries  in  the 
position  which  they  respectively  occupied  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

ENGLISH  PONTIFF.  CHOSEN.  DEPOSED.  RESIGNED.  DIED.  SCOTTISH  PONTIFF.  CHOSEN.  DIED. 

Urban  VI.  1378 1389.      Clement  VIL         1378.     1394. 

BonitacelX.  1389 1404.      Benedict  XIII.      1394.     1424. 

Innocent  VIL  1404 1406. 

Gregory  XII.  1406.        1409.         1415.  1417. 

Alexander  V.  1409 ....  1410. 

John  XXII.  1410 1415.  1419. 

77ie  Chair  nov)  vacant  two  years  and  five  months. 

Martin  V.  1417 1431.      Clement  VI IL       1424.     1429. 

Thus  strikingly  had  Providence  shed  confusion  into  the  counsels 
of  Rome;  and  throughout  the  whole  period  there  must  have  been 
a  degree  of  mental  agitation,  such  as  the  entire  island  had  not  ex- 
perienced for  many  a  day,  if,  indeed,  ever  before.  During  all 
these  years,  England  had  been  bowing  to  seven  different  Pontiffs 
in  succession,  but  six  of  these  Scotland  would  never  acknowledge. 
On  the  contrary,  she  abode  by  Clement  and  Benedict,  two  different 
men  ;  and  yet  it  was  at  one  of  the  most  perplexing  moments  of 
this  schism,  or  in  1411,  that  the  first  University  in  Scotland  was 
founded  at  St.  Andrews.  Then,  there  were  three  rivals  before  the 
world ;  Gregory,  Benedict,  and  John  ;  and  the  grand  question  of 
the  day  was,  which  was  the  true  Pontiff.  Two  years  before  this, 
the  Council  of  Pisa,  by  way  of  allaying  all  strife,  had  increased 
the  confusion,  by  deposing  Benedict,  the  Scottish,  and  Gregory,  the 
Enghsh  Pontiff;  leaving  both  England  and  Scotland  to  make 
their  choice  of  Alexander  V.,  a  poor  feeble  character.  England 
acquiesced,  but  Scotland  had  taken  her  ground,  and  was  never  to 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  419 

be  moved  ;  though  her  monarch,  James  I.,  was  then  a  captive  in 
England,  unrighteously  detained.  The  consequence  was,  that 
when  the  University  of  St.  Andrews  came  to  be  founded,  Henry 
Wardlaw,  the  Bisliop,  who  must  have  not  fewer  than  six  bulls  to 
confirm  the  appointment,  obtained  them  from  Benedict,  dated  at 
Paniscola  in  Arragon,  2.5th  August  1412.  Thus  the  first  school 
of  learning  in  Scotland  received  its  authority  from  Peter  de  Luna, 
then  in  his  80th  year,  but  a  deposed  Pontiff;  while  two  other  men 
besides  himself,  Gregory  and  John,  were  fighting  for  the  same 
chair. 

Nor  was  this  the  only  college  established  in  Scotland  under  the 
fifteenth  century.  The  breach  as  to  Rome  once  more  healed,  the 
dulusive  idea,  that  the  promotion  of  such  literature  would  be  able 
to  secure  the  prolongation  of  spiritual  and  temporal  power,  had 
taken  full  possession  of  different  Pontiffs,  and  especially  of  Nicholas 
V.  By  his  authority,  therefore,  and  while  they  were  running  riot 
at  Rome,  in  keeping  their  noted  Jubilee  of  1450,  the  University  of 
Glasgow  was  founded ;  a  place  then  containing  only  about  fifteen 
hundred  inhabitants,  or  not  the  one  hundred  and  seventieth  part 
of  its  present  population.  A  second  college  at  St.  Andrews,  St. 
Salvator's,  followed  in  1455,  and  King's  College,  Aberdeen,  in 
1494-5.  Thus,  in  Scotland,  as  well  as  in  England,  before  the 
learning  or  philosophy  of  Greece  had  reached  either  country,  what 
was  called  scholastic  erudition  was  first  permitted  to  put  forth  its 
powers,  and  prove  to  posterity  its  utter  impotence  for  doing  good. 
The  human  mind,  however,  in  Scotland,  as  well  as  in  other  coun- 
tries, was  evidently  waking  up  ;  though  in  all  this  it  is  not  difficult 
to  perceive  only  the  first  efforts  of  "  the  old  learning,''  to  prevent 
the  slightest  innovation,  or  the  introduction  of  a  better  day.  They 
were  so  many  feeble  attempts,  akin  to  the  grand  exploit  of  Wolsey 
at  Oxford,  in  the  early  part  of  the  next  century.  Henry  Wardlaw 
had  been  to  Avignon,  and  lived  in  friendship  with  Benedict.  As 
it  was  from  him  he  had  received  his  appointment  to  the  See  of  St. 
Andrews,  from  him  he  returned  as  his  Legate  for  Scotland,  with  full 
powers.  This  was  in  1404,  or  the  same  year  in  which  James  the 
First,  then  on  his  way  to  France,  was  seized  by  Henry  IV.  of 
England  ;  so  that  for  twenty  years  Wardlaw  was  left  free  to  pur- 
sue his  own  plans.  The  University  was  concocted  in  union  with 
Benedict,  and  when  first  set  on  foot,  it  was  through  the  efforts  of 
learned  men,  who  gratuitously  afforded  their  services  as  professors, 
rather  than  from  any  stipendiary  patronage  either  of  a  public  or 
private  character.  For  above  sixty  years  the  professors  had  no 
fixed  salaries,  and  the  students  paid  no  fees,  so  that  we  have  be- 
fore us  rather  a  nursery  in  favor  of  existing  opinions,  than  a  school 
of  learning,  intended  for  the  ultimate  benefit  of  the  people  at  large. 
Thus,  on  the  release  of  James  in  1424,  so  far  from  any  improve- 
ment in  morals,  to  check  the  licentiousness  of  the  ecclesiastics,  the 
king  had  to  labor  in  establishing  schools,  such  as  should  be  avail- 
able to  all  ranks,  as  well  as  not  hold  the  sword  in  vain.  In  short, 
it  turned  out,  that  the  Legate  of  Benedict,  though  proverbially  a 


420  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

hospitable  man,  was  a  far  greater  enemy  to  what  he  deemed 
heresy,  than  to  open  immorahty  ;  and  the  first  blood  shed  in  Scot- 
land for  opinions  held,  was  shed  not  only  under  his  sway,  but  in 
the  city  where  he  had  founded  his  University.  Two  men  are  well 
known  to  have  suffered  by  his  authority;  and  as  neither  of  these 
were  natives  of  Scotland,  it  only  shows  what  a  dread  was  felt,  lest 
one  ray  of  light  from  abroad  should  disturb  the  surrounding  gloom, 
or  existing  authority.  .Tohn  Resby,  an  Englishman,  was  con- 
demned in  1408 ;  and  in  1432,  Paul  Craw  or  Crawar,  a  native  of 
Germany  or  Bohemia,  but  certainly  a  disciple  of  Huss  ;  both  being 
burnt  to  ashes,  as  the  punishment  then  affixed  to  the  operations 
of  the  human  mind.  The  death  of  this  Bohemian,  who  is  de- 
scribed, by  one  annalist,  as  having  "first  displayed  the  bright 
beams  of  the  Gospel  in  St.  Andrews,"  must  have  been  regarded  at 
the  moment  as  a  great  achievement,  since  it  stands  even  now  in 
strano-e  association  with  the  venerable  remains  of  Melrose  Abbey. 
Very  soon  after,  that  Monastery  was  given  in  reward  to  an  abbot 
who  had  acted  as  the  chief  peri^ecutor !  "  This  year,"  1433,  says 
Sir  James  Balfour,  "the  king,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  the 
clergy,  but  especially  Henry  Wardlaw,  Bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  be- 
stowed the  x\bbey  of  Melrose  upon  a  lubberly  monk  of  the  Cister- 
cian order,  named  John  Fogo,  who  had  written  a  blasphemous 
pamphlet  against  Paul  Craw's  heresy." 

The  reign  of  superstition  continued  to  maintain  its  supremacy ; 
but  though  the  progress  of  knowledge  was  slow,  the  efforts  of 
genius  in  certain  directions,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  the  opening  of  the  next,  were  not  to  be  repressed. 
The  names  of  William  Dunbar  and  Gavin  Douglas,  of  Kennedy 
and  Henryson,  of  John  Mair,  Sir  David  Lindsay,  a  ad  others,  were 
quite  sufficient  to  allow  of  Scotland  taking  no  inferior  place  in  the 
rising  dawn  of  literature.  Dunbar  has  been  frequently  styled  the 
Scottish  Chaucer ;  and  Douglas  was  the  first  translator  of  a  Roman 
classic  into  the  English  language  ;  his  own  original  poetry  prefixed 
to  the"  different  books  of  the  iEneid,  having  received  the  warmest 
praise  of  the  present  day. 

Still,  however,  the  highest,  or  the  eternal  interests  of  the  people, 
were  neglected,  nay,  untouched,  except  it  were  by  fragments  of 
Wickliffe's  translation  in  manuscript.  In  England,  we  have  seen 
that  certain  small  circles,  or  groups,  were  in  possession  of  these^ 
and  were  reading  them  with  the  keenest  interest ;  but  there  is  no 
reason  to  suppose,  even  as  to  Scotland,  that  Wickliffe  had  trans- 
lated in  vain,  more  especially  as  his  language  was  equally  intelli- 
gible with  that  of  Barbour  or  Dunbar.  Indeed,  very  soon  after 
his  death,  Wickliffe's  writings  appear  to  have  attracted  the  notice 
of  Scotchmen.  Resby,  already  mentioned,  was  not  the  only,  or 
even  the  first  Englishman  who  had  travelled  down  to  the  north. 
As  early  as  1402,  Walter  Skirlaw,  then  Bishop  of  Durham,  was 
writing  to  the  monks  of  Kelso,  by  the  Archdeacon  of  Northumber- 
land, for  the  apprehension  of  three  ecclesiastics,  presumed  to  have 
fled  into  the  north,  who  had  been  accused  of  "  unsoundness  in  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  421 

faith  ;"  and  before  the  close  of  the  century,  or  in  1494,  it  is  well 
known,  that  from  twenty  to  thirty'  individuals,  of  good  family, 
chiefly  resident  in  Ayrshire,  were  called  before  the  Archbishop  of 
Glasgow,  for  certain  "new  opinions,"  and  were  reprimanded. 
George  Campbell  of  Cesnock,  Adam  Reid  of  Barskimming,  John 
Campbell  of  Newmilns,  ancestor  of  the  family  of  Loudon,  Andrew 
Shaw  of  Polkemmet,  with  the  Ladies  of  Stair  and  Pokellie,  and 
other  persons  of  distinction,  were  among  the  number. 

Our  information  in  regard  to  the  vernacular  Scriptures  them- 
selves, has  hitherto,  it  is  granted,  been  vague  and  indistinct.  The 
families  of  Nisbet  of  Hardhill  and  of  Gordon  of  Earlston  have  been 
said  to  have  possessed  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  thus  early, 
in  manuscript.  The  first  instance,  however,  and  on  good  grounds, 
has  been  questioned,  if  the  manuscript  in  the  Auchinleck  Library 
be  the  book  referred  to  ;  and  the- second  requires  still  farther  proof 
But  that  the  Neiv  Testament  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  in  manu- 
script, was  in  existence,  and  in  the  best  use,  under  the  reign  of 
James  IV.,  we  are  now  able  to  give  one  veritable  proof,  though 
never  before  presented  to  the  English  reader.  It  must  be  still 
more  interesting,  as  coming  from  the  pen  of  a  native  of  Edin- 
burgh, born  in  the  year  1500,  who  long  before  this  ought  to  have 
been  better  known,  and  of  whom  we  shall  hear  more,  after  that 
the  New  Testament  in  print  has  been  imported  and  read.  Argu- 
ing in  favor  of  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  especially  in  families 
at  home,  and  addressing  James  V.  in  the  year  1534,  he  says — 

"  I  will  now  add  the  decisions  of  princes,  and  that  I  may  omit 
others,  I  will  relate  to  you  a  domestic  example.  I  remember  the 
most  excellent  King,  your  Father,  a  very  brave  prince,  by  a  re- 
markal)le  testimony,  approved  of  this  domestic  practice.  There 
was  in  your  kingdom  a  man,  not  only  of  rank,  but  also  distin- 
guished for  his  exalted  piety,  John  Campbell,  [Dommiis  Sesnocen- 
sis,)  Laird  of  Cesnock.  His  house  might  have  been  an  example 
of  Christian  instruction.  For  he  had  a  priest  at  home  who  read 
to  him  and  his  family  the  New  Testament  in  their  vernacular 
language ;  and  the  morals,  both  of  himself  and  of  his  family,  cor- 
responded with  the  glad  tidings.  He  also  assisted  the  poor  in  all 
kind  offices,  and  although  he  had  learned  from  the  Gospel  that 
superstition  and  hypocrisy  are  displeasing  to  God ;  that  he  might 
not  seem  partial  to  any  rank,  he  Was  wont  to  receive  also  the 
monks  into  his  hospitable  abode.  There,  when  he  at  times  would 
familiarly  converse  with  his  guests  upon  Christian  doctrine,  certain 
hypocrites,  as  it  happened,  imderstood  that  he  attacked  some  of 
their  superstitions.  At  last,  his  mind  having  been  often  sounded, 
the  monks,  violating  the  law  of  hospitality,  and,  as  it  is  said, 
*  passing  by  the  eating-table  and  the  salt,'  they  carried  his  name 
to  the  Bishop,  and  accused  him  of  heresy.  In  that  suit,  when,  af- 
ter long  disputation,  it  appeared  that  both  he  and  his  wife  were  in 
danger  of  their  lives,  Campbell  appealed  to  the  King.  Although 
the  monks  were  grievously  offended  that  the  King  should  call  the 
cause  before  himself,  still  he  thought  it  belonged  to  his  good  faith 


422  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

and  humanity,  that,  to  good  and  noble  men,  he  should  not  fail  to 
do  his  duty.  He  therefore  graciously  heard  the  cause  on  both 
sides;  and  when  the  husband,  from  natural  reserve,  and  not  a  little 
agitated  by  fear  of  the  monks,  answered  with  modesty,  the  King 
commanded  the  roife  to  plead  the  cause.  She  then,  quoting  the 
Scriptures^  refuted  the  charges  brought  against  them,  so  distinctly 
and  wisely,  that  the  King  not  only  acquitted  the  defendants, 
Campbell,  with  his  wife  and  the  priest ;  but  also  rising  up,  he 
caressed  the  woman,  and  extolled  her  diligence  in  Christian  doc- 
trine. Having  severely  reproved  the  monks,  he  threatened,  that 
if  ever  after  they  created  trouble  of  this  sort,  to  such  honourable 
and  innocent  persons,  he  would  punisli  them  severely.  To  Camp- 
bell himself,  indeed,  he  presented  certain  villages,  that  there  might 
remain  an  honourable  token  of  his  decision,  and  of  his  good-will 
towards  him ;  lest  there  should  be  supposed  to  lurk  in  his  (the 
King's)  mind  any  suspicion  against  Campbell  because  of  the  ac- 
cusation of  the  monks." 

This  incident  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  occurrence  in 
1494,  where  Reid  of  Barskimming  was  the  chief  speaker.  Be- 
sides, we  know  that  John  Campbell  of  Cesnock  was  the  immedi- 
ate successor  of  George,  already  mentioned.  He  appears  to  have 
been  a  son  worthy  of  his  father,  and  as  the  King  here  referred  to, 
James  IV.,  fell  at  Flodden  in  1513,  the  occurrence  must  have 
taken  place  at  least  thirteen  years  before  the  New  Testament  of 
Tyndale  could  have  arrived  in  Scotland,  but  most  probably  still 
earlier.  At  all  events,  it  forms  one  of  the  most  appropriate  intro- 
ductions to  the  following  history  ;  nor  have  we  been  able  to  ad- 
duce an  incident  of  deeper  interest  before  any  part  of  the  Sacred 
Volume,  in  print,  was  imported  into  England  itself 

Sucii  an  anecdote  is  only  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  character 
of  this  monarch.  Naturally  gay  and  warm-hearted,  he  was  by 
no  means  disposed  blindly  to  follow  the  priests  or  monks  of  the 
day.  On  the  contrary,  having  so  remarkably  conciliated  the  af- 
fections of  his  nobility,  had  he  not  been  cut  off  in  the  flower  of 
his  age,  he  might  have  gone  far  to  have  rescued  the  crown  out  of 
the  dictatorial  tyranny  of  the  priesthood. 

The  king  was  also  decidedly  in  favor  of  the  progress  of  letters. 
Witness  only  "  The  Thistle  and  the  Rose,"  by  Dunbar — a  poem 
full  of  picturesque  beauty— presented  to  James,  in  1503,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  marriage  to  Margaret,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Henry 
Vn.  By  the  king's  sanction  also,  and  under  his  own  eye  at  Edin- 
burgh, the  art  of  printing  itself  was  introduced  into  Scotland. 
The  first  patent  was  granted,  in  1507,  to  Walter  Chepman  and 
Andro  Myllar,  his  workman  ;  and  they  set  up  their  press  accord- 
ingly in  "  the  Southgate."  But  though  the  press  was  set  up,  the 
idea  of  applying  that  art  to  its  noblest  end,  or  the  printing  of  the 
Sacred  Scriptures,  and  in  Edinburgh,  was  not  to  be  cherished  for 
seventy  years  to  come.  We  are  left,  therefore,  to  inquire  at  what 
time  any  part  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  printed  in  our  native  tongue, 
had  first  reached  the  shores  of  North  Britain. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  423 

SECTION    I. 

REIGN    OF    JAMES    THE    FIFTH. 

STATE    OF     SCOTLAND THE     FIRST     INTRODUCTION     OF     THE     SACRED     VOLUME     IN 

PRINT,     THAT     IS,    OF     THE     NEW     TESTAMENT     IN     THE     ENGLISH     LANGUAGE 

EARLIEST    ARRIVALS    AT    EDINBURGH    AND    ST.    ANDREWS. 

The  first  introduction  of  the  New  Testament  into  England,  by 
Tyndale,  has  been  fully  described,  and  it  must  have  been  felt  how 
much  the  existing  state  of  the  country  deepened  our  interest  in 
that  ever  memorable  event ;  the  state  of  Scotland  immediately 
before,  and  at  the  same  moment,  will  complete  the  picture  as  to. 
the  entire  Island.  For  nearly  eighty  years  longer,  it  is  true,  the 
inhabitants  of  both  countries  regarded  each  other  with  no  amicable 
feeling.  Monarch  and  people  considered  the  interests  of  the  two 
kingdoms  to  be  perfectly  distinct,  and  far  from  being  disposed  to 
union,  they  viewed  each  other  with  proverbial  jealousy,  and  fought 
accordingly.  In  the  year  1526,  therefore,  more  especially  after 
England  had  gained  such  influence  in  the  north,  the  idea  that  the 
monarch  of  the  inferior  slate  would  ultimately  become  the  sove- 
reign of  the  whole  Island,  must  have  been  treated  with  disdain  ; 
but  that  the  change,  when  it  did  take  place,  whatever  was  the 
character  of  that  King  personally,  would  be  overruled  for  intro- 
ducing to  all  alike,  that  Sacred  Volume,  which  has  been  read 
ever  since,  is  a  result  which  would  then  have  been  regarded  with 
equal  scorn  by  both  parties.  Yet  thus  early,  and  whatever  might 
be  the  feelings  entertained,  or  sentiments  then  held,  on  either 
side  of  the  Tweed,  it  seems  as  if  the  Governor  among  the  nations, 
regarding  them  as  only  one  people,  had  begun  to  act  accordingly. 
If  it  shall  turn  out  that  the  highest  gift  which  He  has  ever  be- 
stowed upon  both  countries,  was  conveyed  to  them  both  at  the 
same  period  ;  if  the  only  effectual  cement  or  remedy,  for  all  local 
and  petty  antipathies,  was  then  first  supplied  to  both,  however 
imperceptibly,  and  hitherto  unnoticed,  certainly  the  fact  well  de- 
serves to  be  traced  out,  and  will,  it  is  presumed,  fully  reward 
attention. 

In  the  opening  of  the  sixteenth  century,  Scotland  was  rising, 
both  in  wealth,  and  importance,  vuider  the  energetic  government 
of  James  the  Fourth,  till  the  9th  of  September  1513 ;  when, 
through  his  own  impetuosity,  by  the  fatal  battle  of  Flodden-field, 
the  nation  was  thrown  into  a  state  which  baffled  all  description. 
About  ten  thousand  men  were  left  dead  on  the  field,  and  among 
them,  not  only  the  king  himself,  but  the  strength  of  his  nobility, 
gentry,  and  yeomanry,  were  gone,  witliin  the  short  compass  of 
three  hours  !  Thirteen  earls,  fifteen  lords  and  chiefs  of  clans,  the 
eldest  sons  of  five  peers,  the  primate  of  St.  Andrews  and  other 
ecclesiastics,   the  French  ambassador,  and  the  secretary  of  the 


424  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

king,  had  fallen  !     As  for   the  gentry,  there  were  but  few  houses 
which  did  not  mourn  one  relative  ;  some  entire  families  were  swept 


away  ! 

If  ever  a  country  demanded  sympathy  from  its  nearest  neighbor, 
it  was  then  ;  but  this  was  a  feeling,  with  which  Wolsey  might 
have  truly  said,  "I  and  the  king  have  never  been  either  annoyed 
or  depressed."  On  the  contrary,  following  up  their  advantage, 
many  long  years  of  vexatious  intrigue,  on  their  part,  awaited  the 
north  ;  nay,  within  only  three  years  after  the  Flowers  of  the  For- 
est were  "  a'  wede  away,"  Sir  Christopher,  afterwards  Lord  Dacre, 
the  Warden  of  the  English  borders,  had  in  his  pay  not  fewer 
than  four  hundred  Scots,  outlaws,  whose  main  occupation  con- 
sisted in  exciting  such  tumults  and  jealousies  as  might  distract 
the  government  under  the  Duke  of  Albany.  That  period  which 
elapsed  from  the  year  1523  to  1528,  was  pecuUarly  distracting. 
On  looking  over  the  criminal  trials  of  the  day,  as  well  as  for  many 
future  years,  we  see  but  one  continued  series  of  slaughter  and 
theft,  treason  and  deadly  feud. 

In  England  Wolsey  was  evidently  playing  one  of  his  double 
games  with  Scotland,  as  well  as  with  the  Continent ;  a  proof  of 
his  consummate  talents  for  worldly  business  all  round  him,  in 
every  direction  ;  but  he  was  now  also  enraged  at  the  existence  of 
Tyndale's  Testaments,  recently  detected  in  Antwerp,  and  strain- 
ing every  nerve  to  get  them  burnt ;  while  Tunstal,  Bishop  of 
London,  was  not  only  authenticating  the  book  for  this  end,  but 
he  and  Warham  of  Canterbury,  in  October  and  November,  were 
thundering  out  their  injunctions  against  the  Sacred  Volume  as 
"  pestiferous  poison." 

With  regard  to  the  first  introduction  into  Scotland  of  the  Sacred 
Volume  in  a  printed  form,  the  historian  has  never  yet  been  able 
to  proceed  farther  than  a  shrewd  conjecture.  It  has  been  supposed 
that  the  translation  of  Tyndale  may  or  must  have  found  its  way 
there ;  but  when,  how  early,  or  by  what  means,  we  have  never 
been  told.  If  it  can  now  be  proved  that  the  book  was  conveyed 
to  Scotland  as  well  as  England,  not  only  by  the  same  method,  but 
nearly  about  the  same  time,  and  certainly  within  the  compass  of 
the  same  year,  the  reader  cannot  fail  to  return  with  fresh  interest 
to  the  period.  This  would  be  sufficient  to  render  the  year  1526 
equally  memorable  in  Caledonia,  as  in  Old  England. 

In  their  commercial  intercourse  with  the  Continent.  Scotland 
and  England  were  altogether  independent  of  each  other,  and  the 
trade  of  the  former  with  the  Low  Countries  was  of  equally  ancient 
standing ;  but  it  is  of  importance  to  observe,  that,  by  this  period, 
and  by  the  authority  of  Parhament,  the  Scottish  merchants  gen- 
erally v)ent  along  with  their  g-oods,  and  that  none  were  allowed 
to  do  so,  but  persons  "  able  and  of  good  fameP  So  much  the 
better,  or  more  in  favor  of  what  was  now  to  take  place. 

The  reader  can  scarcely  fail  to  remember  what  a  battle  was 
fought  in  Antwerp  respecting  the  New  Testaments  of  Tyndale, 
when  first  detected  there,  and  how  the  Ambassador  of  England, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  425 

John  Hackett,  got  himself  so  embroiled  in  the  business ;  Wolsey 
and  Tunstal  being  not  more  fierce  at  home  than  he  was  abroad. 
Hackett's  object  was  to  "  see  justice  done"  upon  all  such  English 
books  as  were  entitled  "The  New  Testament."  By  "justice 
done,"  he  meant  burning  them  ;  and  this  he  said  was  for  "  the 
preservation  of  the  Christian  faith.^''  Now  it  was  in  the  very 
midst  of  this,  the  first  onset  in  that  long  war,  that  we  have  posi- 
tive information  as  to  Scotland ;  and  while  it  must  be  new  to  the 
reader,  it  happens  to  be  fully  as  distinct  as  any  we  have  read  in 
the  history  of  England,  if  not  more  so.  Hackett  was  in  busy  cor- 
respondence both  with  Cardinal  Wolsey  and  Brian  Tuke,  the 
Secretary  of  State.  It  was  to  the  former  he  addressed  a  letter, 
dated  from  MechUn,  on  Wednesday  the  20th  of  February,  1526, 
that  is,  1527  ;  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract  :— 

"  Please  your  grace  to  understand  that  since  ray  last  writing 
to  your  Grace,  I  have  received  none  of  yours.  I  trust  by  this  time 
that  your  Grace  has  ample  information  of  such  execution  and 
justice  as  has  been  done  in  the  towns  of  Antwerp  and  Barrow 
(now  Bergen-op-Zoom)  upon  all  snch  English  books  as  we  could 
find  in  these  countries,  similar  to  three  such  other  books  as  your 
Grace  sent  unto  me,  with  my  Lord  the  Bishop  of  London's  sig- 
nature. 

"  By  my  last  writing  to  Mr.  Brian  Tuke  (4  January  1527)  I 
advertised  him  how  that  there  were  divers  merchants  of  Scot- 
land that  bought  many  of  such  like  books,  and  took  them  into 
Scotland  ;  a  part  to  EdinhurglL,  and  most  part  to  the  town  of 
St.  Andrews. 

"  For  the  which  cause,  when  I  was  at  Barrow,  being  advertised 
that  the  Scottish  ships  were  in  Zealand,  for  there  the  said  books 
were  laden,  I  went  suddenly  thitherward,  thinking,  if  I  had  found 
such  stuff  there,  that  I  would  cause  to  make  as  good  a^re  of  them, 
as  there  has  been  done  of  the  remnant  in  Brabant ;  but  fortune 
would  not  that  I  should  be  in  time ;  for  the  foresaid  ships  were 
departed  a  day  afore  my  coming.  So  I  must  take  patience  for 
all  my  labour,  with  leaving  My  Lady  Margaret's  letters,  and  good 
instructions  with  my  Lord  of  Bever,  and  the  ....  Mr.  .  .  .  off .  .  . 
concerning  the  foresaid  business." 

Mons.  de  Bever,  who  was  Lord  of  Campvere,  and  Admiral  of 
Flanders,  had  been  in  London  only  in  March  1525,  as  Ambassa- 
dor from  Lady  Margaret,  Regent  of  Flanders,  and  must  have  been 
fully  aware  of  Wolsey's  imperious  temper,  as  he  had  then  insulted 
himself;  but  it  is  not  a  little  remarkable,  that,  at  this  very  mo- 
ment, confidence  in  the  court  of  England  was  failing,  if  not  gone  ; 
the  double  dealing  of  the  Cardinal  on  the  Continent  had  been  de- 
tected, and  for  some  time  to  come,  no  attention  will  be  paid  to  any 
request  from  that  quarter.  The  Lord  of  Campvere  was  not  so 
likely  therefore  to  quarrel  with  the  Scotish  traders  at  their  oron 
staple  port ;  nor  is  there  the  slightest  evidence  of  Wolsey  having 
conveyed  the  intelligence  he  had  received  to  Scotland,  a  circum- 
stance the  more  remarkable  since  he  was  so  annoyed  with  the 


426 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


subject.  He  had,  it  is  true,  far  higher  game  in  prospect.  The 
sack  of  Rome  itself  first,  and  then  his  own  splendid  embassy  to 
France  engrossed  him  ;  l3ut,  besides,  when  these  last  ships  arrived, 
Beaton  lay  under  his  frown,  and  in  concealment !  Hackett,  how- 
ever, certainly  refers  to  importations  as  already  past ;  and  as  more 
business  was  done  in  summer  than  in  autumn,  the  probability  is, 
that  even  these  were  not  the  first  Testaments.  At  all  events,  here 
the  channel  of  conveyance  was  opened.  Besides  Leith  and  St. 
Andrews,  there  were  the  ports  of  Dundee,  Montrose,  and  Aberdeen, 
who  all  traded  with  Zealand ;  and  as  in  Scotland  there  were  no 
official  steps  taken  against  the  New  Testament  by  ?iam-e,  for  at 
least  five  years  after  this,  the  book  must  have  arrived,  again  and 
again,  at  all  these  ports.  This  is  easily  understood,  after  the  scene 
we  have  witnessed  in  England,  in  the  face  of  far  greater,  and  more 
vigilant  opposition. 

Petty  or  narrow-minded  rivalry  has  too  often  been  evinced  be- 
tween England  and  Scotland,  as  to  priority  in  smaller  matters ; 
but  there  was  to  be  no  room  left  for  boasting  in  regard  to  the 
greatest  of  all.  That  such  coincidence  should  never  have  been 
observed  before,  may  indeed  seem  strange  ;  but  once  pointed  out, 
it  certainly  was  not  intended  to  be  simply  noticed,  and  so  forgot- 
ten. Let  it  rather  be  improved,  even  at  this  late  hour,  to  the 
praise  of  Him,  who  thus,  in  spite  of  every  species  of  hostility,  so 
signally  conveyed  his  own  word  to  the  very  camps  of  the  enemy 
■ — to  the  north  as  well  as  the  south,  about  the  same  period — to 
Edinburgh,  as  well  as  London — to  the  mouth  of  the  Eden  at  St. 
Andrew's,  and  no  doubt  other  places,  as  well  as  to  the  mouth  of 
the  Thames,  or  to  Oxford  and  Cambridge  !  In  this  point  of  view, 
the  year  1526  becomes  by  far  the  most  remarkable  in  the  annals 
of  our  common  country.  The  New  Testament,  thus  conveyed  to 
both  countries,  was  dreaded  and  deprecated  by  both  alike,  and  as 
an  evil  of  the  greatest  magnitude.  More  than  ten  years  passed 
away  in  England,  before  their  greatest  national  blessing  was  ac- 
cepted or  allowed  by  the  sovereign  ;  it  was  seventeen  years  before 
a  similar  allowance  occurred  in  Scotland.  Where  then,  ever 
since,  has  there  been  any  ground  for  boasting  ?  It  is  excluded ; 
and  that  by  the  simple  and  authentic  history  of  the  Sacred  Volume 
itself. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  427 


SECTION    II. 

ANNO    1527-28 — CONSTERNATION    OF    THE    AUTHORITIES    IN    SCOTLAND THE    NEW- 
TESTAMENT    SOON    FOLLOWED    BY    ONE    LIVING    VOICE,  THAT  OF  PATUICK    HABIIL- 

TON HIS    MARTYRDOM ALEXANDER    SETON,  THE  NEXT    WITNESS,  PERSECUTED) 

HE  ESCAPES  TO  ENGLAND — THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  GOES  ON  TO  BE  IMPORTED. 

Once  more  the  analogy  between  England  and  Scotland  is  pre- 
sented to  our  view.  As  early  as  1520,  some  alarm  had  been  fek 
in  England  respecting  what  was  called  Lutheranism,  the  phrase 
of  the  day  for  any  approach  to  Scriptural  truth,  even  though  the 
party  molested  might  never  have  heard  of  Luther's  name,  or,  at 
least,  read  a  page  of  his  writings.  So  Scotland  was  soon  seized 
with  similar  alarm,  and  by  the  17th  of  July  1525,  an  act  of  par- 
liament had  passed,  enacting,  that  "no  manner  of  persons,  stran- 
gers, that  happen  to  arrive  with  their  ships,  within  any  part  of 
this  realm,  bring  with  them  any  books  or  works  of  the  said  Luther, 
his  disciples  or  servants,"  on  pain  of  imprisonment,  besides  the 
forfeiture  of  their  ships  and  goods.  Now,  whether  what  was  taking 
place  last  year  as  to  books  imported  was  known,  we  have  no  posi- 
tive evidence;  but  at  all  events,  by  the  autumn  of  this  year  there 
was  fresh  alarm,  and  that  not  owing  to  strangers.  In  the  mouth 
of  August  1527,  the  Earl  of  Angus  having  got  himself  appointed 
to  be  Chancellor,  with  Dunbar,  the  Bishop  of  Aberdeen  and  uncle 
of  Dunbar  the  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  to  assist  him  ;  Angus  and 
the  Lords  of  Council  added  the  following  clause  to  the  act  of 
1525 : — "And  all  other,  tlie  king's  lieges,  assistaries  to  such  opin- 
ions, be  punished  in  seemable  Avise,  and  the  effect  of  the  said  act 
to  strike  upon  them.''  Thus,  between  July  1525  and  September 
1527,  as  it  was  determined  to  extend  those  penalties  to  natives  of 
Scotland,  we  have  sufficient  proof  that  importations  by  them  had  been 
going  on  ;  but  while  there  were,  very  probably,  some  other  publi- 
cations, It  is  not  a  little  extraordinary,  that  the  07ily  books  which 
can  now  be  traced,  or  distinctly  specified,  should  be  those  of  the 
New  Testament  itself  of  Tyndale's  version.  Never,  then,  let  it  be 
overlooked,  that  if  the  provisions  of  this  act  were  followed  out, 
there  existed  a  time  in  the  history  of  our  country,  when,  if  a 
vessel  arrived  at  Leith  or  St.  Andrew's,  at  Dundee,  Montrose,  or 
Aberdeen,  with  copies  of  the  New  Testament  on  board,  the  ship 
and  cargo  were  hable  to  confiscation,  and  the  captain  to  imprison- 
ment !  A  battle  was  now  to  be  fought  and  won,  in  the  north  as 
well  as  in  the  south  of  Britain. 

But  again,  as  in  England,  serious  and  long-continued  persecu- 
tion did  not  commence  till  after  the  Scriptures  had  arrived  ;  so  it 
was  in  Scotland.  Copies  had  soon  found  their  way,  and  not  in 
vain,  to  the  canons  of  Cardinal  College,  Oxford  ;  but  so  they  had 
to  the  canons  of  St.  Andrews,  as  well  as  other  parties.  The  ex- 
plosion at  Oxford  occurred  in  February  1526,  and  by  February 


428  HIiSTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

1528,  at  the  very  moment  when  Tunstal  and  his  vicar-general 
were  sitting  in  severe  judgment  on  tlie  book  in  London,  the  New 
Testament  will  now  be  very  pointedly  referred  to,  and  condemned, 
within  the  walls  of  the  Metropolitan  Church  in  Scotland. 

The  occasion  of  this,  the  first  storm,  is  well  known.  It  followed 
the  arrival  from  abroad,  about  the  autumn  of  1527,  and  the  subse- 
quent exertions  of  one  of  the  loveliest  and  most  interesting  of  all 
characters  in  early  Scottish  history — Patrick  Hamilton.  Of  the 
noble  army  of  Martyrs  on  British  ground,  during  the  sixteenth 
century,  he  was  to  be  the  youthful  and  heroic  leader.  He  was  the 
son  of  Sir  Patrick  Hamilton,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1504 ;  in- 
tended for  an  ecclesiastic,  he  had  the  Abbacy  of  Fearn  conferred 
upon  him  in  his  youth.  Educated  under  John  Major  and  others 
at  St.  Andrews,  as  soon  as  he  had  any  knowledge  of  the  pure 
word  of  God,  he  could  not  conceal  his  sentiments,  and  conse- 
quently was  involved  in  trouble.  He  then  went  abroad,  where  he 
is  said  to  have  remained  two  years.  Three  individuals  went  with 
him,  one  of  whom,  ks  a  servant,  abode  by  him  to  the  moment  of 
death,  having  accompanied  him  to  the  stake.  As  there  is  suffi- 
cient evidence  that  Hamilton  returned  direct  from  Marburg  in 
Hesse,  and  the  University  at  that  place  was  not  founded  till  1526, 
this  fixes  his  departure  to  the  year  1525  at  the  latest,  not  1526,  as 
frequently  stated.  The  parliamentary  act  of  1525,  already  men- 
tioned, may  have  been  in  some  degree  connected  with  the  first 
disclosure  of  his  views ;  and,  indeed,  when  his  sentiments,  as  left 
by  himself,  in  his  Latin  treatise,  are  considered,  two  years  may  well 
be  allowed  for  his  attaining  to  such  maturity  of  mind.  Hamilton's 
name,  like  that  of  almost  all  who  went  to  the  Continent  about 
that  period,  has  been  associated  with  those  of  Luther  and  Melanc- 
thon.  He  must  have  been  eager  to  see  these  men,  and  there  is 
no  reason  to  doubt  of  his  having  known  them  both  ;  but  the  evi- 
dence of  his  intimacy  with  Francis  Lambert,  John  Fryth,  and,  of 
course,  with  Tyndale,  rests  on  firmer  ground.  From  Marburg, 
where  Tyndale  and  Fryth  appear  to  have  been,  he  last  came,  and 
embarked  in  Holland  for  Scotland,  thus  following  the  very  track 
by  which  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  had  preceded  him  into 
his  own  country.  His  mind  was  full  of  ardor,  and  though  Lam- 
bert had  aflfectionately  and  strongly  dissuaded  him  from  rushing 
into  such  certain  danger,  if  Fryth  once  told  him  what  had  just 
happened  in  England,  one  can  easily  conceive  of  this  only  adding 
oil  to  a  flame  already  kindled. 

Hamilton,  on  his  arrival,  had  proceeded  first  to  his  brother's 
house  in  Linlithgowshire,  Sir  James  having  succeeded  his  father 
as  Sheriff  of  that  county  ;  and  here,  as  the  sequel  proved,  he  had 
preached,  and  conversed  not  in  vain,  as  well  as  elsewhere. 

The  youth  of  Hamilton,  and  his  rank,  his  fine  talents  and  his 
views  of  divine  truth,  had  all  combined  in  producing  an  immediate 
impression  ;  while  the  power  of  his  family,  of  which  the  Earl  of 
Arran  was  the  chief,  and  who  had  so  resented  the  death  of  Patrick's 
father,  must  have  rendered  any  open  hostility  more  difficult. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  429 

Invited  to  St.  Andrews  by  a  special  message  from  the  Primate, 
who,  with  solemn  promises  of  safety,  said,  he  only  wished  to  con- 
verse with  him,  Hamilton  went  without  hesitation.     Beaton  re- 
ceived him  with  a  hypocritical  show  of  kindness,  assigned  him  a 
lodging  in  the  city,  and  so  left  him  to  be  fully  ensnared  by  a 
Dominican  friar,  Alexander  Campbell,  with  whom  he  had  come 
in  contact  before  his  departure  for  the  Continent.     Only  a  very 
short  time  was  required   to  draw   from  the  ardent  and  zealous 
youth    ample    ground  for   accusation  to  the  Arclibishop ;    more 
especially  as  Campbell,  who  was  the  Prior  of  his  order,  had  pre- 
tended to  admit  the  force  of  all  that  Hamilton  advanced.     In  fact, 
he  had  been  only  a  few  days  in  St.  Andrews,  when,  under  night, 
he  was  apprehended  in  bed   and  carried  to  the   Castle  ;  and  the 
very  next  day  he  was  before  Beaton,  with  thirteen  different  arti- 
cles laid  to  his  charge,  by  the    man  who   seems    to   have   long 
thirsted  for  his  blood.     Though  drawn  into  some  general  conver- 
sation at  this  moment,  the  youthful  martyr,  with   the  finest  dis- 
crimination, separating  the  truths  from   the  errors,  had  evidently 
resolved  to  die  for  the  confession  of  the  former,  rather  than  the 
denial  of  the  latter,  and  therefore  he  abode  by  the  seven   points 
already  mentioned.     So  Fox  informs  us  that  "  learned  men  who 
communed  and  reasoned  with  him  do  testify,  that  these  were  the 
very  articles  for  which  he  suffered."      Meanwhile  with  a  hypo- 
critical show  of  moderation,  Beaton  remitted  the  articles  entire  to 
the  judgment  of  fourteen  theologians,  such  as  they  were,  not  for- 
getting, however,  to  include  among  the  number  his  base  perse- 
cutor, Campbell.     Within  only  a  day  or  two    more,  these  men 
returned  their  censure,  condemning  the  whole  articles  as  heretical, 
before  a  solemn    meeting  in  the  Cathedral.     This  happend  on 
Saturday  the  28th  of  February  1528;  and  now,  on  the  same  day, 
the  prisoner,  after  all  that  had  been  promised  by  Beaton,  was   to 
be  tried,  condemned,  and  reduced  to  ashes,  before  the  sun  went 
down  !     They  trod   in  the  footsteps  of  the  Pharisees   of  old,  for 
the  next  day  was  the  Sabbath  ! 

The  trial,  such  as  it  was,  formed  but  a  very  summary  proceed- 
ing; but  we  must  not  omit  part  of  the  brief  dialogue  between  the 
Martyr  and  Campbell  his  accuser,  in  presence  of  his  judges.  The 
articles  being  read  over  by  his  determined  prosecutor,  with  this  he 
commenced  :^— 

Cam,phell. — "Heretic,  thou  sayest  it  is  lawful  to  any  man  to 
read  the  Word  of  God,  and  in  special  the  New  Testament  T 
Hamilto7i. — "  I  said  not  so  (to  you)  to  my  knowledge  ;  but  I  said, 
and  say  it  now,  it  is  lawful  to  all  men  that  have  a  soul,  to  read 
the  Word  of  God,  that  they  may  understand  the  same,  and  spe- 
cially the  latter  will  and  Testament  of  Jesus  Christ,  whereby  they 
may  acknowledge  their  sins  and  repent  of  the  same,  whereby  they 
may  amend  their  lives  by  faith  and  repentance,  and  attain  salva- 
tion by  Christ  Jesus.  Campbell. — "  Now,  heretic,  I  see  that  thou 
affirmest  the  words  of  thy  accusation."     Hamilton. — "I  affirm 


430  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

nothing  but  the  words  which  I  have  spoken  in  presence  of  this 
auditory." 

The  auditory  to  whom  he  addressed  these,  and  other  hke  words 
all  condemned  him  to  be  guilty  of  death  ;  and,  delivering  him  ovei 
to  the  secular  power,  on  {he  afternoon  of  the  same  day,  he  was' 
led  forth  to  a  stake  placed,  in  terrore7?i,  before  the  gate  of  St. 
Salvator's  College.  On  the  scaffold,  turning  affectionately  to  the 
faithful  servant,  who  had  long  attended  him,  and  slept  in  the  same 
apartment,  having  divested  himself  of  his  gown,  his  coat,  and  his 
bonnet — "  These,"  said  he,  "  will  not  profit  in  the  fire  ;  they  will 
profit  thee.  After  this  thou  canst  receive  no  commodity  from  me 
except  the  example  of  my  death,  which,  I  pray  thee,  bear  in  mind. 
For,  although  it  be  bitter  to  the  flesh,  yet  is  it  the  entrance  into 
eternal  life,  which  none  shall  possess  that  deny  Christ  before  this 
wicked  generation."  When  bound  to  the  stake,  far  from  exhibit- 
ing any  fear,  he  fixed  his  eyes  towards  heaven,  commending  his 
soul  unto  God.  The  executioner  setting  fire  to  the  pile,  it  would 
not  burn,  but  merely  scorched  the  left  side  of  their  victim  !  In 
this  excruciating  state,  obliged  to  send  some  distance  to  the  Arch- 
bishop's Castle  for  gunpowder,  as  well  as  elsewhere  for  more  com- 
bustible materials ;  an  immense  crowd  having  assembled,  some  of 
whom  loudly  denounced  the  persecutors,  while  others  implored 
the  martyr  to  recant  and  save  his  life,  he  thus  addressed  them  : — 

"  As  for  my  confession,  I  will  not  deny  it  for  fear  of  your  fire, 
for  my  confession  and  belief  is  in  Jesus  Christ ;  and  therefore  I 
will  not  deny  it.  I  will  rather  that  my  body  be  burnt  in  this  fire 
for  confession  of  my  f^iith  in  Christ,  than  that  my  soul  should  suf- 
fer in  the  unquenchable  fire  of  hell,  for  denying  of  my  faith.  But 
as  for  the  sentence  and  judgment  pronounced  against  me  this  day, 
by  the  bishops  and  doctors,  I  here,  in  the  presence  of  you  all,  ap- 
peal against  the  said  sentences  and  judgment  given  against  me, 
and  betake  myself  to  the  mercy  of  God."  Then  turning  to  Camp- 
bell, who  had  acted  in  the  three-fold  character  of  traitor,  judge, 
and  executioner,  as  he  even  now  satanically  assailed  his  victim, 
and  reviled  him  as  an  heretic,  Hamilton  closed  by  adding,  "Wicked 
man  !  thou  knowest  the  contrary  ;  to  me  thou  hast  confessed.  I 
appeal  thee  before  the  tribunal  seat  of  Jesus  Christ." 

Amidst  the  noise  and  fury  of  the  flames  now  kindled,  and  the 
tumult  of  the  multitude,  his  last  words  were  distinctly  heard— 
"How  long,  O  Lord,  shall  darkness  cover  this  realm  !  How  long 
wilt  thou  suffer  this  tyranny  of  men  !  Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit !" 

Tlius  gloriously  fell,  as  far  as  we  know,  the  first  native  of  Scot- 
land as  an  unspotted  martyr  for  the  truth,  for  the  Word  of  God 
itself,  as  w^ell  as  our  right  to  read  it. 

The  powerful  consequences  resulting  from  this  martyrdom,  can 
never  now  be  fully  traced ;  but  if  we  follow  them  out  as  far  as 
they  may  be,  it  will  be  evident,  that,  hitherto,  the  event  has  been 
greatly  underrated.  The  New  Testament  Scriptures  had  arrived 
in  Scotland,  and  they  had  been  reading  in  secret  for  at  least  a 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  431 

year  and  a  quarter.  These  were  God's  own  providential  gift,  at 
a  period  when  the  country  was  full  of  strife  and  feud,  ferocity  and 
murder.  This  it  was  wliich  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  convm.eiice- 
ment  of  decided  blessing  from  God  ;  and  now  came  the  bold  and 
loud  summons  from  the  believer's  lips,  to  rouse  the  dead  in  sin, 
and  embolden  them  to  read,  believe,  and  live.  A  space  equal  to 
nearly  three  generations  had  passed  away  since  anything  so  truly 
horrible  had  occurred  in  Caledonia,  however  stern  and  wild.  Be- 
sides, in  1432,  it  was  a  foreigner  who  had  suffered  ;  but  here  was 
a  native,  of  the  most  amiable  character,  and  high  birth.  The  re- 
port of  the  martyrdom  speedily  ran  through  the  kingdom,  promot- 
ing a  spirit  of  inquiry  into  the  case,  as  well  as  the  cause  itself. 
For  as  truly  as  Antipas,  the  faithful  martyr  of  old,  so  God's  most 
faithful  servant  had  now  been  "  slain  among  them  where  Satan 
dwelt,  even  where  his  seat  was  ;"  and  yet  no  place  was  so  deeply 
affected  as  the  spot  where  the  deed  was  done. 

Of  the  extent  of  the  sensation  now  produced,  it  is  impossible  to 
judge  with  accurac}^,  but  of  its  depth  there  can  be  but  one  opinion, 
since  it  actually  so  far  changed  the  character  of  this  metropolitan 
city,  the  Rome  of  Scotland.  From  being  the  stronghold  of  the 
Prince  of  Darkness,  it  became  the  seat  of  deep  inquiry  and  indom- 
itable discussion,  among  not  a  few  of  the  students  in  the  different 
colleges,  the  canons  of  the  Cathedral,  and  even  the  Friars.  The 
sufferings  endured  will  furnish  the  evidence  of  this. 

Another  human  voice  was  now  demanded  ;  but  where  shall  one 
be  found  }  Campbell,  the  prior  of  the  order  of  St.  Dominic,  or  the 
Black  Friars,  had  betrayed  this  heroic  young  man,  and  whoso  proper 
to  speak  next,  as  a  brother  of  the  same  fraternity  ?  The  Friar  who 
had  been  appointed  to  preach  throughout  Lent,  in  the  Cathedral 
itself,  it  might  seem  far  too  much  to  expect,  but  in  truth  it  was  no 
other !  He  was  the  first  to  sound  again  the  trumpet  of  truth,  and 
that  almost  immediately  after  the  Martyr  had  gone  to  receive  his 
crown.  Opening  his  lips,  they  found  he  was  no  other  than  what 
they  denominated  a  heretic  !  Standing  on  the  very  spot  where 
the  murderers  had  sat  in  judgment,  this,  as  the  prophet  once  ex- 
pressed it,  was  as  if  "  the  stone  had  cried  out  of  the  wall,  and  the 
beam  out  of  the  timber  had  answered  it."  Nor  was  the  preacher 
himself,  from  his  official  character,  less  remarkable.  The  Arch- 
bishop, as  well  as  all  under  his  authority,  were  afraid  to  touch 
him,  he  being  actually  the  Father  Confessor  of  the  King  himself 
— that  King  whom  Beaton  had  not  consulted,  and  who  had  there- 
fore not  consented  to  the  counsel  or  deed  of  these  bloody  men. 
This  was  Friar  Alexander  Seton,  brother  of  Ninian  Seton,  or 
Seytoun  of  Touch. 

In  discharging  his  duty,  and  following  the  example  of  his 
deeply-lamented  predecessor,  Seton  now  saw  that  \\\  the  truth  it- 
self, there  was  enough  to  convict  all  its  enemies,  and  produce  dis- 
may ;  and  that  no  wise  man  will  ever  commence  his  labors  by 
merely  attacking  superstition,  or  pulling  at  prejudices,  as  he  would 
at  a  cart-rope  ;  an  egregious  mistake,  into  which  many  have  since 


432  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

fallen.     Taking  for  his  subject  the  law  of  God  itself,  Seton  insisted 
much  on  the  following  points — 

"  That  the  Law  of  God  is  the  only  rule  of  righteousness ;  that 
if  God's  Law  be  not  violated,  no  sin  is  committed ;  that  it  is  not 
in  man's  power  to  satisfy  for  sin  ;  that  the  forgiveness  of  sin  is  no 
otherwise  obtained  than  by  unfeigned  repentance  and  true  faith, 
apprehending  the  mercy  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus.  Of  purgatory, 
pilgrimage,  prayer  to  saints,  of  merits  and  miracles,  the  usual  sub- 
jects of  the  friars'  sermons,  not  a  word  he  spake." 

It  is  remarkable  that  he  should  have  been  permitted  to  repeat 
his  sentiments  ;  but  having  been  appointed  to  preach  during  Lent, 
this,  together  with  his  official  character,  may  have  been  his  safe- 
guard, until  he  had  given  his  auditory  line  upon  line,  and  proof 
after  proof  About  the  end  of  that  season,  however,  having  occa- 
sion to  go  nortiiward  to  Dundee,  he  was  there  informed  that  a 
friar  of  his  own  order  had  been  set  up  to  refute  his  doctrine.  He 
then  returned  to  St.  Andrews,  and  the  King's  Confessor,  not  to  be 
resisted,  confirmed  his  former  positions,  adding,  from  Scripture,  the 
qualifications  required  for  a  good  and  faithful  bishop. 

From  what  had  happened  in  February,  and  observing  the  con- 
fidence or  respect  of  the  monarch  to  be  on  the  decline,  Seton  well 
knew  what  must  ultimately  await  him,  and  seeing  no  safety  on 
the  spot,  he  fled  to  Berwick.  From  thence,  however,  he  wrote  to 
his  royal  master  a  faithful  letter,  warning  him  of  the  men  under 
whose  influence  he  had  now  fallen. 

At  Berwick  he  waited  for  some  reply,  but  waited  in  vain.  Be- 
fore this  time  Angus  had  been  banished,  and  his  estates  forfeited  ; 
Dunbar,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  had  been  appointed  Chancellor 
in  August,  as  his  successor,  and  Beaton,  though  not  yet  in  power, 
had  been  recalled  to  the  Council  by  the  end  of  November.  Seton, 
therefore,  retired  into  England,  where  he  became  chaplain  to 
Charles  Brandon,  Duke  of  Suffolk.  As  if  to  show  how  equally 
balanced  the  two  countries,  England  and  Scotland,  were,  with  re- 
gard to  their  progress  in  Divine  Truth  ;  about  thirteen  years  after, 
or  in  1541,  Seton  was  called  before  Stephen  Gardiner,  and  ex- 
amined, but  denied  not  any  point  which  he  had  formerly  taught. 
He  even  continued  to  preach  the  truths  with  which  he  had  been 
charged,  and  died,  it  has  been  said,  next  year,  or  1542. 

In  the  meanwhile,  or  before  the  close  of  1528,  it  is  pleasing  to 
find  any  information  whatever,  bearing  on  the  Scriptures,  and  their 
continued  importation.  The  friars  now  were  more  busy  every- 
where than  they  had  ever  been,  since  friars  were  in  fashion. 
Earnestly  charged,  by  Wolsey,  with  dispatches  to  Counsellor  Her- 
man Rinckc  of  Cologne  ;  their  united  efforts  were  to  be  employed 
in  the  apprehension  of  Tyndale  himself,  and  of  William  Roye, 
once  his  amanuensis  ;  or,  at  all  events,  their  books.  With  regard 
to  the  men  they  entirely  failed,  but  a  number  of  what  Rincke 
calls  "  their  books,^^  he  had  found  out  and  secured.  These  must 
have  included  copies  of  the  New  Testament,  as  well  as  Roye's 
celebrated  Satire  on  the  Cardinal,  a  personal  affair,  which  the  lat- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE,  433 

ter  so  deeply  resented.  One  short  passage  in  Rincke's  reply  to 
Wolsey,  dated  the  4th  of  October  1528,  and  sent  by  West,  deserves 
to  be  repeated  here — 

"  But  these  books,  unless  I  had  found  them  out  and  interposed, 
must  have  been  pressed  together  with  parcbment,  and  concealed  ; 
and  enclosed  in  packages,  artfully  covered  over  with  flax,  they 
would  in  time,  without  any  suspicion,  have  been  transmitted  by 
sea,  into  Scotland  and  England,  as  to  the  same  place  ;  and  would 
have  been  sold  as  merely  clean  paper ;  but  as  yet,  few  or  none  of 
those,  carried  awa}^  and  sold,  have  been  found." 

Here  then  we  have  distinct  mention  of  a  continued  traffic  going 
on,  and  of  one  of  the  asserted  methods  of  transit,  for  there  must 
have  been  various ;  nor  is  it  less  worthy  of  repetition,  that  the 
Jews  are  to  be  supposed  as  having  had  some  concern  in  these  im- 
portations, whether  "  to  Scotland  or  England,  as  to  the  same  place." 


SECTION  III. 

FROM    1529    TO    1534 — all-important   period,    hitherto   unnoticed — ALEXAN- 
DER   ALES CRUELLY    PERSECUTED  BT  HEPBURN,  THE    PRIOR    OF    ST.    ANDREWS 

AT    LAST    ESCAPES    BY    SEA,  FROM    DUNDEE,  FIRST  TO  FRANCE,    AND    THEN  TO 

GERMANY HE    WRITES    TO   JAMES    V.  ;    OR    THE  COMMENCEMENT    OF    THE    FIRST 

REGULAR    CONTROVERSY  IN    BRITAIN    RESPECTING  THE     SCRIPTURES    PRINTED    IN 

THE    VULGAR    TONGUE THE   ABUSIVE  PUBLICATION  OF  COCHL^US    PROFESSEDLY 

IN    REPLY ANSWER    OF  ALES  TO  THE  CALUMNIES  OF  COCHL^US ALES  PLEADS, 

MOST    EARNESTLY,    FOR    THE    NEW  TESTAMENT  TO  BE    READ COCHL^US,  QUITE 

ENRAGED,    ADDRESSES   JAMES    V. PERSECUTIONS    AND    MARTYRDOMS. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  a  very  memorable  period  in  the  history 
of  Scotland.  It  involves  a  space  of  five  years,  from  the  year  1529 
to  1534  inclusive,  and  yet  it  has  been  treated  by  all  our  historians 
as  a  sort  of  chasm,  or  calm  in  the  annals  of  persecution.  No  au- 
thor has  informed  us  that  there  was,  at  such  a  time,  one  fragment 
of  distinct  information  in  existence,  respecting  the  Sacred  Volume  : 
its  importation  into  the  country ;  its  being  bought,  or  sold,  and 
read  by  the  people;  or  that  such  reading  was  being  so  bitterly  op- 
posed. This  is  the  more  surprising,  since,  upon  this  subject,  it 
forms  one  of  the  most  interesting  periods  in  the  early  history  of  the 
entire  Island.  Commencing  seven  years  before  Henry  the  Eighth 
had  decidedly  broken  off  from  Rome,  and  while  both  the  South 
and  North  were  still  under  the  dominant  power  of  "  the  old  learn- 
ing;" yet  was  it  the  season  of  ihe  first  regular  controversy  in 
Britain,  though  carried  on  with  Scotland,  respecting  the  Sacred 
Volume  in  our  native  language  ;  as  well  as  the  undoubted  right 
of  every  one.  "  both  low  and  high,  rich  and  poor  together,"  to  read 
the  Scriptures  for  themselves. 

Alexander  Ales,  much  better  known  on  the  Continent  than 


434  msTOKT  OF  the  English  bible. 

at  home,  and  there  by  the  name  of  Alesius,  was  born  in  Edinhnrg'k 
on  the  23d  of  April  1500.  His  father  was  an  honest  and  substan- 
tial burgess  of  that  city,  and  under  his  own  roof  the  education  of 
his  son  was  so  far  perfected,  as  to  fit  him  for  entering'  the  Univer- 
sity of  St.  Andrews.  As  for  his  boyhood,  the  only  particular 
known  is  one  related  by  himself,  in  the  preface  to  one  of  his  future 
publications  on  the  Continent,  his  Exposition  of  Timothy : — 

"  Diverting  himself,  with  other  children,  on  the  top  of  a  hill, 
where  there  was  a  high  rock,  as  they  were  rolling  themselves  to- 
wards the  precipice,  he  had  advanced  to  the  very  brink,  when  he 
felt  himself  snatched  up,  and  carried  to  a  place  of  safety,  without 
knowing  how,  or  by  whom.  Some  ascribed  this,"  says  he,  "  to 
several  portions  of  Scripture,  especially  from  John,  hung  about  my 
neck,  which  was  then  a  common  custom  of  parents  with  children." 
In  certain  parts  of  Ireland,  it  is  a  practice  still,  to  operate  as  a 
charm.  Ales  had  ascribed  his  deliverance  to  the  faith  or  praj^ers 
of  his  parents  ;  but  many  years  after,  the  recollection  still  chilled 
his  blood. 

Having  gone  to  St.  Andrews,  finished  his  education,  and  taken 
priest's  orders,  he  became  one  of  the  canons  of  the  priory  or  cathe- 
dral church  in  that  city,  then  the  largest  in  Scotland,  as  contain- 
ing from  fifteen  to  twent)^  thousand  inhabitants.  We  hear  nothing 
more  of  him,  however,  till  he  had  reached  the  twenty-eight  year  of 
his  age.  Then,  as  a  proof  that  the  alarm  of  the  bishops  and 
monks  in  1525  and  1527,  respecting  the  introduction  of  "  the  new 
learning"  into  Scotland,  was  not  without  grounds,  it  turned  out  that 
the  canons  and  students  were,  through  the  medium  of  certain 
books,  studying  the  grand  controversy  of  the  times.  But  what- 
ever might  be  the  object  of  other  young  men,  that  of  Ales  was, 
that  he  might  be  qualified  to  oppose  all  innovation.  When  Pat- 
rick Hamilton,  therefore,  four  years  younger  than  himself,  was 
"drawn  unto  death"  at  St.  Andrews,  and  now  "ready  to  be  slain," 
far  from  disposed  to  "  deliver"  him,  and  confiderit  in  his  own  scho- 
lastic powers.  Ales  actually  undertook  to  reclaim  the  suspected 
heretic.  For  this  purpose  he  held  several  conferences  with  his 
more  enlightened  junior,  little  dreaming  that  the  attempt  was 
about  to  change  the  current  of  his  whole  life.  But  staggered  by 
the  reasoning  of  that  young  gentleman  ;  then  hearing  his  noble 
testimony,  in  a  full  house,  or  within  the  very  walls  where  Ales 
himself  was  accustomed  to  engage  in  services  which  the  Martyr 
had  so  exposed  ;  and  finally,  beholding  the  heroic  constcmcy  with 
which  he  maintained  his  integrity  in  the  flames,  amidst  the  rage, 
and  more  than  savage  cruelty  of  his  enemies,  the  scene  as  well  as 
the  sentiments  were  never  to  be  forgotten.  In  short,  the  heart  of 
Ales  was  pierced  by  convictions,  which  ended  in  his  conversion 
to  the  faith  he  had  labored  in  vain  to  destroy.  St.  Andrew's 
was  not  now  to  sleep  in  quiet,  after  the  smoke  of  Patrick's  funeral 
pile  had  been  blown  upon  the  spectators,  and  scorched  the  Bene- 
dictine friar,  his  persecutor.  Seton  was  the  first  victim  soon  after, 
but  severer  trials  awaited  Ales,  the  very  next  year.     Suffice  it  to 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  435 

•say  here,  that,  after  enduring  great  trials?,  Ales  had  escaped  from 
the  port  of  Dundee  through  the  kindness  of  friends,  botli  on 
shore  and  on  board  the  vessel,  then  ready  to  sail,  about  the  close 
of  1531.  Having  landed  on  the  Continent,  whither  he  first  went 
it  is  impossible  to  say,  but  certainly  not  to  Wittenberg.  By  the 
loose  manner  in  which  he  has  occasionally  been  referred  to,  he  is 
of  course  sent  imi^ediately  to  Luther  ;  but  if  Lutlier  had  indoc- 
trinated or  only  conversed  w^ith,  all  those  Englishmen  and  Scots- 
men who  have  been  consigned,  by  historians,  to  his  personal  ac- 
quaintance, he  must  have  had  nothing  else  to  do,  from  morning 
to  night.  On  the  contrary,  and  as  late  as  the  year  1534,  Ales 
himself  informs  us,  that  he  had  not  yet  acquired  the  German  lan- 
guage, and  that  he  had  not^  even  then,  known  Luther  at  all.  He 
had  traversed,  however,  the  coast  of  France,  and  proceeded  into 
some  part  of  Germany;  where,  as  he  understood  only  Latin,  he 
had  assiduously  applied  to  the  Greek  language.  By  the  year  re- 
ferred to,  he  seems  to  have  been  fond  of  quoting  it. 

After  the  escape  of  Ales,  an  edict  or  order  of  the  bishops  had 
been  piomulgated,  prohibiting:^  the  New  Testament  in  English 
from  being  read  or  sold.  To  whatever  extent  this  had  gone, 
the  alarm  of  the  enemy  is  one  decided  proof  of  progress  made. 

Ales  had  been  deeply  indebted  to  King  James  the  Fifth  for  his 
very  kind  interposition  in  his  favor.  Relying  therefore,  on  the  char- 
acter of  the  King,  no  sooner  had  he  heard  of  the  doings  of  Beaton 
and  his  fellows,  than  he  resolved  to  address  his  Highness.  In  his 
letter,  he  speaks  of  the  King's  interposition  to  deliver  him  from  the 
dreadful  daugeon,  and  then  says  : 

Trusting,  therefore,  to  3^our  lenity  and  kindness,  which  was 
shown  to  me  in  my  distress,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  write  to  you  ; 
not  concerning  my  own  personal  injury,  of  which,  however,  I  shall 
treat  at  another  time;  but  that  according  to  the  duty  which  I  owe 
to  your  Highness  and  the  country,  I  may  warn  you  against  a  cer- 
tain nefarious  and  iinpious  edict,  which,  without  your  authority, 
the  bishops  have  published  in  your  kingdom,  videlicet — '  That  no 
one  should  read  in  his  native  language,  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament.' 

"Although  I  saw  in  that  affair  how  great  was  the  fury  of  the 
priests  against  all  who  occasionally  signified  that  they  wished 
the  chmrches  shoxild  be  more  purely  instructed  as  to  necessary 
matters:;  yet  this  is  evidently  a  new  and  unheard-of  example, 
among  those  who  style  themselves  Christians,  to  forbid,  by  an 
edict,  the  reading  of  the  Sacred  books.  And  I  know  that  this  de- 
vice was  managed  without  your  counsel  or  authority,  by  the  chief 
priests,  or  rather  by  the  Monks,  for  the//  are,  in  truth,  the  contri- 
vers of  this  business.  I  thought  it  therefore  my  dut}^  to  write  to 
you,  that  you  may  interpose  your  authority,  and  consult  both  the 
glory  of  God,  and  also  the  reputation  of  your  kingdom.  For  what 
kind  of  precedent  is  it,  that  men  should  be  debaried  from  the 
oracles  of  Christ?  What  else  could  the  Turks,  or  other  nations 
hostile  to  the  Christian  name  do,  than  to  take  care  that  the  people 


436  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

touch  not  the  Sacred  books — that  they  should  not  know  the  bene- 
fits of  Christ,  and  his  most  holy  precepts,  lest  any  one  should  form 
a  firm  and  distinct  opinion  with  regard  to  divine  things,  from  the 
very  words  of  Christ,  and  the  testimonies  of  his  apostles  ?" 

"  Wherefore,  I  both  warn  and  beseech  you,  for  the  glory  of 
Christ,  that  you  would  by  your  authority  repeal  that  impious  de- 
cree ;  and  not  countenance  the  madness  of  these  Pharisees." 

Ales  then  implores  the  King,  as  one  to  whom  God  had  com- 
mitted all  departments  of  the  state,  to  interpose — describes  the  ad- 
vantages which  must  accrue  to  the  people,  and  especially  the 
children  and  youth,  from  being  trained  up  by  such  domestic  read- 
ing and  instruction — they  would  prove  better  subjects  and  better 
citizens,  which  otherwise  they  could  not  be.  He  quotes  the 
Scriptures  to  show  that  this  is  an  imperative  duty,  as  enjoined  by 
God  ;  and  warns  his  Highness  of  the  evils  which  must  arise 
from  the  interdict.  It  would  "  take  away  the  most  sacred  exer- 
cises of  piety  ;  remove  from  the  well-disposed  the  necessary  guards 
of  conscience  ;  scatter  domestic  discipline,"  &c.  Having  "  trav- 
ersed part  of  the  coast  of  France  and  many  other  places,"  he  in- 
forms the  King  that  he  had  not  heard  of  a  similar  decree  having 
ever  been  issued  by  the  Emperor  or  the  King  of  France.  They 
had  published  severe  laAvs  against  dogmas,  but  not  forbidden  the 
reading-  of  the  Sacred  Writings.     Then  he  says  : — 

"  Wherefore  I  conjure  and  entreat  also,  that  you  would  restrain 
the  counsels  of  the  Bishops,  and  turn  them  from  cruelty  and  im- 
piety to  gentleness,  and  a  desire  to  show  forth  the  glory  of  Christ. 
With  a  pious  intention,  most  gracious  Sovereign,  I  have  -written 
these  things  to  you,  which  I  pray  that,  of  ^^our  clemency,  you 
would  take  in  good  part.  That  I  might  warn  on  a  subject  so 
exalted,  I  am  constrained  by  the  duty  which  I  owe,  both  to  you 
and  to  my  country,  and  lastly  to  the  Church  of  Christ  among  you. 
And  I  pray  Christ  that  he  may  guide  your  counsels  for  extending 
the  glory  of  God,  for  protecting  the  churches,  and  for  mitigating 
the  cruelty  of  the  Bishops." 

Thus  it  appears,  at  this  early  period,  that  Scotland  was  not 
behind  England  in  point  of  progress  made.  The  New  Testa- 
ment had  been  given  to  her  in  the  same  year. — She  could  already 
point  to  her  proto-martyr — and  an  advocate  rising  out  of  his 
ashes,  was  now  as  earnest  with  lier  King,  and  against  Aer  bishops 
as  John  Fryth  now  was  with  similar  parties  in  London.  Had 
Ales  only  been  forthcoming,  he  had  expired  in  the  flames  this 
year,  as  certainly  as  Fryth  did  in  England. 

In  reply  to  this  letter,  as  far  as  is  yet  known,  there  was  not  one 
man  in  Scotland  able  to  move  his  tongue  ;  l)ut  there  was  one 
abroad,  who,  tliough  abundantly  ready  in  reply,  could  never 
answer  any  argument ;  and  who,  when  engaged  in  furious  wrang- 
ling, was  never  so  much  in  his  element.  This,  the  reader  may 
anticipate,  was  no  other  than  John  Cochlmas,  the  same  who 
raised  the  alarm  respecting  the  New  Testament,  at  first,  1525. 
Stung  with  disappointment,  at  his  having  no  reward  assigned  to 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  437 

him  by  Wolsey,  or  Henry  VIII. ;  he  now  did  his  utmost  to  pro- 
cure notoriety  and  a  pension,  by  addressing  King  James  V.  of  Scot- 
land. The  epistle  of  Ales  could  scarcely  have  been  read  in  his 
own  countr}^,  before  this  indefatigable  opponent  must  have  been 
at  the  press,  as  his  tirade  is  dated  on  the  8tii  of  June  1533.  There 
is  nothing  whatever  of  sound  argument  in  the  book,  though  pro- 
fessing to  answer  Ales,  paragraph  by  paragraph.  It  abounds  in 
different  parts  with  virulent  abuse,  and  in  others  with  blasphemy. 
There  is  no  lack  of  positive  falseliood  as  to  Luther,  the  writer's 
perpetual  eye-sore  ;  and  Ales,  though  unknown  to  Cochkeus  per- 
sonally, comes  in  for  his  full  share,  upon  one  hundred  and  sixty 
pages,  in  reply  to  twenty-six  !  Tlie  object  in  viewAvas  to  mystify 
and  alarm  the  young  King ;  and  the  title  is  perfectly  expressive 
of  the  great  point  in  hand — "  Whether  it  he  expedient  for  the 
Laity  to  read  the  books  of  the  Neio  Testament  in  the  vernacular 
tongue^ 

Not  aware  of  the  Enghsh  New  Testament  having  been  before 
introduced  into  Scotland,  as  early  as  1526,  and  glorying  in  his 
exploit  of  1525,  he  proceeds  : — 

"  As  I  see  similar  snares  now  preparing  for  your  kingdom,  I 
earnestly  warn  your  Highness,  that  you  may  carefully  guard 
against  this  hostile  attempt  upon  your  people,  and  that  as  to 
Alesius  who  meditates  this  injury,  you  would  not  rashly  believe 
hijn,  in  opposition  to  your  Bishops."  He  then  praises  the  Scots 
for  their  ancient  piety,  since  to  their  zeal  in  coming  to  teach  them, 
the  Germans  were  indebted,  many  centuries  ago.  There  were 
still,  he  adds.  Monasteries  of  Scotchmen  in  the  cities  of  Germany 
— at  Erfurth  in  Thuringia,  at  Ratisbon  in  Bavaria,  at  Vienna  in 
Austria,  &c.  Therefore  he  felt  nothing  save  the  purest  gratitude 
and  love  in  now  writing.  He  neither  desired  nor  expected  "  any 
favour  or  reward  from  his  Highness,  nor  from  the  bishops  of  his 
kingdom  !"  It  was  "affection  alone"  which  impelled  him,  as  he 
had  '•  the  most  earnest  desire  for  the  welfare  of  all !"  But  in  just- 
ice to  this  enemy,  we  must  let  him  be  heard.  When  he  comes 
to  the  interdict,  or  decree  against  reading  the  Sacred  Volume,  not 
a  little  hampered,  he  thus  artfully  proceeds:— 

"  It  appears  at  first  sight  odious  indeed,  and  quite  opposite  to 
Christian  piety,  to  prohibit  the  people  from  reading  the  books  of 
the  New  Testament  in  their  own  language  :  in  which  is  the  bread 
of  life,  the  food  of  the  soul,  the  discipline  of  morals,  the  true 
knowledge  of  virtue,  and  the  exact  correction  of  vices ;  and  in 
fine,  the  knowledge  of  the  most  exalted  love,  grace,  and  benefi- 
cence towards  the  human  race,  of  Christ  himself,  and  our  God  and 
Father.  To  prevent,  by  an  edict,  so  many  people,  and  so  great  a 
multitude  of  the  whole  kingdom,  from  the  enjoyment  of  such 
great,  and  so  many  blessings,  may  seem  to  be  an  employment 
both  of  envy  and  cruelty  towards  those  who  are  subjected  to  it, 
and  of  gigantic  impiety  towards  God.  But  assuredly,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  any  one  consider  what  an  arxumulation  of  evils 
has  sprung  up  among  us  Germans,  within  a  few  yea.rs,  from  siich 


438  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

readings  disiseminated  by  Luther,  he  will,  O  King",  presently  con- 
clude, that  yotf^r  Bishops  are  pious,  right-hearted,  prudent  and 
faithful  pastors,  who  are  desirous,  by  a  decree,  to  drive  away 
their  sheep  from  pasture  so  noxious  and  so  deadly !  I  But  Alesius 
says — Are  the  gospels,  the  words  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  nox- 
ious and  deadly  pasture?  However,  let  him  hearken  a  little.  Ac- 
cording to  himself,  indeed,  they  are  most  salutary  and  refreshings 
pasture,  if  they  be  well  received  ;  but  if  they  are  badly  received, 
they  become  not  the  pasture  of  life^but  deadly  poison  to  those  vvho' 
receive  tliem. 

"I  say  nothing  here  of  the  loss  of  property  which  we  hove  suf- 
fered from  this  g^ospel,  while  for  these  most  mischievous  books, 
our  people  have  squandered,  spent  and  lost  an  incalculable  sum 
of  money,  for  so  niany  hundred  thousands  of  copies  printed  and 
sold  !  From  these  they  have  got  no  good,  but  a  great  deal  of 
harm  ;  learned  artizans  neglecting  their  shops  and  their  work, 
from  whence  they  ought  to  procure  a  subsistence  for  their  wives 
and  children.  Nor  will  I  mention  those  evils,  which  many  have 
endured  in  their  body  through  this,  while,  in  oppa«ition  to  the 
edicts  of  the  magistrates,  they  read  the  proliibited  books ;  and  for 
this  offence  were  shut  up  in  prisons,  confined  in  towers,  fined, 
banished  from  their  country,  and  suffered  other  bodily  incon- 
venience !" 

In  this  manner  the  New  Testament  itself,  being  mixed  up  with 
all  that  ever  issued  from  the  pen  of  Luther ;  Cochlajus  must  now 
fortify  the  royal  youth,  originally  disinclined  to  deeds  of  blood,  not 
only  against  all  the  cruelties  which  niight  ensue  in  Scotland,  and 
the  counter  advice  of  any  of  his  councillors,  but  against  all  the 
odium  which  was  sure  to  follow. 

"But  then  they,  the  Bishops,  will  rightly  take  care,  that  they 
not  only  prohibit  books  of  that  kind,  by  the  bare  words  of  a  de- 
cree, but  also  follow  up  the  matter  with  efficacious  diligence.  For 
thus  it  will  be,  when  they  act  against  a  few  transgressors  with 
just  severity,  that  they  will  preserve  the  souls  of  many  1  Even 
as  the  Bishop  of  Treves  did  among  us,  who,  when  he  had  taken 
care  that  first  one,  and  then  another  bookseller,  who  brought  Lu- 
theran books,  should  he  cast  into  the  Rhine,  ivith  their  noxious 
books  •  this  punishment  of  the  few  terrified  others  from  bringing 
in  more.  By  this  he  so  preserved  his  people  in  the  faith  and  unity 
of  the  Church,  and  also  in  peace  and  civil  subjection,  that  his 
peasants  remained  quiet,  while  all  those  of  the  other  Princes  and 
Bishops  rose  in  tumult.  And  if  your  councillors,  (for  there  are 
few  courts  of  Christian  Princes  entirely  clear  of  this  carnal  leaven) 
shall  suggest  to  your  Highness  the  invidious  words  of  the  apos- 
tates, in  which  they  conq^lain  (as  Alesius  of  Wittenberg  in  hi> 
Epistle)  that  it  is  impious  by  a  decree  to  forbid  the  reading  of  the 
Sacred  books,  and  that  reproach  will  attach  to  your  kingdom,  if 
men  are  driven  from  the  oracles  of  Christ,  lest  the  people  should 
know  the  benefits  of  Chiist — your  Highness'will  be  able  to  make 
anwer  with  the  greatest  justice  and  truth,  that  the  New  Testa- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  439 

iTieiit  of  Luther  IS  not  the  Sacred' books,  but  execrable  ancT  cursed, 
wliicii  will  surely  bring  infamy  on_  your  kingdom  and  every  evil — 
The  New  Testament  of  Luther  is  not  the  gospel  of  Christ,  but  of 
Satan  !  I  doubt  not  that  there  are  in  your  kingdom  also^  not  a 
few  Lutherans  in  disguise,  who  will  suggest  to  your  Highness  that 
the  Word  of  God  ought  not  to  be  forbidden  to  the  Laity ;  by 
which  they  would  be  understood  to  mean  the  New  Testament  of 
LiUther  I  than  which  nothing  is  more  effectual  for  spreading 
abroad  this  most  abominable  heresy,  under  the  specioas  title  of 
the  Gospel,  and  the  sweet-sounding  pretext  of  the  Word  of  God. 
If  you  have  permitted  this,  you  have  introduced  ship-loads  of  the 
most  pernicious  mercliandize.  If  you  have-  prohibited  then^,  you 
will  be  accused  privately  of  tyranny  by  the  Lutherans,  who 
are  desirous  of  change.  They  will  call  you  a  Herod — a  perse- 
cutor of  Christ — a  slave  of  the  Roman  Pontiff-^ — a  dependent  of 
the  Bishops — a  patron  of  the  luxury  of  the.  clergy,  and  what 
not? 

"  If  tlierefore,  O  King,  you  desire  to  preserve  among  your  peo- 
ple concord  in  the  faith,  and  the  unity  of  the  Church,  peace,  un- 
rufflett  tranquillity,  agreement  in  piety  and  divine  worship,  fixed- 
ness of  faith,  and  all  the  benefits  of  ecclesiastical  discipline :  de- 
sist from  this  business  of  translation,  espe&ially  at  this  time  :. 
because  much  more  mischief  and  destruction  will  proceed  from  that 
source,  than  good  or  edification  !" 

This  poor  infatuated  zealot  tiieu  at  last  informs  the  King  that 
any  translation  of  the  New  Testament,  'Hhe  best  and  most  un- 
doubted," if  it  be  "  in  the  vulgar  tongue,^''  must  produce  all 
imaginable  evU.  He  is  even  suspicious  of  Ales  himself  being  so 
engaged,  and  that  he  will  transmit  copies  secretly,  through  mer- 
chants, by  the  Elbe  to  Hamburgh,  which  looks  over  to  Scotland  ! 

"  If  therefore  you  desire  to  preserve  your  subjects  from  so  many 
evils,  which  will  thence  arise,  use  all  care  and  attention  to  keep 
out  these  paper  merchandize,  so  destructive  and  poisonous,  lest^ 
while  you  know  not,  they  steal  into  your  ports.  It  will  be  neces- 
sary that  all  merchandize  brought  from  Germany  be  diligently 
searched  and  examined,  lest  this  schemer  among  the  Saxons 
should  so  be  concealed  that  he  may  slay  the  unspotted  ;  according 
to  that  of  the  Psalmist ! !  •'  Under  his  tongue  are  labovu  and  sor- 
row. He  sitteth  in  hiding  places  with  the  rich' — that  is,  luith  the 
merchants  I — -in  secret  places  that  he  may  slay  the  innocent. 
His  eyes  look  upon  tlie  poor' — that  is,  the  simple  people,  who  knom 
nothing  more  than  their  mother  tongne !  'He  layeth  wait  in  his 
lurking  place  like  a  lion  in  his  den  ;  he  layeth  wait,  that  he  may 
seize  upon  the'  poor,  to  lay  hold  on  the  poor,  when  he  hath  enticed 
him.'  This,  O  King,  is  the  forewarning  of  the  Holy  Spirit  by  the 
mouth  of  King  David,  to  which,  unless  you  carefully  attend,  your 
Kingdom  will  be  laid  open  to  the  same  kind  of  snares  !" 

The  reader  must  now  be  more  than  satisfied,  that  this  man  was 
"  a  blasphemer,  a  persecutor  and  injurious :"  and  yet  such  is  only 
a  specimen  of  the  verbiage  with  which  he  was   eager  to  occupy 


440  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  ear  of  the  young  and  thoughtless  Scottish  monarch.  With 
Cochleeus  abroad,  and  such  men  in  power  at  home,  both  bishops 
and  monks,  a  Prince  once  averse  to  aU  crueUy,  and  still  given  to 
deeds  of  kindness  in  regard  to  the  bodies  of  his  subjects,  was  driv- 
ing on  to  ruin  ;  by  yielding  to  the  sophistry  of  the  hierarchy,  with 
respect  to  opinions  which  could  neither  be  gainsayed  nor  resisted. 
At  the  same  time,  let  the  chief  blame  rest  where  it  actually  did. 
Had  the  King,  unmolested,  been  allowed  to  pursue  his  pastime, 
humanly  speaking,  there  had  been  no  such  cruelty  as  still  ensued. 
But  the  ecclesiastics,  led  on  at  present  by  Patrick  Hepburn,  the 
young  Prior  of  St.  Andrews,  as  they  were  afterwards  by  David 
Beaton,  Abbot  of  Arbroath,  were  perpetually  insisting  that  hereti- 
cal opinions,  as  they  styled  them,  did  not  belong  to  the  King's 
jurisdiction;  while,  injustice  to  the  Prince  himself,  there  is  reason 
to  believe,  that  he  by  no  means  yielded  without  a  struggle,  and 
did  actually  interfere  again  and  again,  as  Ales  has  represented. 
Even  after  he  had  fled,  there  is  more  than  one  passage  left  in  "the 
accounts  of  the  Lord  High  Treasurer"  worthy  of  remark.  Ales, 
therefore,  might  well  write  as  he  had  done,  and  with  considerable 
hopes  of  success.  The  King  and  the  ecclesiastics  had  formed  two 
parties  quite  distinguishable  in  the  estimation  of  many  more  than 
the  writer  of  this  epistle  :  but  soon  after  that  Ales  had  done  his 
best  in  addressing  his  former  benefactor,  not  only  did  Cochleeus 
follow,  but  it  so  happened  that  an  ambassador  or  legate  from  the 
Pontiff  had  been  perambulating  the  country  in  company  with  the 
King  and  the  Gtueen  Mother.  They  terminated  their  journey  by 
visiting  St.  Andrews,  where  they  were  all  entertained  in  style  by 
Beaton  and  Prior  Hepburn.  In  short,  the  year  1533  seems  to 
have  been  about  the  turning  point  in  .James's  course  and  charac- 
ter. He  was  even  now  only  twenty-one  years  of  age,  but  in  early 
life,  "a  stranger  to  pride,  easy  of  access,  and  fond  of  mingling 
familiarly  with  all  classes  of  his  subjects  ;  with  a  generosity  and 
warmth  of  temper,  which  prompted  him,  on  all  occasions,  to 
espouse  with  enthusiasm  the  cause  of  the  oppressed ;"  what  won- 
der that  Ales  should  have  so  addressed  him  ?  The  change  was 
most  melancholy  not  only  for  himself,  but  his  kingdom.  The  year 
before  this,  or  1532,  he  had  been  sinking  deep  into  the  licentious 
course  v/hich  he  afterwards  pursued,  for  to  this  the  hierarchy  had 
no  objection ;  and  now  he  is  giving  himself  up  to  the  counsel  of 
these  unprincipled,  and  far  more  licentious,  ecclesiastical  men. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  1533,  and  just  as  if  to  confirm  every 
word  that  Ales  had  so  faithfullj^  written,  the  second  martyrdom 
took  place  at  St.  Andrews,  and  this  also  was  but  a  young  man. 
Hamilton's  death  was  suthcient  to  have  roused  both  priests  and 
canons,  which  it  certainly  had  done,  but  the  monks  had  also  re- 
sponded to  the  call.  Seton  was  the  first,  Ales  was  the  second,  but 
here  was  a  third,  who  seems  to  have  been  moved  by  Patrick's 
earliest  exertions  on  his  return  from  abroad,  as  well  as  his  subse- 
quent death.  Henry  Forrest  of  Linlithgow,  a  Benedictine  monk, 
had   contracted  such  an  admiration  of  Patrick  Hamilton   as  he 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  441 

could  not  suppress.  He  thought  that  he  had  been  wrongfully  put 
to  death,  that  tlie  articles  for  which  he  suffered  were  not  heretical, 
and  might  be  defended.  Tliis  much,  however,  they  could  not 
fully  establish  against  him,  till  they  resorted  to  the  same  base 
method  which  they  had  pursued  with  the  first  martyr;  and  one 
Friar  Walter  Laing  was  ready  to  act  over  again  the  same  part 
which  Campbell  had  done.  Another  specific  charge  however  was, 
that  he  had  in  his  possession  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament  in 
English  ;  now,  of  course,  deemed  to  be  a  crime  far  more  heinous 
after  the  edict  or  decree.  There  must  have  been  considerable 
hesitation  about  proceeding  to  extremity,  as  Forrest  had  been  for 
some  time  kept  a  close  prisoner  "  in  the  tower"  or  castle  of  St.  An- 
drews ;  and  at  last  the  spot  on  which  he  died  at  the  stake,  was  at 
once  expressive  of  the  truth  having  extended  far  beyond  the  bounds 
of  St.  Andrews,  and  of  the  fear  entertained  as  to  its  further  progress. 
"He  suffered  death,"  says  the  manuscript,  "at  the  north  church 
style  of  the  Abbey  church  of  St.  Andrew,  to  the  intent  that  all  the 
people  of  Forfar  or  Ang-us  might  see  the  fre,  and  so  might  be 
the  more  feared  from  falling  into  the  like  doctrine  which  they  call 
heresy."  On  such  a  mode  they  had  at  last  ventured,  though  far 
from  being  according  to  the  counsel  previously  given  by  one  John 
Lindsay,  a  man  of  wit,  familiar  with  the  Archbishop.  "  If  you 
burn  any  more  of  them,"  said  he,  "  take  my  advice  and  burn  them 
in  cellars  ;  for  I  assure  you  that  the  smoke  of  Patrick  Hamilton 
has  infected  all  upon  w^hom  it  blew."  The  first  molestation  of 
Henry  Forrest  appears  to  have  commenced  about  the  year  1530, 
but  his  death  cannot  be  stated  earlier  than  1533 ;  a  circumstance 
which  may  account  for  his  martyrdom  being  ascribed  to  both  years. 
Only  a  very  short  time,  however,  now  elapsed,  before  there  ar- 
rived from  abroad  an  all-sufncient  exposure  of  Cochleeus,  and  of 
other  men  at  home  besides  the  calumniator.  The  slander  and 
falsehood  which  had  been  emitted  had,  it  is  probable,  not  been 
seen  by  Ales  for  some  months,  but  early  in  1534  he  was  ready 
with  his  response.  It  is  entitled — "TAe  ansiver  of  Alexander 
Ales,  )Scots97ian,  to  the  calumnies  of  CochlmtisP  It  is  addressed 
to  the  King  as  before,  and  contains  the  full  account  of  his  own 
personal  treatment,  besides  some  valuable  particulars  with  regard 
to  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament,  still  read  by  stealth,  and 
hid  with  anxious  care. 

A  few  passages  from  this  letter  will  be  read  with  interest : — 
"  It  remains  that  we  say  somewhat  of  the  decree  bv  which  the 
reading  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  native  language  is  -pro- 
hibited. But  I  think  there  is  no  need  of  a  long  oration  in  a  cause 
which  is  so  plain.  What  is  this  new  paradox  in  the  Church,  that 
Christians  are  to  be  prevented  from  reading  the  Sacred  Books  ? 
God  commanded  the  law  to  be  written  on  the  lentils  of  the  houses, 
and  on  the  borders  of  their  garments,  to  be  always  in  view. 
Cochleeus  orders  the  Sacred  Books  to  be  snatched  out  of  their 
hands  ;  though  by  frequent  reading  the  mind  be  stirred  up  to  the 
fear  of  God,  to  advance  faith,  to  invocation,  and  to  other  exercises 


442  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  that  kind,  which,  without  some  meditation  on  the'  divine  word^ 
cannot  exist  in  the  mind. 

"  In  a  matter  so  evident,  the  unhappy  condition  of  the  Church, 
is  to  be  lamented,  rather  than  any  long  disputation  to  be  kept  up. 
For  even  if  the  preachers  in  the  ciunches  taught  purely  and 
piously,  still  the  domestic  exercise  of  pious  minds  ought  not  to  be 
interrupted.  In  Acts,  xvii.  chapter,  the  diligence  of  those  is  com- 
mended, who,  when  they  heard  the  Gospel,  yet  daily  searched  the 
Scriptures,  that  by  their  testimony  they  might  both  confirm  their 
faith  and  excite  other  spiritual  affections.  This  exercise  Cochlajus 
derides  and  prohibits,  because  he  does  not  understand  what  power 
it  possesses;  or  wliat  need  there  is  to  brace  up  weak  minds,  and, 
from  time  to  time,  to  stir  them  up,  by  the  Word  of  God. 

"  But  then  domestic  reading  is  necessary  for  the  instruction  of 
ijouth,  because  that  period  of  life  cannot  be  sufficiently  instructed 
in  public  sermons,  however  good  and  plain  they  may  be-;  and  yet 
we  see  few  who  accommodate  their  discourse  in  sermons  to  the 
capacity  of  a  tender  age.  Domestic  study  is,  therefore,  by  no 
means  to  be  abolished,  if  we  would,  as  we  ought,  train  up  chil- 
dren to  piety  from  their  tender  years.  The  Sacred  history  is  tO' 
be  committed  to  memory — the  sayings  and  the  example  of 
Christ  are  to  be  inculcated,  that  they  m.ay  be  in  constant  view, 
and  that  they  may  be  exhorted  to  faith  and  good  morals.  Certain 
Psalms  are  also  to  be  proposed,  which,  through  all  their  life  after, 
they  may  use  in  prayer.  The  Scripture  requires  this  diligence 
in  the  fathers  of  families,  as  when,  in  Deuteronomy,  it  so  often 
charges  them  to  inculcate  the  law  upon  their  sons.  What  do  you 
answer,  Cochlseus,  to  this  argument? — 

"■The  German  translation  has  had  this  good  effect,  nat  only  in 
those  countries  which  openly  profess  their  attachment  to  the  purer 
doctrine,  but  even  in  the  rest  of  Germany,  hoys  and  girls,  in  al- 
most all  the  more  respectable  families  read  the  New  Testament, 
learn  Psalms,  and  read  other  useful  books  upon  good  morals,  and 
by  that  discipline  are  happily  trained  both  to  piety  and  good  morals. 
I  have  seen  these  great  examples,  with  pleasure,  in  many  places, 
which  have  no  business  with  Luther. —And  there  is  greater  ne- 
cessity in  Scotland  for  books  written  in  the  vernacular  tongue 
than  in  Germany  ;  for  so  great  is  the  darkness  among  the  Scots, 
that  the  people  reckon  it  an  atonement  to  repeat  the  Lord's  Prayer 
in  their  native  tongue,  from  whence  it  may  be  judged  how  great 
is  the  necessity  there  for  books  written  in  the  native  language. 

"  Hitherto  I  have  stated  of  how  much  importance  it  is  to  permit 
domestic  reading,  although  preachers  teach  well.  Arid  that  em- 
ployment does  not  at  all  offend  good  teachers,  so  that  they  greatly 
encourage  the  churches  to  this  practice,  and  so  suit  their  discourses 
to  the  capacity  of  the  hearers,  that  they  aid  and  illustrate  this 
same  reading.  But  what  if  preachers  teach  in  such  a  manner, 
that  their  hearers  are  not  sufficiently  instructed  in  certain  things 
necessary  to  salvation,  except  they  themselves  read  the  Sacred 
Books?     This  is  the  very  cause  why  the  Monks  struggle  so  earn- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  443 

estly,  that  domestic  reading  may  not  be  permitted  to  the  people  ! 
Thieves,  as  it  is  said,  hate  noise.  For  you  cannot  suppose,  most 
excellent  King,  that  there  is  any  atJier  cause  why  the  monks  are 
unwilling  that  the  Sacred  Books  should  be  brought  out,  than  that 
they  fear  their  errors  and  abuses  s/ioidd  be  detected,  if  once  cotii- 
pared  with  the  Gospel.  Craftily  concealing  this  cause,  Cochla^us 
scares  men  from  the  Sacred  Books  by  this  reproach — he  pretends 
that  all  who  reli-sli  reading  of  this  kind,  favour  the  Lutherans,  and 
I  know  not  what  other  factions.  You  see,  most  excellent  Sover- 
eign, how  bitter  a  calumny  this  is  :  for  it  is  beyond  a  doubt,  that 
both  in  your  kiagdom,  and  many  other  nations,  there  are  many 
who,  loving  the  peace  of  the  Church,  yet  consider  this  domestic 
reading  necessary,  that  they  may  know  the  power. of  religion,  by 
examining  the  fountains  of  it  for  themselves^  since,  upon  mau}'^ 
important  matters,  unskilful  teachers  have  not  given  them  proper 
satisfaction. 

"  Moreover,  how  miserable  is  the  state  of  the  Church,  when  it 
neither  has  propei'  teachers,  nor  is  pern:iittet:l  the  use  of  the  Sacred 
Books!  I  wish  the  authors  of  this  decree  would  consider  how 
much  they  offend  God,  They  themselves  do  not  leach,  nor  do' 
they  take  care  that  the  people  are  rightly  taught,  and  tbis  negli- 
gence occasions  abuses  not  to  be  endured.  To  this  carelessness, 
with  which  God  is  already  greatly  displeased,  they  now  add  the 
decree  by  which  they  forliid  the  reading  of  the  Gospel.  The  pa- 
tience of  God  is  indeed  too  much  tried  :  but  I  wish  not  longer  to- 
deplore  these  things,  though  I  can  scarcely  restrain  my  grief  For 
althoug'h  \wy  fornwr  letter  made  very  few  complaints,  yet  Cochlseus 
reproaches  me  because  I  wrote  these  things,  as  incensed  with 
hatred  of  the  Bishops  ;  but  I  neither  hate  them,  nor  any  older  in 
the  Church.  At  the  same  time,  I  cannot  help  being  grieved,  when 
I  consider  with  what  horrible  darkness  Christian  doctrine  lie* 
buried  \  what  torture  distresses  pious  minds^  who  by  force  are  com- 
pelled to  attend  impious  observances.  This  just  grief  of  mine, 
which  /  know  to  he  common  to  me,  with  many  devout  'meUy 
OochUeu'S  slanderously  interprets  to  be  hatred." 

Having  deprecated  the  excess  of  autliority,  whether  in  Prelates 
or  the  Pontiff  himself;  praised  the  all-sufficiency  of  the  Divine 
Word,  and  its  infinite  superiority  above  all  collects  and  manuals 
and  breviaries ;  he  asserts  that  Cochlaeus  bad  brought  forward  all 
his  calumnies  with  a  design  "  to  frighten  not  the  common  people 
only,  but  you  also,  most  excellent  King,  from  the  sacred  books. 
There  is  no  ne^di  to  refute  them  all.  To  them  all  we  oppose  one 
sentence  of  Paul — '  All  Scripture,  divinely  inspired,  is  profitable 
for  teaching;  t^c,  that  a  man  may  be  perfect  and  furnished  to' 
every  good  work?  " — 

"  Since  Paul  confessed  himself  to  be  a  debtor  both  to  Greeks  and 
Barbarians,  to  the  wise  and  to  the  unwise,  without  doubt  he 
adapted  himself  to  the  capacity  of  either  description.  But  this  I 
will  grant  to  Cochlaeus,  that  nowhere  in  Scripture  are  praised,  the 
hypocrisy  of  the  Monks,  their  cowls,   their  ivooden  shoes,  the 


444  HISTOR-Y    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

masses  for  the  dead,  and  other  such  things  of  recent  i7ivention. 
Oq  this  account  they  fear  the  Scriptures  should  be  read,  lest  people 
begin  to  despise  those  splendid  works,  which  delight  so  many  idle 
and  unlearned  Mass  Priests  and  Monks. 

"  Scripture  proposes  to  us  great  and  honourable  works  for  all 
ranks  of  life,  useful  for  assisting  and  protecting  the  society  of 
human  kind.  It  teaches  nothing  respecting  those  trifles  which 
the  monks  sell  under  the  most  specious  pretences.  For  this  cause 
they  do  not  wish  the  Gospel  to  shine  forth,  as  they  are  afraid  both 
for  their  character  and  their  kitchen.  Therefore,  we  must  ex- 
plode those  calumnies,  unbecoming  for  Christian  ears,  by  which 
the  authority  of  Scripture  is  weakened,  and  good  people  are  scared 
from  reading  it.  If  any  one  bring  a  dutiful  mind,  let  him  under- 
stand,  that  not  only  in  the  greatness,  and  the  sweetness  of  the 
subjects  lohich  the  Scriptures  teach,  but  also  in  pei'spicuity,  they 
far  excel  the  rhapsodies  of  modern  divines. 

"  Such  is  the  force  and  power  of  their  sentences,  that  they  in- 
flame the  readers  more  than  frigid  disputations,  and  leave  in 
their  minds  stings  more  poignant  than  even  of  itself  could  the 
thunder  and  lightning  eloquence  of  Pericles.  As  for  myself,  this 
experience  frequently  accrues,  so  that  when  I  read  over  again 
passages,  however  uxell-kn.oiDn,  I  return  to  the  reading  as  if  they 
were  quite  neio.  For  either  the  signification  is  made  more  plain, 
a7id  some  consideration  which  I  had  not  before  regarded,  or  1 
carry  away  some  pious  emotion.  For  the  Holy  Spirit  commands 
our  minds  to  be  stirred  np  by  the  handling  of  the  Word  of  God, 
as  Paul  saith,  '  Be  filled  laith  the  Spirit,  speaking  to  one  another 
in  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs.^  " 

"  I  have  now  spoken  to  the  cause,  concerning  the  decree,  and 
have  refuted  the  principal  cavils  of  Cochlaeus  ;  for  it  were  tedious 
to  refute  them  all,  nor  is  there  any  necessity  for  it.  Nothing, 
therefore,  remains,  except,  perhaps,  that  testimonies  are  expected 
from  me:  but  I  have  aheady  related  some  opinions  which  com- 
mend to  us  the  study  of  the  Word  of  God,  and  particularly  the 
domestic  use. — Paul  commands  us,  as  standing  in  battle  array, 
always  to  be  fortified  and  armed  by  the  Gospel,  to  ward  off  the 
fiery  darts  of  the  devil.  Peter  commands  us  to  behave  ourselves, 
so  that  we  may  be  able  to  render  a  reason  for  our  faith.  That 
we  may  acquire  a  substantial  knowledge  of  the  Gospel,  some  do- 
mestic exercise  is  necessary  both  for  ourselves,  but  especially  for 
the  young  people  ;  but  what  of  this  can  there  be  at  home,  if  books 
be  wanting?  David,  describing  the  happy  man,  says — ^ His  de- 
light is  in  the  law  of  the  Lord,  and  in  his  law  doth  he  meditate 
day  and  night.^  But  what  meditation  can  there  be,  if  books  are 
taken  away  by  force  from  the  people?" 

He  then  concludes — 

"  Most  excellent  king,  I  again  beseech  you,  for  Christ's  sake, 
that  you  would  not  sanction  that  Decree  about  forbidding  books  ; 
that  you  would  not,  by  your  authority,  strengthen  and  assist  the 
sycophants  and  hypocrites,  who,  on  account  of  their  own  lusts. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  445' 

cannot  bear  the  light  of  the  Gospel ;  and  cany  on  everywhere  a 
horrible  warfare  against  those  who  are  pious,  and  who  desire  to 
shew  forth  the  glory  of  Christ.  They  are  not  all  turbulent  and 
seditious  who  love  the  purer  doctrine.  I  have  treated  more  briefly 
of  these  matters  than  their  importance  demands,  and  therefore 
oblige  myself  to  render  a  reason  of  my  faith  more  fully,  whenever 
you  command  me.  I  cannot  now  longer  debate  with  Cochlaius, 
though  I  should  have  been  ashamed  in  a  better  cause,  not  to  have 
spoken  better  than  him.  But  I  commend  myself  to  your  clem- 
ency, and  wish  that  God  may  guide  your  mind  to  the  glory  of 
Christ,  to  your  own  salvation,  and  to  that  of  the  Church." 

Naturally  impetuous,  and  delighting  in  war,  Cochla^us  was  now 
in  a  perfect  rage,  and  though  evidently  confounded  by  the  talent 
displayed  against  him,  as  he  could,  at  any  moment,  make  lies  his 
refuge,  he  lost  no  time  in  replying  to  Ales,  by  again  addressing 
the  King.  He  commences  with  one  of  his  bold  shifts  or  assump- 
tions, which  he  reiterates  as  a  fact  throughout  his  quarto  pamphlet. 
It  was  no  less  than  this,  that  Ales  was  not  the  author,  either  of 
the  Epistle  or  the  Response !  He  now  ascribes  the  whole  to  no 
other  than  Philip  Melancthon  ;  a  very  plain  proof  of  the  ability 
displayed,  and  an  unwitting  eulogy  upon  our  Scottish  exile,  then, 
and  even  still,  so  little  known. 

But  at  this  juncture,  the  llames  of  persecution  are  kindled  for  the 
third  time.  The  martyrdom  of  last  year  confirmed  the  Epistle  of 
Ales  ;  those  of  this  year  his  Response.  The  flames  had  hitherto 
blazed  at  St.  Andrews  ;  now,  for  ihe  first  time,  they  had  done  so  at 
Edinburgh.  Those  of  the  year  1533,  in  effect,  told  us  that  the  truth 
was  extending  beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  metropolitan  city  ; 
and  we  shall  now  have  proof,  by  the  flames  of  1534,  that  it  had 
reached  far  beyond  those  of  the  capital.  The  former  were  kin- 
dled, to  be  seen  at  a  distance,  as  a  terror  to  the  people  of  Angus  ; 
those  of  this  year,  so  as  to  be  seen  by  the  inhabitants  of  Fife. 
One  martyr  at  a  time  had  served  hitherto,  but  now  two  men  were 
consumed  at  the  same  stake,  on  the  afternoon  of  Thursday  the 
27th  of  August  1534.  There  were  two,  also,  out  of  a  nameless 
number,  who  had  been  summoned,  from  various  quarters  ;  and,  as 
if  the  death  of  the  proto-marti/r,  so  lamented  by  Ales  and  many 
others,  was  now  to  be  followed  up,  and  the  family  exterminated, 
his  brother  and  sister  had  been  ordered  to  appear.  In  short,  here 
was  a  band  of  selected  witnesses ;  and  unquestionably  we  are  to 
regard  them  as  the  representatives  of  many  other  individuals,  not 
only  in  Angus  and  Fife,  Clackmannan,  and  Linlithgow-shires,  l>ut 
in  Edinburgh  and  Leith. 

On  Tuesday  the  7th  of  July,  Parliament  had  met  at  Edinburgh, 
and  by  Wednesday  the  26th  of  August,  an  ecclesiastical  court,  of 
unwonted  solemnity,  assembled  in  the  Abbey  of  Holyrood.  The 
infatuated  young  King,  in  the  face  of  repeated  warning  and  en- 
treaty, from  an  Exile  whom  he  had  once  rescued  out  of  the  paws 
of  the  persecutor,  was  now  about  to  take  his  first  ominous  step. 
To  lend  greater  importance  to  this  occasion,  he  had  agreed  to  pre- 


446  HiSTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

side,  and  clothed  in  scarlet ;  the  judicial  Scottish  dress  in  matters 
of  life  and  death,  down  to  the  present  day.  A  number  of  persons 
had  been  sunmioaed,  and  among  them  there  appears  to  have  been 
more  than  the  following — 

Belonging  to  JEdinhnrgh — Mr.  William  Johnstone,  Advocate, 
Mr.  Henry  Henderson,  Master  lof  the  Graniniar  School ;  but  the 
"  Diurnal"  adds,  "  with  sundry  others,  baith  men  and  women  in 
Edinburgh."  Fxom  Leitli — Henry  Cairns,  Skipper,  Adam  Dayes 
or  Deir,  Shipwriglit,  .John  Stewart,  indweller,  and  a  married  wo- 
man. From  St.  AndreiDs,  Gavin  Logie,  John  Fife,  John  M^ Al- 
pine,   M-Uoiigal.     From  Angiis-sklre — Mr.  David  Stratoun. 

From  LlnUUigoiD-shire — Sir  James  Hamilton,  the  hereditary 
Sheriff,  and  Katharine  Hamilton,  his  sister,  besides  Norman  Gour- 
lay  and  William  Kirk,  two  priests,  whose  res.idence  is  not  men- 
tioned b}'^  any  historian.  With  the  exception  of  Hamilton  and 
his  sister,  all  these  were  disposed  of  before  the  Court  rose.  Seve- 
ral had  already  fied,  and  others  abjured  ;  but  Mr.  David  Stra- 
toun  or  Straitoii  and  N&rnian  Goarlay  were  reserved  for  execution. 

The  martyrdom  itself  took  place  tiex.t  day.  Of  Gourlay  we 
3inow  nothing  more  than  that  he  was  a  man  of  "reasonable  eru- 
.dition,"  having  been  abroad.  He  said,  there  was  no  such  state  as 
;purgatory,  denied  the  authority  of  the  Pontiff  in  Scotland,  but  he 
had  also  married  a  wife,  and  this  was  an  unpardonable  crime, 
Mr.  Straiton's  was  a  far  more  interesting  case.  He  was  a  gentle- 
.man  of  landed  property  at  the  confluence  of  the  North  Esk  with 
the  sea,  in  the  parish  of  Ecclesgreig,  (Ecclesia  Gregorii,)  now 
called  St.  Cyrus,  in  the  shire  of  Angus.  His  property  included 
:the  seat  of  a  productive  fishery ;  and  w^helher  one  refers  to  the 
^present  proprietor  of  the  soil,  to  the  present  fishermen  of  Milton, 
or  to  the  limestone  quarrymen  there,  in  the  history  ef  their  prede- 
cessors above  three  hundred  years  ago.  they  have  not  a  more  in- 
teresting subject  for  remembrance  than  the  present.  Laurieston 
Castle,  built  in  the  tenth  century,  where  Straiton  was  born,  and 
part  of  which  still  remains,  had,  before  and  after  his  day,  contin- 
ued in  the  same  family  for  four  hundred  years.  The  martyr  ap- 
pears to  have  been  brother  to  the  last  laird  or  baron  of  Laurieston, 
and  uncle  to  the  present,  then  a  young  man.  The  Straitons,  for 
several  generations,  were  equally  distinguished  for  stature  and 
strength,  and  the  martyr's  temper  had  once  been  both  rough  and 
iiisperious.  In  former  days,  he  had  resolutely  resisted  one  tythe 
claimed  by  the  vicar,  Robert  Lawson  of  Ecclesgreig  ;  who  exacted 
the  tetithfish  from  those  which  his  servants  had  taken  out  at  sea. 
Straiton  had  said,  "  if  he  would  have  them,  he  must  go  and  take 
them  where  tlie  stock  was  taken ;"  and  this  had  given  great 
offence.  "Before,"  says  Calderwood,  "he  had  been  very  stubborn, 
and  despised  all  reading,  specially  of  good  purposes;  novi?"  he  de- 
lighted in  nothing  hiU  reading,  although  he  could  not  read  him- 
self, and  exhorted  every  man  to  peace  and  concord,  and  contempt 
of  the  world.  He  frequented  much  the  company  of  John  Erskine, 
Laird  of  Dun,"  (tlie  Provost  of  Montrose,  who  had  recently  re- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE,  447 

turned  from  the  Coatinent)  "a  man  maivelously  •enlightened  in 
respect  of  these  times."  One  da}^  "'  when  the  Laird  of  Laurieston, 
being  then  a  young  man,  was  reading  to  our  martyr  the  New 
Testmnent  {^o  much  hated  by  many,)  he  chanced  to  read  this 
sentence  of  our  Master — '//e  that  den'ieth  -me  before  men ^  I  will 
deny  him  in  the  presence  of  my  Father  and  before  his  angels.'' 
At  these  words,  as  one  revived,  he  suddenly  cast  himself  upon  his 
knees,  extending  his  hands,  and  looking  constantly  with  his  visage 
to  the  heavens  a  reasonable  time,  he  burst  forth  at  length  in  these 
words — '  O  Lord,  I  have  been  wicked,  and  justly  juayest  thou 
abstract  thy  grace  from  me ;  but.  Lord,  for  thy  mercies'  sake,  let 
me  never  deny  Thee,  nor  thy  truth,  for  fear  of  death,  or  bodily 
pain  !' " 

It  becomes  evident,  that  Straiten  was  fully  prepared  for  such  a 
time  as  the  present.  When  brought  before  the  King,  on  the  ^Gth, 
great  pains  were  taken  to  mcfve  him,  and  procure  his  recanta,tion ; 
but  all  efforts  failing,  he  was  adjudged  to  the  fire.  He  then  ap- 
plied to  his  Highness,  but  the  Bishops  answered,  proudly,  that  "  the 
King's  hands  were  beund,  and  that  he  had  no  grace  to  give  to 
such  as  were  by  law  condemned."  It  was  after  dinner  nes:t  day 
that  Mr.  Straiten  and  his  companion  Gourlay  were  led  forth  to 
death.  The  spot  was  evidently  chosen  for  effect  whether  near  or 
afar  off,  on  the  northern  brow  of  the  Gallon  hill,  above  the  rood  or 
cross  at  Greenside.  The  stake  was  planted  so  far  up  the  laill  as 
that  neft  only  the  surrounding  ca'owd  from  the  city,  whether  below 
or  above,  might  see:;  but  "to  tke  intent,"  says  Galderwood,  "that 
the  inhabitants  of  Fife.,  seeing  the  fire,  might  be  stjicken  with 
terror  and  fear,  not  to  fall  into  the  like." 

Not  satisfied  with  these  flames,  the  ecclesiastics,  with  the  King 
at  their  head,  assembled  at  Holy  rood  once  more,  on  the,  28th  or 
next  day,  and,  by  way  of  conclusion  Co  this  headstrong  burst  of 
cruelty,  brought  forward  the  persons  of  highest  rank — Sir  James 
Hamilton  and  his  sister,  both  of  wliom  were  related  to  the  King. 
By  advice  of  his  Highness,  however,  the  former  Jaad  fled,  so  that 
the  scene  closed  with  the  appearance  of  the  lady,  his  sister.  The 
Bishops  gathering  courage  by  their  progress,  neither  her  rank  or 
sex  could  shield  her.  Mr.  John  Spees  of  Condy,  the  lawyer,  and 
future  King's  Advocate,  or  one  of  the  men  who  «liad  sat  in  judg- 
ment on  her  brother  Patrick  in  1528,  held  a  long  discouse  respect- 
ing uwrks,  telling  her  there  were  divers  sorts  ;  "  works  of  cmi- 
gruitff  and  works  of  condigniti/.''  Katharine,  disturbed  with 
the  length  and  nicety  of  the  argument^  at  last  out  of  all  patience, 
cried  out  before  them  all,  the  King  also  sitting  by — "  "Work  here, 
work  there,  what  kind  of  working  is  all  this  ?  I  know  perfectly 
that  no  works  can  save  me,  but  the  works  of  Christ  my  Saviour." 
His  Highness,  amused  with  the  very  brief  manner  in  which  she 
had  disposed  of  the  lawyer's  tedious  harangue,  interposed,  and 
saved  her  from  death. 

The  visible  and  decided  progress  of  Divine  Truth  is,  however, 
rto  be  observed,  not  only  in  ihme,  who  suffered,  but  in  the  character 


448  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

and  station  of  those  who  had  fled.  The  teacher  of  the  grammar- 
school,  and  the  advocate,  Johnstone  of  Edinburgh,  must  have  been 
men  of  some  talent  and  influence.  The  former  died  in  England. 
His  house  forfeited,  was  given  to  James  Bannatyne,  W.  S.  The 
property  of  the  latter,  also  falling  to  the  King,  was  sold  for  a  trifling 
consideration,  chiefly  to  Reid,  abbot  of  Kinloss,  afterwards  Presi- 
dent of  the  Court  of  Sessions,  and  Bishop  of  Orkney,  and  partly  to 
another  individual.  Johnstone,  however,  returned  some  years 
after,  when  he  was  permitted  to  live  in  a  single  chamber  of  that 
house  which  had  been  once  his  own ;  though,  at  his  death,  his 
body  was  not  allowed  to  be  interred  in  any  churchyard  !  The 
refugees  from  St.  Andrews,  the  former  associates  of  Ales,  were 
among 'the  most  eminent  for  literature  then  in  the  country  ;  and 
they  prove  that  the  disciples  of  "  the  new  learning,"  far  from  being 
iveak  men,  as  some  one  has  grossly  asserted,  were  duly  appreciated 
elsewhere. 


SECTION    IV. 

FKOBi  1535  TO  1537 — state  of    Scotland — provincial  council  of  the  pre- 
lates— agitation — reading    of    the    new    testament    forbidden    by 

proclamation PROGRESS    OF    THE    CAUSE. 

In  the  course  of  our  English  history,  these  three  years,  from 
1535  to  1537,  abounded  with  interesting  details,  as  including  the 
year  before  and  after  Tyndale's  martyrdom ;  the  first  being  that 
of  his  imprisonment,  the  second  that  of  his  death,  and  the  third  so 
distinguished  for  the  arrival  of  his  Bible  in  London.  On  returning 
to  Scotland,  the  interest  is  deepened.  We  there  discover  through- 
out, increasing  alarm  at  the  progress  of  '•  the  new  learning,"  and 
determined  opposition  to  the  Sacred  Volume,  as  translated  by 
Tyndale,  and  already  so  powerfully  enforced  by  Ales. 

Ales  had  three  children,  a  son  and  two  daughters.  One  only 
of  the  latter  survived  him.  For  his  son,  wdio  expired  at  Leipsic, 
parental  affectioif  found  a  stone  and  inscription  to  mark  his  grave : 
l3ut  as  for  the  father,  his  ashes  lie — -no  marble  tells  us  where  ! 
But  Alexander  Ales  was  not  a  character  to  be  consigned  by 
history  to  oblivion  for  three  hundred  years.  The  first  man  in 
Scotland,  nay,  and,  next  to  Tyndale  and  Frytli  themselves,  the 
first  in  Britain,  who,  in  her  highest  places,  plead  so  boldly  and  so 
well  for  the  all-suffi.ciency  and  supreme  authority  of  Scripture. 
The  first  in  Scotland  who  argued  so  earnestly  for  the  perusal  of 
the  Sacred  Volume  at  every  household  fire  within  her  shores  ;  and 
therefore  the  man  who  struck  the  first  note  in  giving  a  tone  to 
that  character  for  which  she  has  since  been  known,  and  often 
commended.  The  people  of  North  Britain  assuredly  have  no  oc- 
casion to  feel  ashamed  of  this  early  native  of  their  capital — the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  449 

convert  of  her  first  martyr — the  student  and  the  prisoner  of  St. 
Andrews — the  friend  of  Melancthon,  and  the  Professor  at  Leipsic. 
Had  his  countrymen  only  known  hijn  before,  some  stone  of  re- 
membrance  might  have  been  found  even  in  Germany  ;  but  the 
memorial  of  his  birth  and  death  ought  to  have  been  in  Edin- 
burgh. There,  in  reference  to  the  cause  he  advocated  no  inap- 
propriate emblem  would  have  been,  a  Father  and  his  Child  read- 
ing' the  same  Sacred  Volume^  and,  for  a  motto,  in  remembrance 
of  his  position  at  the  moment,  perhaps  his  own  memorable  quota- 
tion of  the  Athenian — "  Strike,  but  hear  me." 

Yet  although  the  memory  of  Tyndale,  as  well  as  Ales,  has 
been  allowed  to  sleep  almost  in  oblivion  throughout  their  native 
land,  it  would  be  unjust  to  Scotland  entirely  to  forget  the  grateful 
recollections,  and  in  Latin  verse,  of  one  man,  who  flourished  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  and  died  as  early  as  October  1612.  John 
Johnston,  the  intimate  friend  and  colleague  of  Andrew  Melville 
- — a  classical  scholar,  and  Professor  of  Divinity  at  St.  Andrews  in 
1593,  amidst  his  eulogies  on  other  men,  appreciated  the  efforts  of 
Ales,  and  assigned  to  the  labors  of  Tyndale  their  own  appropriate 
place.  His  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Ales.,  whom  he  associates 
with  Machabeeus,  is  well  known,  as  inserted  in  the  Appendix  to 
M'Crie's  Life  of  Knox  ;  but  as  the  lines  on  Tyndale,  The  Ezra 
of  Britain,  have  never  been  printed,  we  subjoin  a  copy,  taken 
from  the  Manuscript  in  the  Advocate's  Library.  The  labors  and 
martyrdom  of  our  Translator  he  first  briefly  records,  to  which 
Johnston  then  adds  his  own  high  and  heartfelt  acknowledg- 
ments— 

"  Ille  Dei  vates  sacer,  Esdras  ille  Britannus, 

Fida  manus  sacri  fidaque  mens  Codicis, 
Trans  Sacras  quiduxit  opes  Sermone  Britanno: 

Quique  nova  inlustrans,  quique  vetusta  dedit, 
Incedens  veterum  nova  per  vestigia  vatum, 

Occidit,  externis  victiaia  sacra  focis : 
Scilicet  innumeris  mentis  hoc  defuit  unum, 

Vatibus  ut  priscis  par  sit  honore  novo." 

We  now  return  to  the  noble  warfare  in  which  Ales  so  ably,  and' 
without  compromise,  had  led  the  van.  We  have  seen  the  state 
of  Scotland  and  England  at  the  close  of  1534 ;  nor  in  1535,  while 
Tyndale  lay  in  prison,  as  ardent  and  busy  as  circumstances  would 
admit,  was  there  any  change  in  favor  of  the  Scriptures  in  either 
government.  As  nations,  far  from  being  on  sound  terms  with 
each  other,  they  were  firmly  united  in  hostility  to  the  Word  of 
God ;  while  in  reference  to  Scotland,  the  cruelties  of  last  year 
seem  to  have  only  strengthened  the  determination  to  obtain  the 
Sacred  Volume.  The  hollow  device  of  representing  the  English 
New  Testament  to  be  the  production  of  Luther  or  his  disciples, 
which  Cochlseus  had  done  all  in  his  power  to  promulgate,  con- 
tinued to  be  fostered  by  the  priests  for  years  to  come :  but  by  this 
year  it  must  have  been  well  known,  both  by  friends  and  foes  in 
Scotland,  that  Tyndale  was  the  author. 

29 


450  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Meanwhile,  the  alarm  of  the  Scottish  government  shows  that 
books  were  still  coming  into  the  country.  The  Act  of  Parliament 
in  1525,  against  all  impoitation  by  strangers,  had  been  strength- 
ened in  1527,  so  as  to  apply  to  the  native  importers ;  but  by  the 
language  of  Ales,  it  seems  as  if  there  had  actually  been  attempts 
at  selling  the  New  Testament  in  book-shops ;  and  certainly  if 
the  Act  was  now  to  be  repeated,  and  with  greater  severity,  it  lends 
countenance  to  all  his  remonstrances.  Parliament,  at  all  events, 
opening  in  the  summer  of  1535,  and  on  the  8th  of  June,  farther 
degraded  itself  by  not  only  repeating  the  Act,  but  now  all  persons 
having  any  such  books,  were  commanded  to  deliver  them  up  to 
their  Ordinary  within  forty  days,  under  the  penalty  of  confiscation 
and  imprisonment.  As  a  decided  evidence  of  no  small  progress 
made,  even  "  discussion  of  opinions^^  was  now  sternly  prohibited 
by  the  Parliament !  Happily,  however,  there  was  an  exception, 
or,  as  some  would  say,  a  flaw  in  the  act,  as  there  has  often  been 
since,  in  many  such  feats  of  human  legislation.  An  exception 
was  made  in  favor  of  clerks  in  the  schools,  who  might  read,  in 
order  to  refute.  The  consequence  was,  that  a  number  of  these 
clerks,  by  reading  and  discussion,  sincerely  embraced  the  same 
sentiments,  or  the  reverse  of  those  which  were  intended  by  the 
indulgence. 

In  the  year  1536,  with  regard  to  the  Scottish  monarch  himself, 
now  sinking  under  the  power  of  licentious  habits,  and  to  which 
the  clergy  offered  no  objection,  his  situation  was  one  which  might 
well  excite  pity.  The  language  of  Ales  has  clearly  shown,  that, 
as  a  youth,  there  were  generous  and  humane  feelings  within  him; 
and  the  banishment  of  the  Douglas  family,  v/ith  Angus  at  their 
head,  was  owing  to  a  burst  of  emotion  perfectly  natural.  But 
now  the  King  was  beset  by  no  less  than  three  parties.  The 
family  of  Angus,  though  not  in  Scotland,  were  ever  on  the  watch, 
having  sold  themselves  to  England.  James,  stih  unmarried,  and 
without  a  direct  heir,  had  the  Hamiltons  near  him,  not  without 
an  eye  to  the  throne ;  while,  as  the  clergy's  kingdom  of  this 
world  seemed  to  be  in  danger,  the  guidance  of  the  monarcli  had 
become,  with  them,  a  subject  of  supreme  and  intense  interest. 
The  erratic  course  of  the  king's  uncle,  Henry  VHL,  had  also 
raised  Scotland  in  the  scale  of  importance  in  the  eye  of  Rome ; 
so  that,  in  conjunction  with  the  hierarchy,  James,  being  the  man 
he  Avas,  had  no  chance  of  escape  from  vexatious  thraldom. 

In  May  1535,  the  reading  of  the  Sacred  Volume  in  the  vulgar 
tongue  was  publicly  prohibited.  Lord  Howard  and  Barlow,  in 
their  joint  letter  of  the  13th,  give  this  information — 

"  Though  we  have  not  brought  to  such  final  pass  the  contents 
of  our  instructions,  according  as  v/e  had  confidence,  to  the  King's 
Highness'  pleasure,  yet  there  wanted  in  us  no  diligent  endeavour, 
which  nevertheless  is  not  so  in  vain,  but  that  we  have  necessarily 
tried  out  the  Scotish  dissembling  mutability  ;  which  known  and 
mistrusted,  can  do  little  displeasure,  whereas  their  feigned  un- 
trusty  amity  intendeth  us  no  farther  pleasure  but  their  own  profit : 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  451 

except  hereafter  God  give  them  a  more  faithful  heart,  grounded 
on  knowledge  of  his  Word,  wliicli,  to  he  read  in  their  vulgar 
tongue,  is  lately  prohibited,  by  open  proclamation.'''' 

Now,  in  our  English  history  we  have  already  always  found, 
that  every  such  measure  as  this,  within  the  country,  was  only 
indicative  of  still  greater  pressure  from  without,  and  so  it  must 
have  been  in  Scotland.  Thus,  then,  before  Tyndale  expired,  so 
powerful  had  his  exertions  proved,  that  his  translation  had  been 
publicly  denounced  by  the  authorities  in  the  north,  as  well  as  in 
the  south ;  while  all  the  time  it  was  making  its  way,  in  unknown 
directions,  and  in  both  countries. 

But  why,  it  may  now,  with  all  propriety,  be  inquired,  should 
William  Barlow,  perhaps  inflated  by  his  elevation,  assume  so  high 
a  tone,  at  this  early  day  ?  Was  he  not  himself  a  prior  still,  and 
why  tlien,  thus  hastily,  be  so  severe  on  the  clergy?  Was  it  to 
please  Crumwell  and  the  King  ?  Why  then  use  language  actually 
at  the  expense  of  both,  as  well  as  of  all  the  English  Bishops,  of 
whom  Barlow  was  now  one?  Did  the  whole  of  this  talk,  so  far 
as  it  concerned  the  Scriptures,  carry  very  much  the  appearance 
of  a  farce  on  both  sides  ?  So  it  should  seem ;  for  why  molest 
James  Y.  about  the  Scriptures  at  present?  In  April  and  May 
1536,  what  had  Henry  VIII.?  What  had  Crumwell,  though 
Vicar-General?  What  had  the  Bench  of  Bishops  there  yet  done, 
in  reference  to  the  Sacred  Volume  in  the  vulgar  tongue  ?  Had 
they  yet  found  a  translation  and  agreed  respecting  it,  and  made 
open  proclamation  that  all  might  read,  believe,  and  live  ?  Noth- 
ing of  the  kind.  On  the  contrary,  Henry  and  his  authorities  had 
been  fighting  against  it  exactly  ten  years  !  And  what  was  the 
English  government  doing  at  the  moment?  Were  its  members 
not  in  the  guilty  act  of  leaving  the  translator  to  perish,  without 
one  solitary  or  solemn  remonstrance  from  either  the  King  or 
Crumwell,  to  whom  earnest  application  had  been  made,  and  by 
no  common  man?  Nay  more,  at  the  moment  when  Howard,  the 
brother  of  the  Duke  of  Norfolk,  and  Barlow  were  thus  writing  their 
joint  letter,  in  what  a  shameful  and  bloody  tragedy,  in  reference 
to  Anne  Boleyn,  the  King  and  Crumwell,  and  all  around  them 
were  engrossed,  we  need  not  repeat. 

Barlow  remained  behind  Howard  for  ten  days  longer,  when  he 
signified  that  it  would  be  ''  no  np-ore  displeasant  for  him  to  depart, 
than  it  was  for  Lot  to  pass  out  of  Sodom  !"  But  he  was  not  aware 
of  Latimer  being  in  -the  very  act  of  preparing  his-  Latin  sermon 
far  the  prelates  then  occupying  the  English  bench  ;  and  in  which 
they  were  to  have  small  credit  over  the  Bishops  whom  Barlow  had 
left  behind  him.  He  could  not  be  aware  that  Fox  of  Hereford 
was  about  to  tell  his  brethren  that  they  were  "  in  danger  of  being 
laughed  to  scorn  by  the  common  people,  (who  knew  more  of  the 
Scriptures  than  they  did,)  as  having  not  one  spark  of  learning  or 
godliness  within  them."  Above  all,  he  had  not  anticipated  that  a 
native  of  that  same  Edinburgh  was  on  the  point  of  adjusting  the 
balance  more  correctly  between  the  English   and   the  Scottish 


452  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

bench,  when  he  put  Stokesly  the  Bishop  of  London  in  a  rage ; 
thougli  simply,  yet  boldly,  pleading  for  no  more  than  the  authority 
and  all-sufficiency  of  tScriptiire :  when  Cranmer  himself  was 
afraid  to  let  hiin  go  on,  and  fight  the  battle  out ;  or  in  other  words, 
when  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  would  discover  as  much  timid- 
ity as  the  Archbishop  of  Cologne  had  done,  and  before  the  same 
man  !  These  equal  reminiscences  are  imperatively  due  to  the 
present  history.  They  show  how  hostile  the  men,  called  ecclesi- 
astical, in  either  country  were,  and  at  the  same  moment,  to  the 
highest  favor  which  Heaven  had  ever  bestowed  on  them  both.  It 
was  certainl}'^  too  soon  for  any  such  men  to  throw  a  snow-ball  at 
their  next  neighbors,  while  "  the  lay  people'^  in  Scotland,  as  well 
as  Eno'land,  were  alike  so  far  ahead  of  them.  Barlow,  however, 
had  now  set  out  on  his  hunt  after  'preferment^  and  a  more  dan- 
gerous course  it  is  not  possible  for  a  man  to  pursue.  Whether  it 
was  in  reward  of  his  services,  or  in  preparation  for  the  noted  Con- 
vocation about  to  be  held  in  June  ;  even  before  he  left  Scotland, 
he  was  translated  to  St.  David's,  in  which  cliaracter  he  sat,  and 
heard  all  that  we  have  hinted,  as  in  preparation  for  him.  What 
must  Barlow  have  thougbt  or  felt,  when  he  saw  a  native  of  Edin- 
burgh so  encounter  his  brethren,  and  try  their  temper?  But,  at 
all  events,  we  are  indebted  to  him  for  the  information  he  has  given 
us,  respecting  those  lay  people  in  the  north,  for  whom  Ales  had 
already  so  powerfully  plead. 

Under  the  influence  of  his  ecclesiastical  advisers,  James  was 
now  bent  on  a  matrimonial  alliance  with  France.  A  regency 
was  appointed,  of  which  James  Beaton  was  the  head  ;  and  taking 
his  nephew,  tbe  Abbot  of  Arbroath,  with  certain  noblemen  in  his 
train,  he  left  the  kingdom  in  September,  and  after  an  absence  of 
fully  eight  months,  returned  with  a  queen  for  his  royal  master,  an 
accomplished  princess,  Madeleine,  the  only  daughter  of  Francis  I. 
During  the  absence  of  his  nephew  from  Scotland,  Henry  VHL, 
ever  intriguing,  had  sent  down  Ralph  Sadler,  to  his  sister,  the 
Q,ueen-Motlier,  as  early  as  February ;  and  from  thence  he  pro- 
ceeded with  instructions  to  King  James  luDiself  at  Amiens  in 
March,  professedly  in  reference  to  his  mother,  Henry's  sister.  The 
visit,  in  both  instances,  no  doubt,  had  a  double  object  in  view : 
and  hence  the  Scottish  King  was  scarcely  landed,  with  his  bride, 
on  the  19th  of  May  1537,  than  Sadler  was  down  once  more, 
charged  with  long  and  particular  instructions.  Henry,  under- 
standing that  the  gentlemen  of  "the  old  learning"  were  very  much 
alike  everywhere,  and  judging  also  by  those  who  stood  round  his 
own  person  to  the  end  of  his  life,  again  must  this  ambassador 
whisper,  in  the  ear  of  James,  his  uncle's  saying  in  reference  to  the 
clergy. 

They  were,  "commonly  held  by  the  affection  they  have  to  their 
maintenance,  and  to  their  authority  in  pomp  and  pride."  If  Sad- 
ler actually  went  as  far  as  his  Master  instructed  him,  he  was  to 
say  that  James  was  "  not  to  think  of  himself,  as  perchance  some 
of  his  clergy  would  have  him  to  be,  as  hnite  as  a  stocky  or  to  mis- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  453 

trust  that  his  wits,  which  he  had  received  of  God,  be  not  able  to 
perceive  Christ's  word,  which  his  grace  has  left  us,  couimoii  to  be 
understood  by  all  Christian  men."  Henry  farther  advised  his 
nephew  to  try  these  clergy  "  by  their  works  and  deeds" — for  "  that 
would  induce  him  to  lean  to  the  pure  word  of  God,  and  to  pass 
light  upon  dreams  of  men  abused  by  superstition,  to  blind  princes, 
and  other  persons  of  much  simplicity."  Sadler  was  then  to  pray 
Henry's  good  nephew  "  not  to  conceive  any  evil  opinion  of  his 
uncle,  from  false  and  lying  reports,  only  because  his  Highness, 
sticking  to  the  word  of  God,  had  abolished  certain  Roman  abuses 
and  superstitions  in  his  realm  :"  with  many  other  such  words. 

The  entire  document  is  in  perfect  keeping  with  the  deep  hypo- 
crisy of  Henry's  character  ;  but  if  this  was  a  specimen  of  his 
policy,  not  to  say  the  refinement  of  his  language,  it  was  not  likely 
to  have  much  effect  on  such  a  Prince  as  James,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-six,  recently  married  to  the  only  daughter  of  the  French 
monarch ;  and  inmiediately  after  he  had  been  accustomed,  for 
so  niiny  months,  to  a  very  different  style  of  address.  Henry's 
neplijw  was  not  now  to  be  rated  like  a  school-boy,  and  Sadler,  of 
course,  had  to  return  as  he  came.  In  pursuance  of  the  same 
policy,  he  had  brought  a  present  of  £200,  by  way  of  fee,  to  the 
Q,ueen-Mother,  and  she,  as  in  duty  bound,  acknowledges  receipt, 
to  her  brother,  in  June,  when  she  trusts  that  the  King,  her  son,  is 
sending  to  him  David  Beaton.  She  prays  him  to  talk  kindly  with 
the  Abbot,  as  he  was  a  great  man  with  his  master. 

The  young  Q,ueen,  however,  had  but  a  short  time  to  live,  hav- 
ing indeed  been  ill  of  consumption  before  her  marriage.  Upon 
landing  at  Leith,  she  had  "  Icnelt  upon  the  beach,"  says  Mr. 
Tytler,  "  and  taking  up  some  portion  of  the  sand,  kissed  it  with 
deep  emotion,  whilst  she  implored  a  blessing  upon  her  new  coun- 
try, and  her  beloved  husband."  It  says  much  for  her  character 
that  iu  so  short  a  period  she  had  so  endeared  herself  to  all  classes  ; 
as  within  fifty  days  after  her  arrival  she  expired.  The  deep  re- 
gret of  many  was  shown  by  their  putting  on  mourning,  a  custom, 
till  then,  altogether  unknown  in  Scotland.  James,  however,  re- 
covering from  this  shock,  retained  his  purpose  of  sending  Beaton  to 
England.  In  the  month  of  August  we  find  him  as  far  as  Stam- 
ford, there  sohciting  an  audience,  through  Crumwell,  with  the 
King,  then  at  Dunstable.  He  had  gone,  no  doubt,  as  an  espial, 
rather  than  an  ambassador,  in  return  for  the  visit  of  Sadler  in 
James's  absence.  But  there  could  be  no  cordiality  between  the 
countries  at  this  moment.  On  the  contrary,  the  life  of  James  had 
been  twice  threatened  by  secret  conspiracy,  through  the  intrigues 
of  the  Douglas  family,  who  were  living  under  Henry's  protection. 
The  clergy  will  continue  to  advise  or  promote  alliance  with 
France. 


454  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


SECTION    V. 

FROM    1538    TO    1542 BEATON     a    cardinal,    and     persecution     revived THE 

MARTYRDOMS      OF      1538 THE     CAUSE     OF     ALL     THE     TUMULT     IN     OPPOSITION 

TRACED    TO    THE     NEW    TESTAMENT    IN    THE    NATIVE    TONGUE ANOTHER     MAR- 
TYRDOM  MEN    ESCAPING DEATH   OF    THE    KING,   JAMES    V. 

Throughout  these  five  years  ensuing,  or  from  1538  to  1542 
inclusive,  just  as  though  it  had  been  intended  by  divine  providence 
to  be  the  more  observed  by  the  people  as  such,  and  at  all  events 
by  posterity,  the  only  cause  that  looked  upward,  was  that  which 
was  most  hated ;  the  only  progress  towards  improvement,  in  any 
department,  was  in  that  of  Divine  truth.  At  the  close  of  this  pe- 
riod the  King  is  to  die,  and  even  now,  whether  in  relation  to  him- 
self or  the  country  at  large,  every  movement  was  from  bad  to 
worse.     All  things  went  the  downward  road. 

In  justice,  however,  to  James  V.,  it  must  be  remembered  that 
he  was  called  to  contend  with  more  than  Henry  VIII.  ever  had  to 
encounter.  The  English  Barons  had  been  brought  low  by  Henry 
VII..  before  his  son  came  to  the  throne ;  but  in  Scotland,  although 
in  1513  the  "  Flowers  of  the  Forest"  had  died  away,  another  race 
had  sprung  up  since  then.  The  clergy,  too,  had  a  David  Beaton 
among  them,  as  licentious  and  ambitious  as  Wolsey  himself,  and 
far  more  unrelenting  in  his  dispositions  than  the  English  cardinal 
ever  was.  Besides,  James,  younger  than  the  English  King  when 
he  came  to  the  throne,  had  been  watched  and  swayed  by  interested 
parties  from  childhood ;  so  that  having  to  cope  with  the  Barons  as 
well  as  the  Clergy,  it  discovered  no  small  force  of  character,  that 
he  proved  so  much  of  a  sovereign  as  he  did.  In  early  life,  amia- 
ble in  his  dispositions,  he  had  evidently  endeared  himself  to  the 
people  of  his  kingdom ;  and  afterwards,  in  being  dragged  into 
such  cruelties  by  thess  ecclesiastics,  it  only  shows  to  what  fearful 
extent  a  man  may  go,  whether  from  profligacy  or  mistaken  politi- 
cal motives.  In  short,  among  all  these  public  men.  the  King  is 
the  solitary  individual  who  draws  on  our  pity.  At  one  moment 
indeed,  he  will  be  seen  to  sink  himself  to  the  lowest  depth,  by 
compliance  with  his  bishops,  in  the  burning  of  his  subjects  for 
their  attachment  to  divine  truth  ;  but  before  a  year  goes  round, 
we  shall  not  only  see  him  sit  for  hours,  and  hear  the  ecclesiastical 
order  lashed  with  the  severest  satire  for  their  vices  ;  but  he  will 
turn  round  afterwards,  and  acquiescing  in  the  justice  of  the  exhi- 
bition, rate  the  whole  order  severely  to  their  faces,  as  the  root  of 
all  evil.  Both  Henry  and  James  vainly  imagined  that  they  them- 
selves might  live  as  they  listed,  though  neither  of  them  were  blind 
to  the  scandalous  lives  of  the  priests  and  their  superiors. 

But  to  proceed,  David  Beaton  having  gone  to  France  once  more 
and  to  negotiate  for  another  Queen,  returned  in  May  1538,  (only 
ten  months  after  the  death  of  Madeleine)with  a  woman  of  a  widely 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  455 

different  character — Mary  of  Guise— an  alliance  perfectly  agree- 
able to  the  clergy,  though  ere  long  to  prove  most  injurious  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  country.  Beaton,  like  Wolsey  in  past  years, 
looking  out  for  his  own  advancement  by  the  way,  had  contrived 
to  be  made  Bishop  of  Mirepoix  in  Languedoc,  with  not  less  than 
ten  thousand  livres  of  annual  revenue  ;  and  though  not  yet  a 
bishop  in  his  own  country,  his  French  appointment  will  strengthen 
the  ladder  to  higher  promotion.  Sharpened,  no  doubt,  by  his  visit 
to  England  last  year,  and  having  now  furnished  so  trusty  a  check- 
mate for  his  Sovereign,  no  time  was  to  be  lost  in  proceeding  against 
all  the  insinuations  of  his  uncle,  by  strengthening  his  own  per- 
sonal authority  through  the  court  of  Rome.  He  was  indeed,  as 
yet,  nothing  more  than  an  Abbot  in  Scotland  ;  but  with  his  French 
see  in  addition,  Beaton  had  applied  to  the  Pontiff  for  one  of  his 
highest  honors.  Of  course  this  was  represented  as  by  no  means 
on  his  own  account,  but  merely  for  the  benelit  of  the  kirk,  and  to 
meet  the  signs  of  the  times.  This,  however,  was  no  usual  de- 
mand, no  common  step  to  advance,  yet,  through  the  vigilance  of 
his  agent  in  Italy,  the  able  and  aspiring  Abbot  succeeded,  and  was 
actually  raised,  by  Paul  III.,  to  the  powers  of  a  Cardinal,  on  the 
20th  of  December  1538. 

Throughout  the  year  1538,  the  new  learning  having  made  very 
manifest  progress,  the  disposition  to  persecute  was  about  to  be 
fully  gratitied.  The  secret  of  Beaton's  zeal  for  power  could  not 
long  remain  hid,  and  since  James  was  both  so  married,  and  too 
far  gone  to  profit  by  any  warning ;  his  character  as  a  man  must 
"  smart  for  it,"  as  Henry,  his  uncle,  had  predicted.  Nothing  im- 
proved by  his  former  visit  to  France,  gay,  licentious  and  thought- 
less, James  was  as  much  in  want  of  money  as  his  uncle  always 
was,  and  money  he  must  have.  In  younger  life  he  had  shrunk 
from  the  shedding  of  blood,  but  now,  in  order  to  beguile  him  from 
an  eye  to  clerical  wealth  and  the  accumulated  treasures  of  the 
monasteries,  the  property  of  all  who  should  either  die  for  their 
opinions,  or  abjure,  was  held  out  as  the  base  incitement  to  the  en- 
slaved and  iniatuated  monarch.  If,  therefore,  among  the  subjects 
of  James  there  v.ere  those  who  would  "  take  joyfully  the  spoiling 
of  their  goods.  knoAving  that  they  had  in  heaven  a  better  and  an 
enduring  substance,"  and  if  their  attachment  to  the  word  of  God, 
as  such,  should  thus  become  apparent,  a  better  evidence  of  prog- 
ress made  could  not  be  wished.  At  the  same  time,  the  course 
about  to  be  pursued  by  the  enemy,  is  worthy  of  notice,  on  an- 
other account.  It  was  the  choice  plan  of  Stephen  Gardiner  in 
England  to  hunt  after  such  as  he  styled  "  the  head  deer ;"  and  as 
the  persecutor  in  Scotland  is  about  to  not  merely  gratify  his  own 
malice,  but  supply  the  King's  necessities ;  the  j^oo^'  believer,  who 
had  nothing  to  forfeit  or  leave  behind  him,  not  being  a  subject 
suitable  to  the  miserable  end  in  view,  must  have  been,  most  provi- 
dentially, passed  over.  The  'poor,  often  the  richest  in  faith,  were 
below  notice,  merely  because  not  worth  the  trouble  and  expense. 

Before  however  noticing  any  instances  of  persecution,  it  must 


456  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

be  remembered  that.  ^^  the  New  Testament  in  the  vulgar  tongue,^' 
had  been  pointed  out  since  May  1536  by  public  proclamation. 
There  may  have  been  some  other  English  books  suspected  of  her- 
esy already  in  Scotland,  but  even  still,  no  other  book  is  expressly 
named.  The  presumption  therefore  is,  that  in  all  these  proceed- 
ings, the  Scriptures  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  were  now  aimed  at,  and 
all  opinions  grounded  on  the  Sacred  Volume. 

It  was  in  the  very  month  in  which  Beaton  was  made  a  Cardinal 
at  Rome,  that  the  persecution  in  Scotland  had  already  revived. 
No  one  had  suffered  death  since  August  1534  ;  but  after  four  years 
had  elapsed,  an  early,  if  not  the  first  arrest,  afforded  rather  a  curi- 
ous illustration  of  blind  fury. 

Martin  Balkesky,  a  burgess  of  Edinburgh,  had  been  thrown  into 
confinement  in  the  Castle,  as  early  as  December  1538,  for 
"breaking  oar  Sovereign  Lord's  proclamation  against  using  and 
having  such  books  as  are  prohibited  by  Parhament."  He  first 
complained  therefore  to  the  King,  who  referred  him  to  Beaton, 
only  a  few  days  before  he  was  made  a  Cardinal,  or  about  a  month 
before  he  could  hear  of  the  appointment.  Beaton,  still  only  an 
Abbot,  bat  Coadjutor  of  St.  Andrews,  referred  the  burgess  to  the 
Lords  of  the  Privy  Council.  Balkesky  then  supplicated  them^  and 
they  promised  enlargement,  on  condition  of  his  finding  caution  to 
the  Justice-Clerk,  Thomas  Scott  of  Pitgorno.  The  caution  he  de- 
manded was  not  less  than  a  thousand  pounds.  On  the  28th  of 
February,  the  very  day  before  a  dreadful  martyrdom,  which  Bal- 
kesky may  have  witnessed  from  the  Castle,  the  caution  was  found 
and  offered ;  but  now  not  satisfied,  on  the  7th  of  March,  Sir  John 
Campbell  of  Calder,  Archibald  Williamson,  burgess  of  Edinburgh, 
and  Robert  Hopringill,  burgess  of  Peebles,  had  to  become  sureties 
for  two  thousand  pounds  more,  that  the  prisoner  should  "  abide 
the  King's  Grace's  pleasure  and  will ;"  no  slender  proof  that  they 
had  already  got  one  substantial  citizen  by  the  hand.  Only  five 
days  elapsed,  however,  when  they  were  obliged  to  let  him  go,  "  re- 
mitting to  him  the  escheat  of  all  his  goods,  &c.  for  having  and 
using  certain  English  heretical  books."  A  letter  of  remission  was 
granted  to  him  on  the  12th  of  March  ;  his  professed  defence  being, 
that  he  had  merely  refused  to  deliver  up  his  Matin-book  to  the 
official  of  Lothian  at  his  first  command." 

But  if  this  proved  a  blank,  they  had  caught  a  richer  prize  in  the 
person  of  Walter  Stewart,  son  of  Lord  Ochiltrie.  He  was  fined  in 
his  whole  estates,  or  possessions  moveable  and  immoveable,  "  by 
reason  that  the  said  Walter  was  abjured  of  heresy." 

Beaton,  however,  once  a  Cardinal,  there  was  no  farther  occasion 
for  troubling  either  the  Lords  of  the  Privy  Council,  or  those  of  the 
Justiciary.  Wherever  his  cross  was  borne  before  him,  tliere  he 
reigned  as  lord  paramount  over  the  conscience,  and  other  gentle- 
men will  not  now  so  easily  escape.  By  the  10th  of  January,  1539, 
we  find  Robert  Forrester,  brother  to  the  Laird  of  Arngibbon,  Wil- 
liam Forrester,  son  of  John,  burgess  of  Stirling,  Walter  Cousland, 
David  Graham,  and  James  Watson,  all  of  Stirling,  were  seized  for 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  457 

books,  suspected  to  be  heretical ;  '•  for  breaking  his  Hio-hness' 
proclamation  in  having  and  using  such  books  as  are  suspected  of 
heresy,  and  are  prohibited  by  the  Kirk."  Observe  the  altered 
phraseology,  or  how  soon  and  slyly  they  were  interposino-  their 
own  authority.  The  caution  at  once  exacted  from  these  parties 
amounted  to  no  less  than  3100  marks,  so  that  the  entire  property 
must  have  been  considerable.  The  first  gentlemen,  we  shall  find 
die  at  the  stake ;  the  second  and  third,  as  well  as  another,  a  bur- 
gess of  Edinburgh,  Robert  Cant,  were  all  entirely  forfeited  in 
March.  Similar  forfeitures  extended  to  Perth,  as  well  as  to  Ster- 
ling, where  John  Stewart,  son  to  Henry,  Lord  Methven  was  anions 
the  number  ;  and  so  far  as  the  seizure  of  property  was  concerned, 
the  persecution  lay  very  heavy  upon  Dundee. 

Two  parties  had  now  fully  engrossed  the  mind  of  Beaton, 
namely,  the  Kirk  and  the  King.  The  former  was  to  be  defended 
by  fire,  the  latter  to  be  cajoled  by  fines  ;  and  this  month  of  March 
served  to  unfold  his  character,  as  equally  busy  in  both  departments. 
The  most  fearful  week  was  the  first  in  this  month,  and  Saturday 
the  1st  its  most  shocking  day.  The  country  hitherto  had  wit- 
nessed no  scene  so  outrageous.  The  trial,  such  as  it  was,  and  the 
sentence  to  death  being  all  overtaken  before  the  sun  went  down 
it  must  have  been  intended  to  strike  with  terror,  not  Edinburgh 
alone,  but  every  other  place.  Not  fewer  than  five  diirerent  men 
appeared  ;  John  Keillor  and  John  Beveridge,  two  Benedictine 
monks  or  Blackfriars,  not  improbably  from  the  same  monastery  in 
Edinburgh  where  Prior  Buckingham  had  lodged  till  1535,  when 
he  set  off  to  the  persecution  of  Tyndale  ;  Sir  Duncan  Simpson, 
so  called  as  being  a  priest,  from  Stirling  ;  Mr.  Robert  Forrester, 
notary,  a  gentleman  of  the  same  place  ;  and  last,  though  not 
least,  a  Dean  of  the  Kirk,  Thomas  Forret,  canon  regular  in  the 
Monastery  of  St.  Colm's  Inch,  and  Vicar  of  Dollar.  Having  been 
summoned  before  Beaton  and  Chisholm,  Bishop  of  Dunblane  men 
equally  notorious  for  licentious  habits,  and  bigoted  attachment  to 
their  system,,  no  mercy  .was  in  store  for  any  of  the  five,  while  the 
last  was  treated  with  characteristic  reproach  and  barbarity.  The 
trial  soon  over,  the  fire  was  prepared  on  the  esplanade  of  the 
Castle,  visible  at  once  far  and  near,  to  two  counties,  Mid-Lothian 
and  Fife. 

The  King,  too,  must  proceed  one  step  farther  on  the  present 
occasion.  In  1534  he  had  presided  in  a  red  dress  at  the  trial  of 
Straiton,  but  his  authority  on  the  bench  was  now  not  consulted. 
It  had,  in  fact,  been  superseded  by  that  of  this  Cardinal,  but  still 
his  Majesty  must  sanction  all.  He  must  follow  the  footsteps  of  his 
father-in-law  Francis  I.,  in  1535,  and  himself  be  present  to  see 
the  red  flames  on  the  Castlehill,  when  five  of  his  best  subjects  were 
consumed  to  ashes  before  his  eyes,  on  the  1st  of  March  1539. 

]Nt)t  satisfied  with  this  horrible  scene,  Beaton  must  look  west- 
ward, where  it  seems  to  have  been  resolved  there  should  be  an- 
other martyrdom  by  way  of  terror.  Two  individuals  having  been 
apprehended  in  the  diocese  of  Glasgow  ;  Jerome  Russel,  a  Fran- 


458  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

ciscan  or  Greyfriar,  and  a  young  man,  Ninian  Kennedy^  only 
eighteen,  of  good  education,  and  possessing  "  an  excellent  ingyne 
(genius)  for  Scotish  poetry  ;"  they  were  immediately  brought  to 
trial.  This  myrmidon  of  Beaton's,  John  Lauder,  and  two  other 
willing  agents,  Mr.  Andrew  Oliphant,  as  notary,  and  one  Friar 
Mertman,  were  sent  olf  to  Glasgow  in  commission,  to  assist,  or 
rather  secure  success.  The  Archbishop,  not  so  bloodily  inclined, 
hesitated.  "I  think  it  better  to  spare  these  men,"  said  he,  '-'than 
to  put  them  to  death."  "  What  will  ye  do,  my  Lord  ?"  said  tlie 
commission  from  Edinburgh.  "  Will  ye  condemn  all  that  my 
Lord  Cardinal,  other  Bishops,  and  we  have  done  ?  If  so,  ye  do  shew 
yourself  enemy  to  the  Church  and  us,  and  so  we  will  report  you, 
be  assured  !"  Dunbar  became  afraid,  having  no  relish  for  coming 
into  collision  with  this  new-made  Cardinal.  The  King  had  con- 
ceded his  own  authority,  and  his  Lord  Chancellor  now  as  meanly 
followed  !  Adjudging  both  the  martyrs  to  death,  the}^  died  in 
triumph.  In  addition  to  these  tragedies  there  was  a  third,  at 
Cupar  in  Fife,  iu  order  to  awe  that  part  of  the  country,  where,  by 
the  Lord  Treasurer's  Accounts,  one  man,  not  named,  also  suffered 
at  the  stake. 

During  a  season  of  confiscation  and  murder  such  as  this,  the 
victims  pillaged  must  have  been  numerous ;  we  could  name  more 
than  we  have  mentioned,  and  it  is  manifest,  that  they  were  not 
only  men  of  intelligence,  but  of  considerable  substance.  But 
among  those  in  imminent  danger  at  this  moment,  there  was  one, 
the  most  eminent  scholar  of  his  age.  We  need  scarcely  name 
George  Buchanan.  His  Sonuiium  or  Dream,  his  satire  Palinodia, 
as  well  as  his  Franciscanus,  all  of  which  had  been  so  deeply  re- 
sented by  the  whole  fraternity  of  "  tlie  old  learning,"  rendered  him 
the  most  desirable  of  all  victims,  and  he  was  actually  in  close  cus- 
tody at  St.  Andrews.  The  Cardinal,  it  is  said,  offered  the  King 
a  sum  of  money  as  the  price  of  his  blood.  Once  apprised  of  this, 
Buchanan  made  his  escape  from  the  window  of  his  prison,  througli 
England  into  France,  and  before  the  close  of  this  year  he  had 
been  chosen  Latin  Professor  in  the  College  of  Guienne,  Bourdeaux. 
But  besides  him,  in  the  course  of  this  month  of  March,  many 
others  had  fled.  The  fires  had  produced  their  desired  consterna- 
tion. Tlius,  if  we  look  to  Berwick  alone,  as  already  quoted  under 
our  English  history,  on  the  29th  of  that  month,  the  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk informs  Crumwell — "  Daily  cometh  unto  me  some  Gentlemen 
and  some  Clkrks  (priests)  which  do  flee  out  of  Scotland,  as  they 
say /or  reading  of  Scripture  in  English,  saying  that  if  they  were 
taken  they  should  be  put  to  execution.  I  gave  them  gentle  words, 
and  to  some,  money."  So  did  this  determined  enemy  of  the  Sacred 
Volume  in  English  write,  and  act,  at  the  moment,  merely  from 
vile  political  motives.  But  the  enemy  himself  has  often,  through- 
out, corroborated  the  truth  of  this  history. 

Such,  then,  was  the  result  of  the  influence  and  title,  newly  im- 
ported from  Italy,  but  at  the  same  time  the  storm  has  again  cleared 
the  moral  atmosphere,  giving  decided  proof  that  a  great  and  un- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  459 

wonted  power  had  been  introduced  into  Scotland.  In  other  words, 
we  have  before  us  tlie  veritable  progress  of  all  tlie  Scriptural 
Christianity  which  has  been  in  the  country  ever  since;  and  how- 
ever feeble  and  unpretending'  in  its  commencement,  the  work, 
since  1526,  was  now  of  thirteen  years'  standing. 

The  reign  of  discord  between  England  and  Scotland  commenced, 
and  open  violence,  between  parties  on  the  borders,  was  but  tlie 
precursor  of  other  quarrels.  In  the  midst  of  his  quarrel  with  Henry 
a  slow  fever  consumed  him,  and  he  sunk  into  a  state  of  distraction, 
accompanied  by  the  deepest  melancholy.  The  Q,ueen  at  Lithgow 
was  on  the  point  of  being  confined,  and  if  a  son  were  born,  it  was 
hoped  that  this  might  rouse  the  father.  On  the  7th  of  December, 
she  was  delivered  of  a  daughter — "  Mary,  Queen  of  jScoIs^' — but 
the  intelligence  had  the  opposite  effect  from  that  which  had  been 
anticipated.  Referring  to  his  kingdom,  said  the  dying  man — ^"It 
came  with  a  girl,  and  it  will  go  with  a  girl."  Then  giving  his 
hand  to  those  near  him,  he  turned  himself  on  the  bed  and  expired, 
on  Thursday  the  14th  of  December.  The  body  was  brought  to 
Edinburgh,  and  interred  at  Holyrood  on  Monday  the  8th  of  January 
1543.  Often  has  it  been  said,  that  James  V.  died  literally  of  a 
broken  heart,  and,  in  Scottish  history,  certainly  he  presents  the  most 
impressive  illustration  of  that  passage  in  holy  writ — "  The  sorrow 
of  the  loorld  worketli  dealh.'''' 

But  we  must  return  to  the  history  of  the  Sacred  Volume.  Seven 
years  after  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  in  English  had 
been  first  conveyed  into  Scotland,  there  had  been  an  able  and  well- 
sustained  controversy,  though  hitherto  buried  in  oblivion,  as  to  the 
right  and  duty  of  the  people  to  read  the  Scriptiues  for  theinselves, 
and  at  home  in  their  own  dwellings ;  but  there  had  been  no  min- 
istry of  the  word,  properly  so  called.  One  man,  Forret,  in  a  very 
limited  district,  for  a  short  time,  had  spoken  out ;  but  he  was 
almost  immediately  silenced,  and  then  burnt  to  ashes.  There 
had  been  no  son  of  thunder  lifting  up  his  voice,  nor  had  any  such 
means  been  employed  as  to  account  for  this  confessedly  great 
change.  Two  or  three  men  from  England  may  come  down  after- 
wards, and  make  some  impression  ;  but  we  now  speak  of  the  past, 
and  of  what  had  been  already  effected.  Putting  the  presumptive 
heir  to  the  crown  entirely  out  of  view,  as  a  weak  and  vacillating 
man,  have  so  many  round  about  him  been  so  shaken  in  mind,  as 
to  involve  themselves,  by  Beaton's  casuistry,  in  the  deadly  sin  of 
what  he  called  heresy?  Then,  as  far  as  the  art  of  printing,  or 
English  books  were  concerned,  nothing  can  be  ascribed  to  either 
cause :  and  of  books  imported  from  abroad,  we  find  not  upon  re- 
cord a  single  title-page,  save  one.  But  that  one  has  been  pro- 
claimed in  open  court,  by  Lauder,  in  1.538,  as  having  been  the 
great,  nay,  the  only  source  of  annoyance.  He  denounced  it  as 
heresy.  "  God  forgive  you,"  said  Forret,  "  that  ye  should  call  the 
book  of  the  Evangel  of  Jesus  Christ  heresy."  But  he  insisted  that 
it  was,  and  that  it  was  this  which  had  occasioned  "  all  the  din 
a.d  ylay  in  their  Kirk,^'  or  throughout  Scotland.     Certainly  it 


460  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

was  intended,  that  posterity  should  observe  this,  and  no  event  of 
the  day  has  been  more  distinctly  marked,  if  so  much  so. 

The  ministry  of  the  word,  though  of  Divine  appointment,  has 
again  and  again,  throughout  this  history,  been  presented  by  God 
as  entirely  subordinate  to  his  own  word — the  living  voice  of  man, 
to  the  voice  of  the  living  God.  In  the  scale  of  human  depravity, 
or  the  profanation  of  divine  things,  besides  the  neglect  or  perver- 
sion of  the  ministry,  there  is  a  lower  depth,  or  greater  sin.  This 
had  been  shown  in  Scotland  as  well  as  England,  in  the  treatment 
of  the  Divine  Record  itself — in  the  wilful  concealment  of  the  Word 
of  God — in  the  denial  of  it  to  the  people — nay,  in  the  denunciation 
of  it  by  the  profligate  rulers  of  the  darkness  which  reigned  around 
them.  This  was  the  greatest  of  all  crimes.  The  force  of  syte- 
matic  depravity  could  no  farther  go.  They  had  rejected  the  v/ord 
of  Jeliovah,  and  what  wisdom  was  in  them  ?  Tlie  Sacred  Script- 
ures, therefore,  and  more  especially  those  of  the  New  Testament, 
standing  in  the  same  relation  to  the  Christian  Church,  which  the 
law,  when  lost,  did  to  the  Jewish,  and  which,  when  found,  became 
the  means  of  its  revival ;  so  the  Sacred  Volume  must  now  take 
precedence.  We  leave  other  nations  to  examine  for  themselves  ; 
but  in  the  course  pursued  by  Divine  Providence  towards  this  island 
entire,  and  by  way  of  eminence,  this  fact  is  worthy  of  more  reflec- 
tion than  it  has  ever  obtained.  The  Word  of  the  Lord,  as  an  in- 
strument in  bis  own  hands,  and  conveyed  into  the  island  in  spite 
of  all  opposition,  was  to  be  first,  and  to  be  thus  glorified.  So  it 
had  liappened  in  England,  as  already  explained.  But  here,  in  the 
north,  as  well  as  in  the  south,  in  Scotland  as  well  as  in  England — 

Jehovah  had  resolved  to  show 

What  his  own  Sovereign  Word  could  do. 

And  yet,  after  all  that  can  be  said,  at  this  moment,  what  was 
now  to  be  done  ?  nay,  what  to  be  expected  ?  We  have  come  to 
December  1542.  The  King  is  dead,  and  Beaton  has  reached  the 
highest  point  of  his  ambition.  Before  his  sovereign  was  even  laid 
in  the  grave  at  Holyrood,  he  has  usurped  the  government ;  and 
look  wherever  the  people  might,  everything  seemed  to  portend 
success  in  favor  of  such  a  movement.  With  regard  to  his  own 
crafty  brethren,  he  sits,  like  a  sovereign  Pontiif,  over  every  one  of 
them.  The  king  has  left  for  his  heir  onl}'^  an  infant,  whose  mother 
is  favorable  to  all  the  intentions  of  Beaton.  The  presumptive  heir 
to  the  crown,  the  Earl  of  Arran,  is  not  merely  a  weak  man,  but 
he  seems  to  be  quite  indisposed  for  action  ;  while,  in  point  of  talent 
and  activity,  there  is  no  other  individual  to  be  compared  with  the 
Cardinal  and  legate.  As  for  the  nobility  at  large,  their  power  is 
broken  ;  such  of  them  as  possessed  any  authoritative  influence  are 
either  dead,  or  in  exile  ;  and  the  best  of  them  have  been  carried 
out  of  the  way,  from  Solway  Moss  to  London.  The  neighboring 
powerful  monarch,  elated  by  his  victory,  threatens  war ;  and  it 
may  be  one  of  conquest  or  of  extermination.  In  short,  according 
to  Buchanan,  "  the  considerate  foresaw  a  tempest  overhanging 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  461 

Scotland,  dark  and  gloomy  beyond  conception  ;  for  the  King  had 
not  made  a  will,  and  left  a  girl,  scarcely  eight  days  old,  as  his 
heir." 

From  all  these  circumstances,  it  must  have  been  quite  impossible 
for  any  man  to  see  before  him  a  single  day,  or  to  foretell  what 
awaited  either  himself  or  his  country.  The  only  certain  thing 
was,  that  Beaton  had  resolved  to  be  both  "  king  and  priest"  for 
the  time  being ;  having,  it  is  said,  caused  the  will  of  the  king  to 
be  proclaimed  on  Monday  after  his  death,  and  this,  it  is  under- 
stood, pointed  to  him  as  the  future  regent.  But  let  what  will  take 
place,  nothing  shall  prevent  the  progress  of  Divine  truth  ;  and,  as 
in  nature,  the  darkest  hour  precedes  the  day-break,  so  it  may  be 
even  now. 


REIGN   OF   MARY   QUEEN   OF   SCOTS. 

THE  YEAR  1543,  A  MEMORABLE  ONE CRITICAL  STATE  OF  THE  GOVERNMENT RE- 
MARKABLY SUDDEN  CHANGE THE  PRIMATE  OF  ST.  ANDREWS,  THOUGH  A  CAR- 
DINAL, IN  PRISON GENERAL  PERUSAL  OF  SCRIPTURES  SANCTIONED MORE  MAR- 
TYRDOMS BY  HANGING,  DROWNING,  AND  THE  FLAMES THE  DEATH  OF  BEATON. 

The  year  1543  was  a  memorable  period,  and  deserves  to  stand 
by  itself,  whether  we  allude  to  Scotland  or  England.  In  relation 
to  both  countries,  it  was  a  crisis  ;  but  as  viewed  in  conjunction, 
we  are  furnished  with  matter  well  worthy  of  notice,  and  in  close 
connection  with  the  sacred  Scriptures.  In  Scotland,  the  opening 
of  the  year  will  discover  how  insignificant  is  the  power  of  any 
human  party,  however  ai)ly  led,  when  the  moment  arrives  in 
which  the  Supreme  Ruler  begins  to  deal  with  it.  Beaton  we 
have  just  left  in  great  power,  and  fondly  anticipating  a  higher 
place  than  Wolsey  himself  had  ever  reached.  He  may  be  al- 
lowed, for  a  few  days,  to  dream  of  reigning  over  the  kingdom,  at 
the  head  of  a  regency,  of  which  the  Earls  of  Argyle,  Huntly, 
and  Murray,  were  to  be  chief  men  ;  and  as  for  the  presumptive 
heir  to  the  crown,  the  Earl  of  Arran,  he  must  be  neutralized  or 
overruled.  If  we  can  rely  on  the  deliberate  testimony  of  Arran 
himself,  Beaton  exliibited  a  will  of  the  King,  appointing  liim  to 
be  guardian  of  tJte  infant  Queen,  as  icell  as  Regent,  or  Gov- 
ernor of  the  realm. 

Henr)^  VIII.,  his  determined  enemy,  was  now  dreaming  also,  as 
well  as  Beaton,  though  in  ver}^  different  strain.  The  death  of 
James  V.  instantly  gave  fresh  impulse  to  his  ambition.  If  pos- 
sible, and  immediately,  he  is  to  reign  over  Scotland.  He  is  to  get 
possession  of  Beaton,  as  well  as  the  infant  Q.ueen  Mary,  who,  as 
he  now  proposed,  should  in  due  time  be  married  to  his  son  Ed- 
ward. Once  awake,  however,  both  the  King  and  the  Cardinal 
must,  like  other   men,  follow  with  the  tide  of  events ;    but  the 


462  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

question  between  them  at  this  moment  being  one  of  time,  the 
sequel  will  explain  which  of  them  gained  his  object.  No  sooner 
had  Henry  been  informed  of  his  nephew's  death,  than  he  sent 
for  the  Scottish  lords  and  gentlemen,  the  prisoners  from  Solway, 
who,  only  a  few  days  before,  had  been  marched,  as  in  disgrace, 
through  London,  and  then  they  had  been  only  upbraided.  The 
King  now  sounded  them,  with  a  view  to  his  intentions,  when, 
without  exception,  they  bowed  to  his  terms,  and  without  gain- 
saying !  Henry  exacted  pledges,  which  they  left  behind  them  ; 
and  they  engaged,  that  when  Queen  Mary  came  to  be  ten 
years  of  age,  she  should  many  Prince  Edward.  On  Friday  the 
29th  of  December,  the  prisoners  were  allowed  to  depart,  and 
coming  down  by  way  of  Darlington,  they  had  reached  home  by 
Wednesday  the  24th  of  January.  Arran  now  found  himself  in 
circumstances  to  act  with  decision  ;  and  no  sooner  do  we  turn  to 
Scotland  tlian  we  find  that  not  one  day  had  been  lost  by  the 
Governor. 

Upon  Monday  the  Sth  of  January,  the  King  had  been  interred  ; 
but  on  Wednesday  the  10th,  not  more  than  forty-eight  hours 
having  elapsed,  the  Earl  of  Arran  was  proclaimed  Protector  and 
Governor  of  the  kingdom.  Thus  far  successful,  still  the  Gover- 
nor was  not  sufficiently  strong  to  take  any  step  against  Beaton. 
On  the  contrary,  slow  to  forego  all  secular  power,  it  appears  that 
Beaton  actually  snatched  at  the  chancellorship,  and  obtained  it, 
for  one  solitary  week  !  With  such  an  office  in  addition  to  tliose 
he  possessed,  if  he  had  effectually  ousted  Dunbar,  the  Archbishop 
of  Glasgow,  he  had  no  doubt  intended  ultimately  to  overrule  the 
Governor  according  to  his  pleasure. 

Here,  then,  at  last,  it  becomes  evident,  that  Henry  VHI.  had 
overreached  his  greatest  opponent  in  the  North ;  for  though  al- 
ready in  possession  of  the  great  seal,  by  Friday  the  26th  of  this 
month,  the  Chancellor  and  Cardinal,  though  Legate,  was  in  safe 
keeping  at  Dalkeith ;  only  two  days  after  the  arrival  of  the 
Scottish  barons  from  England  !  The  will  exhibited,  pronounced 
a  forgery,  had  been  of  no  avail.  But  whatever  obscurity  still 
hangs  over  the  precise  charges  against  Beaton,  he  was  put  in 
prison  on  the  day  now  mentioned.  From  Dalkeith  he  was  re- 
moved to  Seton  House  ;  from  thence,  under  the  charge  of  Lord 
Seton,  to  Blackness  Castle  on  the  Forth  ;  and  finally,  to  St.  An- 
drews, from  whence  he  was  not  released  till  April,  or  more  than 
a  fortnight  after  Parliament  had  transacted  all  their  business. 
Thus  are  we  left  free  to  inquire  what  this  business  included. 

In  the  meanwhile,  however,  was  the  arrest  of  such  a  man  as 
this  to  pass  without  notice?  So  far  from  it,  all  the  disciples  of 
"  the  old  learning"  were  immediately  in  mourning,  and  struck 
with  horror.  •'  The  public  services,"  says  Mr.  Tytler,  "  were  in- 
stantly suspended  ;  the  piiests  refused  to  administer  either  baptism 
or  burial ;  the  Churches  were  closed :  an  universal  gloom  over- 
spread the  countenances  of  the  people,  and  the  country  presented 
the  melancholy  appearance  of  a  land  excommunicated  for  some 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  463 

awful  crime.  The  days,  indeed,  were  past  when  the  full  terrors 
of  such  a  state  of  spiritual  proscription  could  be  felt,  yet  the 
Catholic  party  were  still  strong  in  Scotland ;  they  loudly  ex- 
claimed against  their  opponents  for  so  daring  an  act  of  sacrilege 
and  injustice  ;  and  the  people  began,  in  some  degree,  to  identify 
the  cause  of  Beaton  with  the  independence  of  the  country."  The 
barons  also  were  far  from  being  unanimous  on  the  subject.  Four 
days  only  after  the  imprisonment,  or  on  Tuesday  the  30th  of 
January,  the  Earl  of  Argyle  had  left  Edinburgh  for  his  estate  in 
the  west,  where,  gathering  his  clan,  he  might  stand  ready  for  any 
future  emergency.  The  Earls  of  Huntly,  Murray,  and  Bothwell, 
had  offered  to  be  sureties  for  the  Cardinal's  liberty,  but  in  vain. 
Mass  might  be  suspended,  wliile  the  priests  and  monks,  having 
little  or  nothing  to  do,  had  more  time  for  politics  and  intimidation  ; 
but  still  there  was  no  enlargement  of  their  Cardinal.  At  this 
early  period,  and  in  reference  to  the  clergy,  such  an  instance  of 
inflexibility  was  analogous  to  that  of  the  Venetian  government ; 
and  it  becomes  the  more  observable,  when  the  two  cousins  are 
viewed  in  contrast.  Between  the  Earl  of  Arranand  Beaton  there 
was  the  greatest  possible  distinction,  in  point  of  strength  of  mind 
and  firmness  of  purpose.  It  was  therefore  fit,  that  at  this  peculiar 
crisis,  the  weakest  individual  in  authority,  or  the  most  vascillat- 
ing,  not  to  say  treacherous,  should  be  instrumental  in  putting 
aside  by  far  the  most  acute  and  powerful  man  in  the  kingdom. 
All  that  the  Pontiff  could  possibly  convey  to  him  from  Rome,  had 
previously  been  bestowed ;  and  if  any  words  are  about  to  be 
spoken  in  Parliament  regarding  the  Sacred  Volume  ;  if  any- 
thing was  about  to  be  done,  wiiich  was  7iever  to  be  undone ;  it 
was  certainly  something  to  say  in  future  years,  that  all  this  power 
had  gone  for  nothing  ! 

Parliament  having  been  summoned  to  meet  on  Monday  the 
12th  of  March,  throughout  the  month  of  February,  the  Earls  of 
Argyle  and  Huntly,  Bothwell  and  Murray,  were  straining  every 
nerve  to  rally  and  invigorate  their  adherents  ;  so  that  the  week 
immediately  befere  the  opening  of  Parliament  exhibited  t\vo 
parties  in  hostile  array,  one  assembled  at  Perth,  the  other  in  Edin- 
burgh. At  the  former,  besides  the  earls  already  mentioned,  there 
were  other  noblemen,  with  a  great  number  of  bishops,  abbots, 
and  knights.  They  commenced  with  negotiation,  sending  certain 
articles  to  the  Governor  and  his  council.  The  very  first  of  these 
stipulated,  that  the  Cardinal  should  be  set  at  liberty  ;  the  second, 
that  the  New  Testament  in  the  native  tongue  should  not  go 
ABROAD.  They  then  requested  that  the  Governor  should  be 
counselled  by  them  in  all  the  affairs  of  the  realm,  and  that  other 
ambassadors  to  Henr}^  VIII.,  than  those  which  were  intended, 
should  be  sent  to  England ! 

There  was  not  a  moment's  delay  at  Edinburgh  in  returning  a 
most  decided  answer.  The  Governor  and  council  would  listen  to 
no  such  terms.  On  the  contrary,  they  inmiediately  dispatched  a 
herald  of  arms,  charging  all  these  lords  at  Perth,  under  pain  of 


464  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

treason,  to  repair  to  the  capital  and  serve  the  Governor,  according 
to  their  allegiance.  At  the  same  time,  or  upon  Friday  the  9th  of 
March,  by  way  of  making  their  intentions  doubly  sure,  Archibald 
Beaton  of  Capildra  was  committed  to  ward  at  Dalkeith,  as  his 
relative  the  Cardinal  had  been  in  January,  he  being  now  in  safe 
keeping  at  a  greater  distance.  The  party  at  Edijiburgh  was  now 
ready  for  business. 

The  appearance  of  the  herald  at  Per^h  had  proved  quite  sufii- 
cient.  The  Earl  of  Huntly  immediately  gave  in.  As  for  the 
clergy,  while  they  could  not  extricate  the  Cardinal,  if  they  had 
anything  to  say  against  the  Scriptures,  it  was  proper  that  they 
should  be  mustered  on  the  spot.  Since  Beaton  only  is  put  out  of 
the  way,  let  the  fraternity  assemble  and  put  forth  all  its  strength. 
As  a  body,  therefore,  whether  bishops  or  abbots,  they  now  followed 
Huntly's  example  ;  and  they  all  arrived  in  Edinburgh  on  Sunday, 
or  the  day  before  parliament  was  opened.  By  Monday,  the  Earl 
of  Murray,  and  on  Tuesday,  the  Earl  of  Bothwell,  sent,  craving 
that  they  might  serve  the  Governor.  The  only  baron  absent  was 
the  Earl  of  Argyle.  who  plead  sickness  ;  but  on  Thursday  he  sent 
his  procurator  and  his  two  uncles  to  make  his  excuse.  In  short, 
and  on  the  same  day,  the  Earl  of  Angus  and  his  brother,  Sir 
George,  in  their  joint  letter  to  Lord  Lisle,  describe  the  assembly  as 
"  the  most  substantial  Parliament  that  ever  was  seen  in  Scotland 
in  any  man's  remembrance,  and  best  furnished  with  all  the  three 
estates  ;  the  multitude,  including  their  serving  men,  being  as  much 
as  Edinburgh  and  Leith  could  lodge." 

This  "substantial"  Parliament  having  assembled  on  Monday 
the  12th,  on  Tuesday  they  proceeded  to  business,  and  in  three 
days  only  dispatched  the  whole  ;  for  though  it  did  not  rise  till  Sat- 
urday, after  Thursday  there  is  nothing  recorded.  On  Tuesday,  as 
James,  the  Earl  of  Arran,  had  been  chosen  by  an  inferior  number 
of  Lords  only,  he  was  now  ratified  and  confirmed  by  all  the  three 
estates,  as  governor  and  second  person  in  the  realm.  On  the  same 
day,  Dunbar,  Archbishop  of  Glasgow,  and  as  Lord  Chancellor, 
made  a  motion  as  to  the  treaty  of  peace  with  England,  and  the 
marriage  of  Mary  to  Edward.  By  Wednesday  they  had  reinsta- 
ted the  Earl  of  Angus  and  his  brother,  Sir  George  Douglas,  in 
their  honors  and  estates,  after  having  been  kept  in  banishment  by 
the  late  King  for  fifteen  years.  But  Thursday,  the  fifteenth,  was 
reserved  for  by  far  the  most  memorable  transaction,  or  rather  the 
only  one,  worthy  of  our  notice. 

On  that  day  a  bill  having  been  presented  by  Lord  Maxwell  for 
allowing  the  /Scriptures  to  be  read  by  all  without  any  limitation., 
the  Lords  of  the  Articles  found,  because  there  was  no  law  shown 
or  produced  to  the  contrary,  that  the  same  may  be  used  by  all  the 
lieges  of  this  realm  in  our  vulgar  tongue ;  and  therefore  in  full 
Parliament  allowed  the  bill  to  be  read. 

Dunbar,  the  Archbishop  and  Lord  Chancellor,  rose,  "  in  his  own 
name,  and  in  name  of  all  the  prelates  of  the  realm  that  were 
present,    and    dissented    simpliciter.''''      They   now   opposed   the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  465 

measure  at  least  "  unto  the  time  that  a  provincial  council  might 
be  had  of  all  the  clergy  of  this  realm,  to  advise  and  conclude 
thereupon,  if  the  same  be  necessary  to  be  had  in  vulgar  tongue, 
to  be  used  among  the  Q,ueen's  lieges  or  not;  and  thereafter  to 
shew  the  utter  determination  what  shall  be  done  in  that  behalf; 
and  thereupon  he  craved  instruments."  Thus  spake  one  of  the 
three  estates  in  Parliament  to  a  man,  but  upon  this  day  altogether 
in  vain,  as  the  bill  was  immediately  passed  into  a  law,  and  in 
these  terms : — 

"  It  is  statute  and  ordained  that  it  shall  be  lawful  to  all  our 
Sovereign  Lady's  lieges  to  have  the  holy  larit,  both  the  Neio 
Teslainent  and  the  Old  in  the  vulgar  tongue^  in  the  English  or 
Scolishj  of  a  good  and  true  translation,  and  that  they  shall  incur 
no  crimes  for  the  having  or  reading  of  the  same  ;  "providing  al- 
ways that  no  man  dispute  or  hold  opinions,  under  the  pains  con- 
tained in  the  Acts  of  Parliament P 

The  party  in  opposition  might  complain,  and  still  decline  to  say 
mass,  nay  even  refuse  to  bury  the  dead,  but  as  soon  as  Parlia- 
ment had  risen  on  Saturday,  no  time  was  lost  in  proclaiming  to 
all  the  people  what  had  been  done.  On  Monday  an  order  came 
from  the  Governor  to  the  Clerk-Register,  Mr.  James  Fowles  of 
Colington,  and  proclamation  was  made  at  the  market-Cross  of 
Edinburgh;  but  this  was  not  sufficient.  Letters  were  sent  ofT 
by  special  messengers,  ordaining  the  Act  to  be  proclaimed  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  protesting  Archbishop  in  the  west — also  in 
Dundee  and  Aberdeen,  in  Elgin,  Forres,  and  Inverness ;  in 
Dunfermline  and  Perth  ;  in  Lanark  and  Dumfries,  Kirkcud- 
bright and  Wigton. 

It  is  interesting  to  observe  from  the  reasonings  in  Parliament, 
that  the  English  Scriptures  in  print  had  been  produced  before  the 
Assembl}^ ;  when  the  friends  of  "  the  old  learning"  did  not  deny 
but  that  they  might  be  read,  provided  the  translation  were  true. 
It  was  then  demanded  what  fault  could  they  find  with  it  ?  When 
much  search  was  made,  nothing  worthy  of  reprehension  could  be 
found,  but  that  love,  they  said,  was  put  in  the  place  of  charity,  as 
Tyndale  certainly  had  translated  from  the  beginning.  When  it 
was  asked,  what  difference  there  was,  and  if  they  understood  the 
nature  of  the  Greek  word  Agape,  {^Jyune)  they  were  dumb.  At 
length  the  commissioners  of  burghs  and  part  of  the  nobility  re- 
quired "  that  it  might  be  permitted  to  every  man  to  use  the  benefit 
of  the  translation  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  lohich  then, 
they  had — till  the  prelates  and  kirkmen  set  forth  a  translation 
more  correct ;"  but  whicb,  it  is  well  known,  they  never  did.  The 
clergy  still  opposed,  and  for  a  long  time  ;  but  the  number  of  voices 
prevailed  against  them,  and  so  by  the  Act  of  Parliament,  it  was 
made//'ee  to  every  man  or  woman  to  read  the  Scriptures  in  their 
oiim.  or  the  English  tongue,  and  all  acts  made  to  the  contrary  are 
abolished. 

The  act  was  never  repealed,  nor  was  there  any  haggling  with 
the  subject  in  Parliament,  amidst  all  the  turmoil  of  many  subse- 

30 


466  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

quent  years.  Not  a  single  edition  was  ordered  to  be  put  to  press, 
nor  was  there  any  Bible  to  be  printed  in  Scotland  for  fully  thirty- 
five  years  to  come.  Sadler,  it  is  true,  had  written,  at  the  Govern- 
or's request,  for  certain  copies  to  be  sent,  but  this  was  not  till  a 
fortnight  after  Parliament  had  risen,  nor  can  this  render  the  proc- 
lamation intelligible.  The  Governor  had  ordered  open  proclama- 
tion to  be  made,  not  in  Edinburgh  alone,  but  in  all  the  principal 
towns  of  the  kingdom  ;  but  was  this  to  be  regarded  as  no  more 
than  a  liberty  to  read  what  was  noiohere  to  be  found?  This 
would  have  been  nothing  short  of  a  piece  of  mockery.  Here, 
therefore,  at  last  we  meet  with  a  sudden,  but  certainly  no  slight  or 
ambiguous  confirmation  of  our  previous  history.  Long  before 
these  parliamentary  men  had  thus  spoken,  human  authority  for 
such  liberty  had  never  been  consulted.  It  was  now  above  sixteen 
years  since  the  English  New  Testament  at  least  had  been  in 
Edinburgh  and  Leith,  as  well  as  St.  Andrews  and  Dundee.  Max- 
well, who  had  spoken  in  Parliament,  was  then  a  much  3'ounger 
man ;  and  it  is  curious  enough  that  at  that  time,  the  Archbishop 
of  St.  Andrews,  the  uncle  of  Beaton,  should  have  been  a  fugitive 
tending  sheep,  under  the  disguise  of  a  shepherd;  while,  at  the 
present  moment,  the  nephew,  though  clothed  with  the  highest 
pontifical  authority,  was  now  a  prisoner  in  safe  custody. 

In  such  a  history  as  the  present,  nothing  could  be  more  desira- 
ble than  to  ascertain  the  precise  extent  of  the  circulation  of  the 
Sacred  Volume,  or  by  whom,  at  this  early  period,  it  was  actually 
and  already  possessed.  Our  authority  for  this  is  the  well-known 
John  Knox.  About  six  or  eight  years  had  elapsed  after  Knox's  set- 
tlement before  he  commenced  that  history,  the  whole  of  which 
passes  under  his  name ;  and  since  by  the  year  1543,  though  not 
yet  decided  in  his  views  of  Divine  truth,  he  must  have  become  no 
unobservant  spectator  of  his  country,  no  man  was  more  able  to 
narrate  with  fidelity  what  had  beeii  so  visible  to  many  e3^es.  Look- 
ing back,  therefore,  about  twenty-five  years,  and  speaking  of  the 
freedom,  then  at  last  proclaimed,  for  all  to  read  the  Scriptures,  he 
says — "  This  was  no  small  victory  of  Christ  Jesus,  fighting  against 
the  conjured  enemies  of  his  verity ;  not  small  comfort  to  such  as 
before  were  holden  in  such  bondage,  that  they  durst  not  have  read 
the  Lord's  prayer,  the  ten  commandments,  nor  articles  of  their 
faith,  in  the  English  tongue,  but  they  should  have  been  accused 
of  heresy.  Then  might  have  been  seen  tlie  Bible  lying  upon 
almost  every  gentleman  s  table.  The  New  Testament  was  borne 
about  in  many  men's  hands  /" 

Now,  these  volumes,  of  course,  had  been  in  Scotland  before, 
and  most  of  them  long  before  this  period ;  otherwise  such  a  dis- 
play could  not  have  been  made,  for  a  very  considerable  time  to 
come ;  so  that,  up  to  this  period,  the  progress  of  Divine  truth  had 
been  entirely  independent  of  human  approbation,  or  rather  in 
spite  of  human  authority  ;  and  the  cause  will  now  proceed  as  it 
had  done,  whatever  should  occur,  or  whatever  men  in  power  may 
yet  either  say  or  do  to  the  contrary. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  467* 

The  year  1543  is  indeed  a  marked  and  conspicuous  one,  as 
having'  been  fatal  to  tlie  reputation  of  every  sovereia^n  in  Europe 
with  the  Pontiff  in  the  midst  of  them  all.  Without  exception, 
their  characters  suffered  shipwreck  in  open  day  :  for  wherever  we 
turn  our  eye,  hypocrisy,  however  shallow,  and  want  of  principle, 
are  conspicuous. 

There  is  but  little  more  to  add,  than  that  the  King  in  England, 
and  the  Cardinal  in  Scotland,  who  hated  each  other  with  a  perfect 
hatred,  were  now  alike  hastening  to  their  ruin,  and  to  die  within 
eight  months  of  each  other.     Beaton,  once  more  in  possession  of 
unlimited  power,  was  sure  to  take  advantage  of  the  word  opinions, 
so  strangely  inserted,  like  a  sting  in  the  tail  of  the  late  Act  of 
Parliament ;  and  with  this  precious  Governor  at  his  feet,  he  took 
him  forth  in  1545,  as  he  had  formerly  done  James  V.,  to  witness 
and  sanction  his  murders.     To  say  nothing  of  those  who  were 
banished,  these  amounted  to  at  least  seven  in  number,  and,  through 
the  Cardinal's  influence,  it  is  worthy  of  remark,  partook  of  a  new 
character.     It  had  been  the  practice  of  that  community  to  which 
he  belonged,  to  biuni  people  to  ashes  for  their  opinions  ;   but  whether 
it  was  cowardice  in  Beaton  that  he  durst  not  do   this,  or  rather 
cunning,  that  he  might  identify  the  State  with  what  he  did ;  yet 
so  it  was,  that  of  five  persons  put  to  death  at  Perth,  four  were 
hanged,  and  one  was  drowned.     The  last  was  a  female,  the  first 
and  only  martyr  of  that  sex  of  which  we  read.     She  was  the  wife 
of  one  of  the  sufferers,  with  an  infant  at  her  breast,  who,  before 
she  was  thrown  into  the  water,  gave  the  infant  to  another,  and 
expressed  great  joy  in  following  her  husband  to  a  better  world.    A 
sixth  individual,  a  priest,  John  Rogers,  is  said  to  have  been  de- 
spatched within  the  Castle  of  St.  Andrews,  or  thrown  over  the 
wall,  so  as  to  occasion  his  death  ;  but  the  only  instance  of  death 
by  fire  was,  conspicuously,  Beaton's  own  act,  shortly  before  his 
own  murder.     This  was  George  Wishart,  whose  martyrdom,  on 
the  1st  of  March  1546,  is  to  be  found  in  our  general  histories,  taken 
in  connection  with  the  Government  state  papers  and  manuscripts, 
but  recently  published.     One  point  only  is  deserving  of  notice 
here,  as  illustrative  of  the  pinnacle  on  which  Beaton  stood,  just 
before  he  was  thrown  down  or  slain  within  his  own  strong  castle, 
while  in  the  act  of  rendering  it  stronger  still.     This  is  to  be  seen 
in   the  insolence  with  which  he  trampled  on  his  victim,  the  Gov- 
ernor, and  now  treated  his  authority.     Arran   had  advised  delay, 
and  that  the  cause  of  Wishart  should  be  thoroughly  examined, 
intimating  that  if  the  Cardinal  acted  with  precipitation,  the  blood 
of  this  man  would  be  required  at  his  hands.     However  deeply 
chagrined  at  this  message,  Beaton  coolly  replied,  "  that  he  had  not 
written  to  him  about  this  matter,  as  supposing  himself  to  be  any 
way  dependent  upon   his  authority,  but  from  a  desire  that  the 
prosecution  and  conviction  of  heretics  might  have  a  sJiow  of  pub- 
he  consent !     But  since  he  could  not  obtain  it,  he  would  proceed 
in  that  way  which  to  liini  appeared  to  be  most  proper  !"     He  did 
proceed,  and  shortly  after  followed  to  his  own  judgment  in  anothp.r 


468  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

world.  His  death  by  violence,  which  took  place  on  the  morning 
of  the  29th  of  May  1546,  may  be  traced  to  the  long-cherished  de- 
sire of  Henry  VHL,  so  well  known  by  his  agents  at  the  time ;  or 
to  the  violent  existing  quarrel  between  Norman  Lesly,  Master  of 
Rothes,  and  the  Cardinal,  respecting  a  piece  of  land,  heightened, 
no  doubt,  by  his  treatment  of  Wishart ;  but  the  event  was  nothing 
more  than  might  have  been  expected,  while  it  is  impossible  to 
overlook  the  circumstance,  that  the  man  who  would  not  allow 
another  to  be  deliberately  and  legally  tried,  was  himself  put  to 
death,  without  trial  or  ceremony  of  any  kind. 


aUEEN   MARY,  JAMES  VI.,  TO   THE  COMMON- 
WEALTH. 

FROM    1543    TO     1650 SINGULAR     HISTORY    OF     THE     SCRIPTURES     IN     SCOTLAND, 

DURING  THIS  ENTIRE  PERIOD NOT  SUPPLIED  FROM  ITS  OWN  NATIVE  PRESS,  BUT 

BY  IMPORTATION,  FOR    MORE    THAN  A  HUNDRED  YEARS STATE  OF  LITERATURE 

AND    EDUCATION THE    APOCRYPHA THE    PRESENT  VERSION  OF  THE    BIBLE    BE- 
COME   THE    ONLY    ONE    IN    USE. 

From  the  year  1543,  and  for  more  than  three  successive  gen- 
erations, the  history  of  the  English  Bible  north  of  the  Tweed  is 
of  a  very  marked  or  memorable  character,  and  peculiar  to  Scot- 
land among  all  the  other  nations  of  Europe.  Certainly  not  one 
of  them  has  the  same  story  to  tell.  Throughout,  it  forms  a  re- 
markable continuation  of  that  independence  of  human  patronage, 
which  has  been  so  steadily  repudiated  from  the  beginning  ;  while 
no  country  has  been  more  signally  indebted  to  the  gracious  provi- 
dence of  God. 

In  1543,  when  it  was  first  proclaimed  to  be  lawful  to  peruse  the 
Scriptures,  although  they  had  been  reading  in  secret  for  fully  six- 
teen years,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  no  edition  of  the  Bible  entire, 
or  of  the  New  Testament  separately,  was  ordered  to  be  printed. 
Cardinal  Beaton  having  immediately  regained  his  authority,  such 
a  proposal  was  not  to  be  whispered  for  a  moment.  But  as  he  was 
removed  by  death  only  three  years  after,  this  will  not  account  for 
its  being,  not  three,  or  five,  but  thirty-five  years,  before  any  Bible 
was  issued  from  the  Scottish  press  !  This,  too,  was  in  folio,  nor 
did  a  second  edition  follow,  and  of  the  same  unwieldy  character, 
till  1610,  or  above  thirty  years  more  had  passed  away.  Nay,  only 
the  third  edition,  and  at  last  in  the  octavo  size,  did  not  appear  till 
the  year  1633 ;  or  ninety  years  from  the  day  on  which  it  was  said 
to  be  lawful  to  have  and  to  read  the  Bible  in  English  !  There 
•  was  then  also  a  fourth  edition,  in  1637,  and  one  in  duodecimo 
next  year.  Thus  it  was,  that  for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  or 
a  space  of  time  equal  to  that  of  three  generations,  there  were  no 
more  than  five  editions  of  the  Bible  issued  from  the  printing 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  469 

presses  m  the  country  ;  not  to  say  that  two  of  these  were  in  foho, 
no  size  even  approaching  to  that  which  the  people  required,  hav- 
ing made  its  appearance  till  so  late  as  1633.  The  first  pocket 
Bible  w^as  not  printed  till  1638. 

Such  then  was  the  condition  of  our  Scottish  ancestors,  so  far 
as  their  own  native  press  was  concerned.  No  Bible,  even  so  con- 
venient as  that  of  an  octavo  size,  had  been  printed  in  Scotland, 
for  the  use  of  the  community,  till  one  hundred  and  seven  years 
after  the  New  Testament  of  Tyndale  had  been  first  conveyed  to 
Edinburgh  and  St.  Andrews,  as  well  as  other  ports. 

The  first  Bible  printed  on  Scottish  ground  was  not  published  till 
the  year  1579,  or  seven  years  after  the  death  of  Knox ;  not  to  say 
that  this  was  in  folio,  and  appointed  to  be  sold  for  the  sum  of  £4, 
13s.  4d.,  or  seven  marks  ;  how,  all  this  time,  had  it  fared  with  the 
people,  or  the  thousands  who,  even  now,  could  afford  no  such  sum'/ 
It  may  indeed  appear  scarcely  credible,  but  by  even  this  early 
period  it  comes  out,  that  the  Sacred  Volume  in  the  vulgar  tongue, 
was  almost  in  every  house !  A  better  testimony  to  the  truth  of 
this  fact  could  not  be  desired,  since  it  is  to  be  found  in  the  Dedi- 
cation to  James  VI.  of  this  first  Bible.  After  acknowledging 
the  "  great  occasion"  they  had  "  to  glorify  the  goodness  of  God 
towards  their  country,"  the  Assembly  addressing  the  King  ex- 
claims— 

"  O  what  difference  may  be  seen  between  these  days  of  light, 
lohen  almost  in  every  private  house  the  Book  of  Gocfs  Law  is 
read,  and  understood  in  our  vulgar  tongue,  and  that  age  of  dark- 
ness, when  scarcely  in  a  whole  city,  (without  the  cloisters  of  monks 
and  fiiars,)  could  the  Book  of  God  once  be  found,  and  that  in  a 
strange  tongue  of  Latin,  not  good,  but  mixed  with  barbarity  ;  used 
and  read  by  few,  and  almost  understood  or  exponed  by  none ;  and 
when  the  false  named  clergy  of  this  realm,  abusing  the  gentle 
nature  of  your  Highness'  most  noble  goodsire,  of  worthy  memory, 
made  it  a  capital  crime,  to  be  punished  with  the  fire,  to  have  or 
read  the  New  Testament  in  the  vulgar  language ;  and  to  make 
them  to  all  men  more  odious,  as  if  it  had  been  the  detestable  name 
of  a  pernicious  sect,  they  were  named  New  Testamenters." 
And  certainly,  with  the  exception  of  Christian  itself,  a  more  hon- 
orable appellative,  by  way  of  reproach,  was  never  bestowed  on 
the  people  of  any  country. 

But  still  the  question  returns — How  had  the  Sacied  Volume 
found  its  way  into  so  many  private  families  ?  They  were  sup- 
plied not  only  from  England,  but  from  the  printing  presses  of 
Holland,  as  they  continued  to  be  from  both  countries,  for  more 
than  half  a  century  to  come.  Hence  the  next  edition  executed 
in  Scotland  was  still  a  folio,  and  not  printed  till  1610,  or  only  a 
few  months  before  our  present  version ;  the  first  edition  of  that 
version  not  appearing  till  1633,  and  the  first  pocket  Bible  not  till 
five  years  later.  In  this  point  of  view,  certainly  no  other  people 
in  Europe  can  look  back  to  such  a  century. 

The  first  intimation  of  any  printer  in  Scotland  obtaining  a  direct 


470  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

license  to  publish  any  part  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular 
tongue  is  dated  22d  March  1564.  This  license  was  nothing  more 
than  what  was  customary  with  relation  to  every  other  book,  but 
there  is  not  even  the  shadow  of  proof  that  any  part  was  ever  put 
to  press,  a  circumstance  rendered  next  to  certain  from  what  fol- 
lowed. Four  years  after  this,  or  14th  April  1.568,  Robert  Lekpre- 
vik,  was  licensed  to  print  the  translation  commonly  called  the 
Geneva  Bible ;  and  as  this  right  was  declared  to  be  for  twenty 
years,  although  importation  was  not  prohibited,  since,  from  print- 
ing the  Bible,  every  other  person  in  Scotland  was,  what  hope  was 
there  that  there  would  be  an  edition  by  Lekprevik,  or  by  any  other 
man,  before  the  year  1588  ?     Certainly  none. 

This  first  Bible,  and  in  folio,  appeared  at  last.  It  is  a  verbatim 
reprint  of  the  Geneva  translation  of  1561,  or  that  book  which  we 
have  already  referred  to  as  promoted  by  the  father  of  Sir  Thomas 
Bodley,  only  it  is  more  correct.  Like  the  first  Bible  of  1537  for 
England,  by  Grafton  and  Whitchurch,  this,  therefore,  was  a  per- 
sonal enterprise,  originating  with  two  men  burgesses  of  Edin- 
burgh, Thomas  Bassandyiie  and  Alexander  Arbuthnot ;  the  lat- 
ter, it  should  seem,  the  man  of  most  substance,  the  former,  a 
printer  by  profession.  Bassandyne,  a  native  of  Scotland,  had  gone 
first  to  Paris  and  then  to  Leyden,  where  he  acquired  the  art  of 
printing,  and  returning  to  his  own  country,  had  already  begun 
business  for  some  time,  in  the  Netherbow  of  Edinburgh.  He 
commenced  now  with  the  New  Testament,  which  was  finished 
and  dated  1576,  but  its  issue  had  been  hindered  or  delayed  till  the 
Old  was  completed,  in  three  years  after,  or  1579.  By  about  this 
time  Bassandyne  died,  and  the  book  was  published  with  Arbuth- 
not's  name  onl}'  at  the  beginning.  It  had  been  finished  in  July, 
and  in  six  weeks  after,  having  applied  to  the  Privy  Council  for  a 
license,  as  it  was  necessary  for  all  other  books,  he  obtained  one,  and 
at  the  same  time  also  the  title  of  King's  Printer.  It  is  therefore 
entitled 

"  The  Bible  and  Holy  Scriptures  contained  in  the  Old  and  Newe 
Testament.  Printed  at  Edinburgh  by  Alexander  Arbuthnot, 
Printer  to  the  King's  Majestie,  dwelling  at  the  Kirk  of  Field. 
1579.     Cum  gratia  et  privilegio  regicE  Majestatis." 

It  will  be  remembered  that  this  was  a  Bible  not  for  general 
use  at  home,  but  for  the  "  Kirk,"  wherever  it  was  ;  and  it  deserves 
notice,  that  a  large  proportion  of  the  money  requisite  for  the  work 
was  furnished  lohile'xi  was  printing  ;  not^  however,  out  of  the  pub- 
lic purse,  but  by  contribution  of  the  parishioners,  through  their 
ministers,  whether  bishops,  superintendents,  or  visitors.  It  was, 
in  fact,  a  present  from  the  people  to  their  respective  places  of 
worship,  and,  as  a  proof  of  their  zealous  desire,  it  deserves  to 
be  recorded,  that  in  many,  if  not  in  most  instances,  the  money 
was  furnished  about  three  years  before  the  Bibles  were  fully  de- 
livered. 

It  was  not  till  thirty-one  years  after,  as  before  mentioned,  that 
the  next,  or  second  Bible  printed  in  Scotland,  appeared,  from  the 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  471 

press  of  Andrew  Hart,  dated  1610.  This  much  admired  folio 
carries  equal  evidence  of  its  being  an  independent  personal  under- 
taking. Hart,  as  already  stated,  was  not  the  King's  printer  now, 
nor  ever  was  ;  but  it  is  curious  enough  that  he  published  this  book 
iu  the  face  of  Robert  Charteris,  then  printer  to  his  Majesty,  who, 
in  June  1606,  had  received  a  special  license  for  tvv^enty-five  years, 
to  print  Bibles  in  the  vulgar  tongue ;  but,  like  his  predecessor 
before  Bassandyne's  time,  he  never  printed  even  one  solitary  edi- 
tion. 

The  folio  Bible,  finished  by  Hart  only  a  few  months  before,  was 
not  a  reprint  of  the  preceding,  or  Bassandyne's,  throughout.  In 
the  Old  Testament  it  was,  but  the  New  was  similar  to  that  pub- 
lished in  England,  by  Laurence  Tomson,  almost  the  same  with 
the  Geneva  text,  but  having  what  were  styled  the  Notes  of  Beza 
in  the  margin.  No  license  whatever  for  printing  this  book  has 
ever  been  found,  though  there  may  have  been  one  ;  but,  at  all 
events,  the  next  year,  or  1611,  when  the  first  edition  of  our 
present  version  had  come  forth  in  England,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing enactment  by  the  diocesan  Synod  of  St.  Andrews. 

"  Forasmuch  as  it  was  thought  expedient  that  there  be  in  every 
kirk  a  common  Bible,  it  was  concluded  that  every  brother  shall 
urge  his  parishioners  to  buy  one  of  the  Bibles  lately/  jxriuied  hy 
Aiidro  Hart ;  and  the  brother  failing  either  to  cause  buy  one.  as 
said  is,  or  else  to  give  in  his  exact  diligence,  shall  pay  at  the  next 
synod  6  lib.  money  ;"  that  is,  ten  shillings  sterling. 

In  reference  to  Scotland,  that  her  sons  should  have  been  sup- 
plied, and  so  richly,  with  the  book  of  God,  in  a  way  altogether  in- 
dependent of  her  native  press,  not  to  say  her  reigning  government, 
and  for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  is  one  of  the  most  singular 
points  in  her  history.  From  the  year  1526  down  to  1633,  and  even 
later,  tlie  people  at  large  had  been  supplied  entirely  from  without. 
The  New  Testainenters  accpiired  their  honorable  distinction  from 
reading  an  imported  book.  Their  Bibles,  after  this,  were  prepared 
for  them  at  a  distance,  with  paper  and  types  foreign  to  their  coun- 
try, and  yet  as  early  as  1579.  the  book  was  "almost  in  every 
house."  The  tide  of  importation,  however,  was  then  only  setting 
in  with  a  stronger  current,  for  after  that  it  rose  to  a  far  greater 
height. 

After  the  opening  of  the  seventeenth  century,  not  only  importa- 
tion of  books  from  abroad,  but  printing  of  books  at  home,  having 
proceeded  with  accelerated  progress,  we  have  the  surest  index  to 
the  art  of  reading  having  advanced  with  equal  steps.  Indeed, 
some  time  after  this,  it  is  by  no  means  difficult  to  prove  that 
anxious  attention  had  been  bestowed  upon  education  down  to  the 
humblest  rank,  and  the  art  of  reading  had  become  very  general. 
It  may  be  thought  by  some  a  picture  too  highly  colored ;  but  ac- 
cording to  Kirkton  the  historian,  by  the  time  that  our  present  ver- 
sion of  the  Bible  was  prevailing  throughout  the  kingdom,  or  before 
the  restoration  of  Charles  II.,  he  affirms  that  "  every  village  in 
Scotland  had  a  school,  every  family  almost  had  a  Bible  ;  yea,  in 


472  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

most  of  the  country  all  the  children  of  age  could  read  the  Script- 
ures, and  were  provided  with  Bibles  either  by  their  parents  or  the 
ministers."  Whatever  deductions  from  this  statement  can  be 
proved,  may  be  freely  allowed,  but  after  all,  we  presume  that  a 
very  remarkable  degree  of  moral  cultivation  had  certainly  been 
attained,  and  beyond  this  period  we  do  not  at  present  proceed. 


THE    APOCRYPHA. 

Although  our  present  version  of  the  Bible  was  now  gaining 
general  acceptance  through  Britain,  there  was  still  one  serious  in- 
cumbrance from  which  it  behoved  to  be  delivered,  and  with  which 
it  ought  never,  for  a  moment,  to  have  been  associated.  We  allude 
to  the  Apocrypha.  The  clear  and  very  decided  views  of  divine 
truth  held  by  Tyndale,  forbid  the  idea  that  he  would  have  ever 
associated  it  with  the  Sacred  Volume,  and  at  all  events,  of  its 
introduction,  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  into  this  country  he  stands  in- 
nocent. But  Coverdale,  who,  as  we  have  seen,  had  so  lent  him- 
self to  Crumwell,  entertained  no  such  scruples.  The  books  of  the 
Apocrypha  were  then  indeed  placed  by  themselves,  as  in  distinc- 
tion from  the  Sacred  Canon,  but  their  insertion,  between  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  like  the  term  j^enance  adopted  in  Cover- 
dale's  text,  was  a  sacrifice  made  at  the  altar  of  expediency  ;  that 
baneful  doctrine  by  which  the  Vicar-General  was  at  once  ruled 
and  ruined.  Sir  Thomas  More,  constrained  to  bow  before  the 
power  of  Crumwell's  influence,  never  having  once  denounced  Cov- 
erdale, might  well  let  the  book  pass  without  open  censure,  or  wink 
at  the  progress  of  a  version  which  was  to  contain  both  penance 
and  the  Apocrypha. 

Penance  had  been  so  far,  and  at  once  banished  from  public  ap- 
probation, by  the  adoption  of  Tyndale's  version  in  1537,  and  in 
preference  to  that  of  Coverdale.  But  .Fohn  Rogers  having  inclu- 
ded the  Apocrypha,  from  Coverdale,  that  was  now  to  be  dealt  with, 
and  in  no  measured  terms.  Even  before  our  last  revisers  began, 
great  dissatisfaction  had  been  expressed  in  print  as  to  the  Apocry- 
pha. But  it  deserves  our  notice,  that  when  our  present  version 
was  preparing,  and  as  early  as  1604,  the  King  was  warned  by  a 
voice  even  from  without  the  kingdom,  in  very  decided  terms'. 
This  referred  at  once  to  the  contents  of  the  Apocryphal  books,  but 
especially  to  their  being  7'ead  in  public  worship. 

"  Because  the  canonical  Scriptures  are  alone  sufficient  for  the 
Church  ;  and  have  this  prerogative  and  excellency  above  all  other 
writings  whatsoever." "  Else  should  errors,  fables,  magic,  blas- 
phemy, and  contradiction  of  the  canonical  Scriptures  be  brought 
into  the  Church ;  for  such  are  found  in  the  Apocrypha  books.  As, 
for  example,  see  Errors  in  Ecclesi asticus  and  2  Machabees  ; 
Fables  in  Esdras,  2  Machabees,  and  Tobit  ;  Magic  and  Bias- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  473 

p^emy  inToBiT  ;  contradiction  to  canonical  Scripturem  Judith, 
Esther,  and  Ecclesiasticus."  "Else  should  many  still  be 
nousled  in  their  ignorance  and  error,  to  think  that  the  Apocrypha 
books  be  the  Word  of  God  and  part  of  the  Bible,  as  well  as  the 
books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament." 

No  attention  having  been  paid  to  this  remonstrance,  and  the 
Apocrypha  having  been  printed  along  with  our  present  version, 
the  Parliament  was  now  to  be  addressed  in  bolder  language,  not 
as  to  its  being  read  merely,  but  in  reference  to  its  place  within 
the  boards  of  the  Bible.  In  1642,  to  Bartholomew's  Church,  be- 
hind the  Old  Exchange,  London,  an  individual  had  been  chosen 
minister,  who  was  about  the  most  learned  man  of  his  day,  and  in 
rabbinical  learning,  too,  but  certainly  no  advocate  for  the  Apocry- 
pha holding  such  a  place  in  the  Sacred  Volume.  Having  been 
appointed  to  preach  before  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  29th  of 
March,  1643,  which  happened  to  be  his  birthday  at  the  age  of  41, 
he  took  for  his  text  Luke  i.  17. 

"  The  words  of  the  text,"  said  he,  "  are  the  last  words  of  the 
Old  Testament — there  uttered  by  a  prophet,  here  expounded  by 
an  angel ;  there  concluding  the  law,  and  here  beginning  the  Gos- 
pel. 'Behold,'  said  Malachi,  'I  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet;' 
and  'he,'  saith  the  angel,  'shall  go  before  him  in  the  spirit  and 
power  of  Elias.'  And  '  He  shall  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to 
the  children,' saith  the  one  ;  and  'the  disobedient  to  the  wisdom 
of  the  just,'  saith  the  other.  Thus  sweetly  and  nearly  should  the 
two  Testaments  join  together,  and  thus  divinely  would  they  kiss 
each  other,  but  that  the  wretched  Apocrypha  doth  thrust  in  be- 
tween. Like  the  two  cherubims  in  the  temple  oracle,  as  with 
their  outer  wings  they  touch  the  two  sides  of  the  house,  from  '  In 
the  beginning,'  to  '  Come  Lord  Jesus ;'  so  with  their  inner,  they 
would  touch  each  other — the  end  of  the  Law,  with  the  beginning 
of  the  Gospel — did  not  this  pafchery  of  human  invention  divorce 
them  asunder. 

"  It  is  a  thing  not  a  little  to  be  admired,  how  this  Apocrypha 
could  ever  get  such  a  place  in  the  hearts,  and  in  the  Bibles,  of 
primitive  times,  as  to  come  and  sit  in  the  very  centre  of  them  both. 
But  to  this  wonderment  there  may  be  some  satisfaction  given — 
namely,  because  that  these  books  came  to  them  from  among  the 
Jews,  as  well  as  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New ;  and  because 
that  the  Jews  alone,  and  alone  so  long,  had  had  the  knowledge  of 
divinity  and  religion  among  them,  the  converted  Gentiles  could 

not  but  give  their  writings  extraordinary  esteem. But  it  is  a 

wonder,  to  which  I  could  never  yet  receive  satisfaction,  that  in 
churches  that  are  reformed — that  have  shaken  off  the  yoke  of  su- 
perstition, and  unpinned  themselves  from  off  the  sleeve  of  former 
customs,  or  doing  as  their  ancestors  have  done  ;  yet  in  such  a 
thing  as  this,  and  of  so  great  import,  should  do  as  first  ignorance, 
and  then  superstition,  hath  done  before  them.  It  is  true,  indeed, 
that  they  have  refused  tiiese  books  out  of  the  canon  ;  but  they 
have  reserved  them  still  in  the  Bible !     As  if  God  should  have 


474  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

cast  Adam  out  of  the  state  of  happiness,  and  yet  have  continued 
him  in  the  place  of  happiness." 

This  was  no  other  than  the  well-known  Dr.  John  Lightfoot ; 
and  it  is  curious  enough,  that  he  was  then  preaching  weekly  on 
the  very  spot  to  which  the  body  of  Coverdale  had  been  consigned 
in  15i38,  or  seventy-five  years  before ;  the  man  who  first  placed 
the  Apocrypha  in  English  between  tlie  Old  Testament  and  the  New. 
The  present  preacher,  indeed,  had  long  felt  as  he  now  did,  and 
fourteen  years  ago,  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven,  in  his  earliest  pub- 
lication, had  spoken  out  in  a  similar  strain.  The  figure  he  em- 
ployed with  the  Commons  must  have  been  a  favorite  one,  for  he 
had  used  it  before,  and  was  now  only  quoting  his  mature  senti- 
ments before  Parliament  on  a  public  fast  day,  in  the  probable  hope 
that  they  might  have  some  practical  effect.  Speaking,  in  1629, 
of  those  who  had  put  in  the  Apocrypha  between  Malachi  and 
Matthew,  he  had  said — 

"  What  do  they,  but  make  a  wall  between  the  seraphim,  that 
they  cannot  hear  each  other's  cry  ?  What  do  they,  but  make  a 
stop  between  the  cherubim,  that  they  cannot  touch  each  other's 
wings  ?  What  do  they,  but  divorce  the  marriage  of  the  Testa- 
ments, and  so  are  guilty  of  the  breach  of  '  that  which  God  hath 
joined  together,  let  no  man  put  asunder'?'"  In  short,  he  earnestl}^ 
longed  for  its  being  banished  from  the  Bible;  and  therefore,  once 
more,  on  the  26  th  of  August  1645,  when  again  officiating  before 
the  House  of  Parliament,  he  was  not  less  eager  for  "  a  review  and 
survey  of  the  translation  of  the  Bible ;"  and  that  they,  as  a  body, 
would  "  look  into  the  oracle,  if  there  be  anything  amiss  there, 
and  remove  it"— referring,  no  doubt,  especially  to  the  Apocrypha. 

Lightfoot,  liowever,  it  should  seem,  was  not  aware  that  the  Al- 
mighty had  never  permitted  any  such  body,  in  their  official  char- 
acter, nor,  indeed  au}^  other,  as  such,  thus  to  "  look  into  His  oracle." 
No,  and  as  Parliament  was  never  allowed  to  touch  the  Sacred 
Text  itself,  so,  ho\vever  urged,  neither  was  the  voice  of  their 
authority  to  remove  the  Apocrypha  from  its  place.  That  was  to 
be  removed  by  Him  who  moves  the  human  mind  ;  and  so,  as  far 
as  the  Bible  generally  was  concerned,  the  Apocrypha  sunk  at  last 
from  that  place  to  which  it  should  never  have  been  raised.  It  dis- 
appeared from  Bibles  as  by  common  consent ;  it  sunk  under  the 
power  of  general  opinion.  From  that  period  the  Christians  in 
Britain  have  stood,  and  for  many  a  year,  beckoning,  as  it  were,  to 
the  surrounding  European  nations  to  follow  in  the  same  safe  and 
lawful,  or  incumbent  career. 

Thus  the  history  of  the  Bible  in  Scotland,  has  been  brought 
down  to  the  same  point  of  time  with  the  previous  detail  respecting 
England.  Since  the  commencement,  in  1525,  or  of  tjie  Scriptures 
entire,  in  1537,  there  had  been  a  fivefold  revision  of  the  original 
translation,  an  advantage  altogether  peculiar  to  itself,  and  doubly 
valuable  from  that  circumstance.  Consequently,  there  had  been 
five  different  versions  printed,  and  these  had  proved  in  succession 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  475 

the  means  of  salvation,  and  source  of  comfort  to  four  successive 
generations  ;  but  now  there  came  to  be  but  one  version.  Enter- 
taining no  superstitious  reverence  for  that  one,  as  though  it  were 
ah'eady  perfect,  or  never  destined  to  be  yet  improved  and  corrected, 
v/e  cannot  but  pause  over  this  general  consent,  as  a  very  memora- 
ble historical  event.  The  last  rival  competitor  for  general  accept- 
ance had  been  the  Geneva  book,  a  version  in  several  passages 
preferable  to  our  own,  and  especially  in  translating  "  Zoye,"  not 
'■'■charity;^''  but  it  had  been  generally  encumbered  with  7Jo/e5  or 
glosses ;  and  it  is  observ^able,  that  so  late  as  the  year  1649,  an 
attempt  was  made  to  saddle  our  present  version  with  those  notes, 
but  it  was  in  vain.  One  or  two  editions  of  the  Bible  were  thus 
printed,  but  such  additions  to  the  Sacred  Text  must  not  continue. 
Notes  and  comments  must  be  withdrawn.  Since  the  year  1611, 
however,  these  two  versions  of  the  Sacred  Volume  had  been  before 
the  people  in  both  countries  ;  our  present  translation,  from  the  be- 
ginning without  votes,  the  other  very  generally  ivith  them  ;  so,  at 
last,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  our  present 
A^enerated  Bible  had  nearly  arrived  at  that  state  of  prevalence 
which  it  has  ever  since  maintained.  Whatever  opinions  have 
since  prevailed,  or  died  away,  from  that  time  to  the  present,  and 
in  any  part  of  the  United  Kingdom,  the  same  version,  without  a 
single  interruption,  has  continued  to  be  the  Bible  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland,  or  wherever  the  language  is  spoken. 

In  looking  back,  however,  from  the  commencement,  even  down 
to  this  period,  it  must  be  very  evident,  that  no  space  whatever  is 
left  for  self-complacency.  No  inhabitant  of  Britain  can  now  say, 
that,  the  Revelation  of  the  Divine  Will  was  received  by  his  fore- 
fathers generally,  with  any  ready  or  cordial  concurrence.  On  the 
contrary,  the  point  to  which  the  sovereign  disposer  of  all  events  had 
now  brought  our  country,  was  precisely  that  which  he  had  begun  so 
long  before.  It  was  the  Bible,  but  tvUhout  note  and  comment, 
which  was  now  at  last  received,  whether  in  England  or  Scotland; 
but  then,  such  had  been  the  original  movement  of  Divine  provi- 
dence. This  it  was,  which  Tyndale  had  laid  down  to  Henry  the 
Eighth,  as  the  sole  and  exclusive  terms  of  combat,  above  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  years  ago  !  Through  the  medium  of  his  Word, 
the  Almighty  had  been  striving  with  the  nation  ever  since,  and 
^'•the  long-suffering  of  God  had  'waited,  and  long  it  had  waited, 
as  ill  the  days  of  NoahJ^ 

The  season  and  circumstances,  therefore,  in  which  this  general 
consent  took  place,  it  would  be  criminal  to  overlook,  or  ever  forget. 
The  event  was  one  of  moment  to  unborn  generations,  and  every 
one  must  be  eager  to  mark  the  time.  Both  the  season  and  cir- 
cumstances, it  is  true,  may  be  humbling  to  our  national  vanity, 
but  for  this  we  have  been  fully  prepared  ;  after  having  had  such 
frequent  occasion  to  observe,  that  independence  of  human  author- 
ity, patronage,  or  power,  has  been  one  distinguishing  feature  of 
this  history  throughout.  By  far  the  most  remarkable  display  of 
this,  however,  was  reserved  to  the  close.     There  was  a  moral  signifi- 


476  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

cance,  others  will  say  sublimity,  in  the  season  chosen.  It  was  at 
a  crisis  altogether  sui  generis,  when  God,  by  his  providence,  as  all 
agree,  was  speaking  loudly  to  every  corner  in  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland. 

It  was  at  a  period  when  there  was  no  earthly  throne  in  the 
island  to  invoke  ;  7io  King  in  Britain  to  enjoin  such  consent.  It 
was  when  there  was  no  j^rimate  of  Canterbury  or  St.  Andrews 
to  enforce  it,  or  any  House  of  Lords  in  being.  Even  the  office 
of  "  Licenser  of  the  'press'''  had  been  abolished,  nor  must  the  exist- 
ing legislature  of  the  day  for  once  interfere.  No  voice  of  human 
authority  was  raised,  when  a  nation,  in  other  respects  greatly  di- 
vided, became  of  one  consent,  and  a  consent  unbroken  to  the  pres- 
ent hour ;  nor  did  any  one  thing  in  which  man  was  then  engaged, 
concur  to  produce  an  effect,  then  first  felt  by  the  whole  kingdom, 
and  since  enjoyed  for  nearly  two  hundred  years  ! 

In  those  unprecedented  and  tumultuous  times,  certainly  the 
main  consolation  of  those  who  feared  God,  and  loved  the  Script- 
ures, must  have  run  in  very  much  the  same  channel ;  and  per- 
haps at  no  preceding  era  in  this  country,  had  they  more  frequently 
closed  their  mutual  communications  in  the  same  expressive  terms 

THE     LORD    REIGNETH.       But    WC  wllO    livC,  tllOUgh    at    SUcll    a 

distance,  can  now  see  this  event  in  greater  perfection,  as  by  far 
the  most  conspicuous  proof  that  He  did  reign,  as  still  He  does.  It 
was  the  solitary  eminent  public  occurrence,  which  was  to  admit 
of  no  mutation  for  two  centuries  to  come. 

The  kingdom  itself  may  yet  be  moved,  from  its  centre  to  its 
•shores,  and  be  greatly  agitated.  The  civil  power  may  change  its 
aspect.  The  monarchy  may  be  restored,  only  to  be  dealt  with 
providentially,  as  the  Pontiff  had  been.  The  line  of  succession 
may  be  broken,  and  the  existing  dynasty  even  be  banished  from 
the  soil.  Yet  better  days  are  coming,  and  no  weapon,  though 
employed  by  a  future  Sovereign,  shall  prosper  against  the  Bible 
of  his  subjects  ;  though  among  the  causes  of  removal  from  his 
crown  and  kingdom,  should  hostiUty  to  the  Sacred  Volume  be 
discovered,  this  is  not  to  be  buried  in  oblivion  amongst  other  prov- 
ocations. 


BOOK  V.-GREAT  BRITAIN. 

FROM  THE  COMMONWEALTH  TO  QUEEN  VICTORIA. 


S  E  C  T  I  O  N    I . 

THE   COMMONWEALTH   TO   GEORGE   THE  THIRD. 

THE    REVOLUTION     OF     1688-9 PRECEDING    OPPOSITION    TO    THE     SCRIPTURES    EV 

JAMES  II. CONSEQUENCES  OF  THE  REVOLUTION STATE  OF  THE  BIBLE PRESS  IN 

ENGLAND CANNE's  BIBLE GUY's  BIBLES BASKERVILLE's BLAYNEy's  BIBLE 

STATE  OF  THE  BIBLE  PRESS  IN    SCOTLAND JAMES  11.  EQUALLY'  BUSY    IN  OPPOSI- 
TION THERE THE  NUMBER  OF  BIBLES  IS    NOW  PAST  ALL    HUMAN    COMPUTATION 

THE  RESULTS,  IF  BUT  TOO  FEEBLE  IN  BRITAIN,  MUST    BE    LOOKED  FOR    ELSE- 
WHERE. 

This  period,  extending  to  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  from 
1650  to  the  twentieth  year  of  the  reign  of  George  the  Third, 
or  1780,  involved  many  changes  in  the  sovereignty  of  the  king- 
dom, namely — 


The  Commonwealth,  .     .  1649-1660. 

Charles  II 1660-1685. 

James  II., 1685-1688. 

William  and  Mary,  .     .  1689-1702. 


Q.ueenAnne,    ....  1703-1716. 

Georo-el 1714-1727. 

George  II., 1727-1760. 

Georse  III 1760-1780. 


Glancing  back  for  a  moment  at  the  commencement  of  the 
Stuart  dynasty,  though  there  was  some  expression  of  apparent 
momentary  interest  b}^  James  I.,  in  reference  to  the  Scriptures,  as 
this  was  never  followed  up  by  any  substantial  or  recorded  proof 
of  continued  zeal,  it  was  ominous  of  all  that  followed  in  the  times 
of  his  son  and  grandsons.  That  king,  it  is  notorious,  in  his  latter 
years,  had  discovered  a  decided  leaning  toward  the  gentlemen  of 
"  the  old  learning  ;"  and  at  all  events  under  the  successive  reigns 
of  his  descendants,  we  witness  such  neglect  in  the  printing  and 
publishing  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  not  to  say  open  contempt ;  that 
if  the  eye  has  once  fixed  on  this  history  throughout,  one  cannot 
help  anticipating  the  approach  of  some  great  national  crisis. 
What  were  dignified  with  the  title  of  "  public  aflfairs"  had  fre- 
quently in  this  kingdom,  before  now,  been  treated  as  subordinate 
to  one  other.  Among  the  elements  of  our  national  changes,  it  is 
true,  any  reference  to  the  Sacred  Oracles,  thought  first  given  to 
us  after  such  an  extraordinary  manner,  has  seldom,  if  ever,  found  a 


478 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH     BIBLE. 


place.  And  yet,  in  reference  to  the  Scriptures  iii  the  languaa;e  of 
the  people,  a  contrast  is  forced  upon  us  between  the  house  of 
Tudor  and  that  of  Stuart.  The  princes  of  the  former,  from  Henry 
to  Elizabeth,  had  been  overruled,  and  to  this  the}^  submitted — 
those  of  the  latter, were  at  last  banished  from  the  soil.  Among 
the  impelling  causes  of  this  final  step,  the  treatment  of  the  Divine 
Record  may  have  had  more  to  do  than  has  hitherto  been  observed. 

The  Yeiyjirsi  year  of  the  reign  of  James  II.  was  mariced  by 
several  noted  events,  indicative  of  direct  hostility  to  Divine  Truth, 
as  affecting  its  devoted  adherents  at  home  and  abroad.  From 
the  year  1670,  indeed,  the  sentiments  of  this  Prince  had  created 
uneasiness,  aa^itating  Parliament  ag'ain  and  aarain,  and  his  doinsrs 
in  Scotland  from  1679  were  known  to  all.  But  once  crowned,  in 
February  16S5,  he  then  pledged  himself  to  be  a  disciple  and  ad- 
herent of  "  the  old  learning."  In  June,  Charles,  the  Elector  Pala- 
tine, dying  without  issue,  was  succeeded  by  the  house  of  New- 
burgh,  no  less  ardently  devoted  to  Rome.  In  October,  Louis  the 
Fourteenth  revoked  the  edict  of  Nantes  ;  and  in  December,  threat- 
ened by  the  Court  of  France,  the  Duke  of  Savoy  had  recalled 
the  edict  that  his  father  had  granted  in  favor  of  the  Vaudois. 
All  these  were  indications  of  some  general  storm,  and  the  King 
of  England  will  hasten  its  approach.  Ere  long  a  select  junto  of 
persons  in  favor  of  the  old  learning  and  its  re-establishment,  with 
Father  Edward  Petre,  the  King's  confessor,  as  a  privy  councillor 
at  their  head,  took  the  management  of  many  affairs,  the  too  evi- 
dent proof  of  some  concerted  scheme  being  in  progress. 

And  now  when  the  King  was  down  at  Oxford,  for  the  last  time 
in  1687,  he  might  ''  be  presented  in  the  name  of  the  University 
with  a  rich  Bible,  printed  there,"  which  his  Majesty,  as  a  blind, 
said  he  would  accept ;  and  he  might  afterward  talk  of  establish- 
ing toleration  by  an  Act  of  Parliament ;  but  it  is  of  far  more  im- 
portance to  observe,  both  before  and  after  this,  how  he  had  been 
acting  elsewhere,  both  at  London,  and  in  his  former  abode  at 
Edinburgh. 

The  reader  has  already  heard  much  of  the  Barkers,  as  the 
printers  of  the  Bible,  but  long  before  their  rights  expired,  Charles 
II.  had  granted  a  reversionary  patent  to  Thomas  Newcoine  and 
one  Henri/  Hills.  Sooner  or  later  this  last  man,  Avhose  moral 
character  seems  to  have  been  far  from  correct,  had  actually  been 
employed  in  printing  the  Scriptures,  and.  according  to  report, 
shamefully  incorrect.  But  no  sooner  was  James  upon  the  throne, 
than  Hills  had  come  into  closer  confidential  contact.  He  then 
styled  himself  openly,  "  Printer  to  the  King's  Most  Excellent 
Majesty,  for  his  Household  and  Chapel."  This  might  serve  for 
whatsoever  was  to  be  done  in  London,  but  there  was  another  man 
sustaining  the  same  office  and  title  down  at  Edinburgh,  and  the 
question  will  be,  how  were  they  engaged  ?  Was  the  press  about 
to  be  employed  in  hostility  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  by  printed 
sanction  of  the  King  ?  In  both  capitals  the  design  was  the  same. 
So  early  as  October  1685,  the  servile  Privy  Council  in  Edinburgh 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  479 

had  issued  orders  to  every  printer  and  bookseller,  forbidding  the 
printing  or  selling  any  books  which  reflected  on  the  faith  of  the 
King.  Among  these,  however,  there  was  at  least  one  bookseller 
of  some  spirit  and  conscience,  named  James  Glen.  He  explicitly 
stated  that  he  had  owe  book  which  he  was  resolved  to  sell  at  all 
hazards,  though  it  was  the  worst  enemy  the  Church  of  Rome  had 
ever  seen  ;  and  that  one  book  was  the  Bible.  But  still  the  prog- 
ress downward  went  on.  The  King's  yacht  had  arrived  at  Leit^h 
from  London  in  November  1686,  with  an  altar  and  vestments, 
images  and  priests,  to  be  accommodated  in  no  other  place  than 
Holyrood.  A  college  of  Jesuits  was  there  established — a  printing 
press  was  set  up,  and  among  its  fruits  Vv'e  need  only  to  mention 
one  production : — 

"The  Catholic  Scripturist,  third  edition,  more  correct,  b}^  Joseph 
Mumford,  priest  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  Holyrood  House.  Printed 
by  James  Watson,  printer  to  his  Most  Excellent  Majestie's  Royal 
Family  and  Household,  1687.     Permissii  superior um  " 

In  this  book  the  reader  was  told  in  so  many  words — "  (Scripture 
alone  cannot  he  the  ruleof  faithP  So  determined  was  the  oppo- 
sition shown  to  all  this,  that  ere  long  blood  had  been  shed,  and 
cruelties  inflicted  ;  though  these  doings  in  Scotland  were  merely 
a  branch  of  the  same  wild  design  which  was  driving  with  un- 
blushing vigor  in  London  itself  Hence  from  the  press  of  Hills, 
who  had  just  served  the  office  of  Master  of  the  Stationers'  Com- 
pany, we  have  more  than  one  publication,  full  of  monstrous  and 
daring  profanity  in  reference  to  the  Sacred  Scriptures. 

What  the  Revolution  did  for  us  was  this,  says  Mr.  Hallam,  "it 
broke  a  spell  that  had  charmed  the  nation.  It  cut  up  by  the 
roots  all  that  theory  of  indefeasible  right,  of  paramount  prerog- 
ative, which  had  put  the  Crown  in  continual  opposition  to  the 
people.  A  contention  had  subsisted  for  five  hundred  3^ears,  but 
particularly  during  the  last  four  reigns,  against  the  agressions  of 
arbitrary  power.  The  Sovereigns  of  this  country  had  never  pa- 
tiently endured  the  control  of  Parliament ;  nor  was  it  natural  for 
them  to  do  so,  while  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament  appeared  his- 
toricall)^,  and  in  legal  language,  to  derive  their  existence  as  well 
as  privileges  from  the  Crown  itself." 

To  enter  with  any  minuteness  into  the  history  of  the  English 
Bible  throughout  this  long  period,  from  1650  to  1780,  could  an- 
sw^er  no  valuable  or  present  practical  purpose  ;  but  this  work 
would,  confessedly,  be  incomplete,  did  we  not  put  upon  record  cer- 
tain particvdars,  in  reference  both  to  the  Scriptures  themselves, 
and  the  vast  number  of  editions  printed. 

With  regard  to  the  Bibles  themselves,  and  especially  their  style 
of  execution,  the  history  is  too  often  so  very  unwelcome,  that  Ave 
have  no  disposition  to  go  into  more  detail  than  is  necessary. 
Classics,  and  almost  every  species  of  mere  human  composition, 
not  only  beautiful,  but  sometimes  almost  faultless,  were  teeming 
from  the  press,  or  at  least  in  the  best  manner  which  could  then  be 
executed  ;  while  the  Sacred  Record,  in  the  most  miserable  style, 


480  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

both  as  to  paper  and  printing,  was  issued  by  printers,  who,  to 
crown  all,  were  proclaimed  to  the  nation  as  privileged  to  do  so. 
This,  however,  let  it  be  ever  remembered,  was  man^s  department 
in  the  affair,  and  the  slovenly,  the  penurious  manner,  in  which  he 
too  frequently,  and  so  long  performed  his  task,  left  to  liis  posterity 
nothing  whatever  save  the  blush  of  shame.  There  were,  it  is 
granted,  many  most  creditable  editions,  and  tire  English  Bible 
considered  as  an  i?istrument  of  infinite  good,  siill  continued,  by 
the  favor  of  God,  to  be  sufficient  for  its  purpose,  or  intended  end ; 
but  a  minute  detail  of  the  incorrect  manner  in  which  it  so  often 
came  from  the  press,  would  serve  to  illustrate  only  the  forbearance 
and  long-suffering  patience  of  Heaven. 

The  first  English  Bible,  Avith  Scriptural  references  on  the  mar- 
gin throughout,  was  prepared  and  printed  in  Amsterdam  by  John 
Canne.  He  proceeded  on  the  principle,  that  "  Scripture  was  the 
best  interpreter  of  Scripture,"  and  his  parallels,  therefore,  are  par- 
allels of  sense  and  not  of  sound,  as  too  many  have  been  since  his 
day.  Of  this  Bible  there  were  various  editions,  at  home  as  well 
as  abroad.  Several  of  these  books  are  but  too  incorrect,  and 
many  of  the  later  have  been  corrupted  by  additional  texts. 

Though  rather  an  eccentric  character,  we  must  not  omit  notice 
of  Thomas  Guy,  as  printer  of  Bibles  from  1680.  The  English 
Bibles  being  so  badly  printed,  Mr.  Guy  engaged  with  others  in 
printing  them  in  Holland,  and  then  imported  them.  Upon  this 
being  prevented,  he  contracted  with  the  University  of  Oxford  for 
the  privilege  of  printing  there.  For  many  years,  to  his  own  ad- 
vantage, he  carried  on  a  great  trade ;  and  thus  began  to  accumu- 
late vast  wealth,  though  he  engaged  in  other  speculations.  The 
Bibles  he  printed,  though  certainly  not  elegant,  were,  as  books,  by 
no  means  contemptible.  At  his  death  in  1724,  he  left  as  large  an 
amount  of  property  as  any  commoner  before  him  had  ever  done. 
At  the  age  of  seventy-six,  he  resolved  to  erect  the  hospital  in  Lon- 
don, so  well  known  since  as  Guy's  or  St.  Thomas's  Hospital,  and 
before  his  death,  four  years  after,  at  an  expense  of  above  £19,000, 
he  saw  it  roofed  in.  Whatever  was  the  character  of  the  deceased, 
therefore,  it  may  be  said,  that  among  printers  of  the  Bible,  Thomas 
Guy  stands  by  himself.  His  property  must  have  been  above 
£330,000. 

After  the  Revolution,  the  very  first  monarch  who  took  any  cog- 
nizance of  the  carelessness  of  the  privileged  printers  of  the  Bible, 
belonged  to  the  House  of  Hanover.  George  I.,  having  informed 
himself  on  the  subject,  issued  the  following  order  to  the  patentees 
— 1,  That  all  Bibles  printed  hereafter  shall  be  upon  as  good  paper, 
at  least,  as  the  specimens  they  exhibited.  2.  That  they  forthwith 
lodge  four  copies  in  the  two  Secretaries'  offices,  in  the  registry  of 
the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  Bishop  of  London.  3.  That 
they  shall  employ  such  correctors  of  the  press  as  shall  be  approved 
of  by  these  two  bishops.  4.  That  they  print  in  the  title-page  the 
exact  price  at  which  each  book  is  to  be  sold  to  the  booksellers. 


IIISTOUV    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  481 

These  orders,  dated  24th  April  1724,  must  have  had  some  effect, 
though  they  could  not  possibly  reach  the  root  of  the  inaccuracy. 

There  was,  however,  considerable  improvement,  and  in  the 
reign  of  George  II.,  a  folio  Bible  was  produced,  said  to  be  the 
most  beautiful  ever  yet  printed.  This  was  by  John  Baskerville 
of  Birmingham,  the  printer  and  typefounder,  in  1763 ;  though 
once  more  the  country  had  been  indebted,  as  it  had  often  been 
before,  not  to  any  privileged  or  incorporate  body,  but  to  individual 
genius  and  enterprise.  Baskerville,  indeed,  had  to  pay  a  consid- 
erable j)rem'mm  to  the  University  of  Cambridge  for  permission  to 
print  his  Bibles,  aud  after  his  death  his  types,  which  lay  a  dead 
weight  for  want  of  a  purchaser,  were  carried  out  of  the  country. 
The  reign  of  George  II.  was  also  distinguished  by  one  of  the  most 
careful  revisions  of  the  Scriptures  which  had  yet  been  made.  In 
1769,  a  Bible  in  folio  and  quarto  was  edited  by  Dr.  Blayney,  the 
subsequent  Professor  of  Hebrew  at  Oxford.  Professedl}^,  in  this 
edition,  the  piaict nation  was  thoroughly  revised  ;  the  words  in 
italic  were  examined  and  corrected  by  the  Hebrew  and  Greek ; 
the  proper  names  were  translated  and  entered  on  the  margin  ;  the 
heads  and  running  titles  were  corrected  ;  errors  in  chronology 
were  rectified ;  and  marginal  references  were  corrected  and  con- 
siderably increased.  This  has  been  referred  to  often  since  as  the 
standard  edition.  Yet  even  then,  there  had  not  been  sufficient 
vigilance  in  superintendence,  as  more  than  a  hundred  errors  have 
been  detected  since,  and  it  was  reserved  for  our  own  age  to  make 
a  nearer  approach  to  an  immaculate  volume.  But  enough  has 
been  said  of  the  English  press.  It  remains  only  that  we  look  to 
North  Britain. 

With  reference  to  Scotland,  were  it  not  that  the  inhabitants  had 
been  constantly  receiving  the  Scriptures  both  from  England  and 
Holland,  their  condition  would  have  been  deplorable,  so  far  as 
their  native  press  was  concerned.  During  the  Commonwealth, 
and  down  as  far  as  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  Charles  II.,  or  from 
1649  to  1672,  there  is  understood  to  have  been  no  Bible  printed  in 
Scotland,  and  perhaps  the  people  had  better  have  remained  de- 
pendent on  foreign  supply  for  forty  years  longer. 

It  was  in  the  year  1671,  that  a  privilege  was  obtained  by  one 
Andrew  Anderson  from  Charles  11. ,  which  continued  for  forty 
years,  to  the  great  disadvantage  and  molestation  of  the  country, 
and  most  dishonorable  to  the  King.  At  his  very  outset,  Anderson 
had  been  convicted  by  the  Privy-Council  of  gross  inaccuracy  in 
printing  a  New  Testament,  yet  still  this  man,  and  especially  his 
widow,  were  permitted  to  harass  the  trade  on  one  hand,  and  the 
country  on  the  other,  with  their  productions  ;  this  woman  actually 
accumulating  very  considerable  wealth  at  the  expense  of  both. 
Anderson's  8vo  Bible  in  1679  was,  indeed,  very  well  executed,  but 
all  the  subsequent  editions,  down  to  1712,  waxed  worse  and  worse. 
The  privilege  thus  granted  by  Charles  II.  was  of  such  shameful 
extent,  tliat  it  has  been  said  of  it  by  one  who  felt  its  effects — '"By 
this  gift  the  art  of  printing  in  this  kingdom  (of  Scotland)  got  a 

31 


482  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

dead  stroke  ;  for  by  it,  no  printer  could  print,  anything  from  a  Bible 
to  a  ballad,  without  Anderson's  license."  Bibles  the  most  illegible 
and  incorrect  that  ever  were  printed  in  the  world  came  from  this 
press  ;  the  patentee  persecuted  all  the  other  printers  in  Scotland, 
and  at  last  went  so  far  as  to  seize  a  number  of  Bibles  brought  from 
London  by  the  booksellers.  Still  the  patent  was  never  revoked, 
and  when  it  came  to  an  end,  it  will  scarcely  be  believed,  that  this 
woman  "  left  no  stone  unturned  to  procure  a  new  one  !"  But  the 
Stuart  kings  were  gone,  and  under  Queen  Anne  such  an  avari- 
cious pest  was  no  longer  to  be  endured.  Watson,  from  whose  his- 
tory we  have  quoted,  became  printer  under  Freebairn,  the  paten- 
tee, and  a  better  day  succeeded.  For  ten  years,  from  1713,  he 
printed  a  number  of  most  excellent  editions  in  folio,  quarto,  oc- 
tavo, duodecimo,  and  twenty-fours.  His  editions  of  small  size  in 
1715,  1716,  1719,  and  1722,  as  well  as  his  folio  of  1722,  are  still 
deservedly  esteemed.  The  assignees  of  Watson  were  not  so  care- 
ful, but  by  this  time  the  Scriptures  were  printing  in  Edinburgh  by 
two  or  three  other  houses.  One  merciful  peculiarity,  however,  in 
regard  to  Scotland,  and  during  the  whole  period  under  review, 
must  not  be  forgotten.  It  was  this  :  rmportatioti  \va.s  never  inter- 
dicted, and  the  consequence  was,  that  long  before  16.50,  and  be- 
yond 1780,  the  Scriptmes  had  been  imported  during  the  run  of  all 
the  home  patents.  Such  Bibles  are  still  in  existence,  and  to  be 
found  there,  ranging  in  point  of  dates  throughout  a  period  of  above 
two  hundred  years.  More  than  half  the  Bibles  used  in  Scotland 
throughout  the  eighteenth  century,  are  supposed  to  have  been 
printed  in  England  or  Holland. 

But  we  must  not  omit  to  glance  at  the  iiiunher  of  Bibles  and 
New  Testaments  printed  in  England,  Holland,  and  Scotland  on 
the  whole.  At  the  very  threshold  of  this  period,  and  so  forward, 
we  meet  with  one  circumstance,  which,  to  every  reflecting  mind, 
must  immediately  convey  an  idea  of  personal,  and,  of  course,  na- 
tional responsibility,  rising  to  a  height  beyond  all  accurate  calcu- 
lation. It  is  simply  this — The  Books  cannot  be  numbered !  Hith- 
erto, we  have  numbered  the  editions  printed.  This  is  now  impos- 
sible. From  the  commencement  of  this  period  to  its  close,  no  one 
can  say  how  many  editions  of  the  English  Bible  have  been  pub- 
lished, much  less  inform  us  how  many  copies  on  the  whole.  On 
attempting  this,  one  is  soon  lost,  as  in  a  wilderness  ;  but  it  is  one 
unknown  to  any  other  part  of  the  world,  or  any  other  language 
upon  earth  ;  and  all  is  vague  conjecture.  The  printers  themselves 
have  left  no  data,  nor  can  those  now  living  lend  any  assistance. 
Both  in  England  and  Scotland,  it  is  long  since  they  have  left  off 
numbering  even  the  editions. 

That  there  should  be  one  ever-watchful  eye,  and  only  One,  who 
knows  this  secret,  and  the  number  of  them  all,  is  a  consideration 
of  no  light  import ;  the  amount  of  which  will  only  be  known, 
when  another  book  is  opened,  which  is  '-the  book  of  life."  But 
we  have  noticed  this  circumstance  here,  chiefly  in  order  to  point 
out  its  bearing  upon  everything  else  printed  in  the  English  tongue. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  483 

Even  long  before  1780,  no  other  book,  in  the  annals  of  printing, 
occupied  such  a  place.  Of  no  other  book,  in  the  history  of  our 
country  and  its  literatme,  can  anything  approaching  to  this  be 
asserted.  As  far  as  the  English  language  and  the  art  of  printing 
were  concerned,  everything  else  in  the  form  of  human  composi- 
tion, or  in  the  shape  of  a  book,  was  reduced  to  a  thing  of  compar- 
ative insignificance.  Even  before  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
notwithstanding  the  countless  multitude  of  publications  by  men 
issued  from  the  press,  how  triumphantly  had  the  Sacred  Volume 
redeemed  itself  altogether  out  of  the  usual  category  of  books ! 
This  it  has  already  done,  by  our  simply  following  out  only  its  liis- 
tory.  Nor  is  this  all.  From  the  place  it  thus  occupied  even  then 
in  this  land,  it  never  will  be,  never  can  be,  superseded  as  to  its 
number,  by  any  book  of  Mtman  composition  in  the  shape  of  print. 
With  all  safety,  at  the  present  moment,  we  assert  as  much,  not 
blind  to  all  the  approaching  wonders  of  the  steam-press  itself. 

It  is,  however,  with  the  times  that  passed  over  Britain  dur- 
ing these  one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  that  we  have  now  to 
do  ;  and  the  all-important  inquiry  remains  to  be  answered — What 
were  the  results  1  To  record  all  these,  would,  of  course,  demand  a 
volume.  The  days  of  burning  the  Sacred  Volume,  or  those  who 
possessed  it,  had  long  since  passed  away.  And  whatever  the 
beneficial  consequences  now  were,  while,  we  repeat,  that  there  had 
been  many  most  estimable  editions  of  the  Divine  Word,  the 
slovenly  and  imperfect  style  in  which  man  had  too  often  fulfilled 
his  part,  only  render  the  results  so  much  the  more  observable.  On 
the  whole,  however,  at  home,  or  within  the  shores  of  Britain,  it 
must  be  confessed,  there  was  by  far  too  much  ground  for  the  genu- 
ine patriot  to  hang  down  his  head.  Thus,  in  finishing  his  well- 
known  "History  of  the  Translations  of  the  Bible,"  in  1738,  one 
cannot  but  observe,  that  good  John  Lewis  seems  to  have  been  in 
but  very  low  spirits  indeed  with  referenee  to  the  subject  on  which 
he  had  bestowed  unprecedented  research. 

'•  This  is  the  account,"  says  he,  "  which  I  have  been  able  to 
give  of  the  several  translations  of  the  Bible  and  New  Testament 
into  the  ancient  and  modern  English  tongue,  and  of  their  most 
remarkable  editions  in  print.  From  whence,  I  suppose,  any  one 
will  infer  the  great  honour  and  esteem  that  these  holy  books  were 
always  held  in  by  our  Christian  ancestors:  since  they  were  so  very 
desirous  to  have  them,  and  to  know  and  understand  their  contents, 
as  to  spare  no  cost  or  pains,  but  to  run  the  hazard  of  even  their 
lives  and  fortunes,  and  not  to  count  them  dear,  so  that  they  might 
but  procure  the  free  use  of  these  books,  and  have  the  advantage 
of  perusing  them.  The  great  number  of  the  copies  of  them  in 
manuscript,  before  printing  was  invented,  and  the  many  editions 
of  them  since  printing  came  into  use,  is  a  demonstration  of  the 
great  value  put  on  them  by  the  Christians  here  in  England  ;  and 
that  every  one  who  could  read  took  care  to  purchase  a  Bible  or 
Testament  in  the  tongue  wherein  he  was  born.  This,  no  doubt, 
will  be  thought  a  very  great  reproach  to  the  professed  Christians 


484  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  the  present  age,  and  but  too  good  an  argument  of  their  having 
lost  their  first  love,  and  being  nowise  earnest  for  the  faith  dehvered 
to  the  saints  in  these  holy  books.  Since — to  our  shame  be  it 
spoken — whatever  reputation  the  Holy  Bible  has  been  had  in,  it  is 
now  treated  with  the  utmost  slight  and  neglect,  and  is  scarce  any- 
where read  but  in  our  churches  !  So  far,  too,  are  many  of  our 
modern  Christians  here  in  England  from  reading  this  book,  medi- 
tating on  it,  and  letting  the  sense  of  it  dwell  richly  or  abundantly 
in  them ;  that,  everybody  knows,  the  writings  of  the  most  silly  and 
trifling  authors  are  often  preferred,  and  read  with  greater  pleasure 
and  delight.  What  surer  sign  can  be  given,  that  we  have  a  name 
that  we  live,  and  are  dead?  And,  consequently,  that  unless  we 
remember  from  whence  we  are  fallen,  and  repent,  and  do  the  first 
works,  the  great  Author  and  finisher  of  our  faith  will  come  unto 
us  quickly,  and  will  remove  our  candlestick  out  of  his  place.  Sed 
Deus  avertat  omen!'' 

Mr.  Lewis,  no  doubt,  spake  as  he  felt  at  the  moment,  and  must 
have  had  too  much  reason  for  all  that  he  expressed.  Yet  such  is 
the  history  of  our  English  Bible,  when  fully  followed  out,  that  it 
will  be  sure  to  raise  any  man  far  above  his  own  vicinity,  his  own 
community,  or  connections.  From  the  beginning  to  the  then  ex- 
isting moment,  our  Sacred  Volume  had  been  the  counsellor  of  all 
departments  throughout  this  nation,  the  partizan  of  none ;  and 
immediately  after  the  author  had  penned  these  lines,  by  many  who 
had  never  read  them,  considerably  revived  attention  was  given  to 
the  Scriptures  of  truth.  But  as  we  have  now  to  raise  our  head, 
and  survey  a  century  and  a  half,  we  shall  obtain  a  more  enlarged 
view  of  the  progress  made  ;  and  it  is  not  for  us  to  present  so  sombre 
a  picture  of  the  times  as  that  of  Lewis.  True,  indeed,  we  have 
been  accustomed  all  along  to  look  to  our  own  favored  island  only, 
as  embracing  the  soil  where  the  seed  was  sown  ;  but  we  have  come 
to  another,  and  more  advanced  stage  of  this  stupendous  cause; 
and  in  tracing  it  out,  if  we  simply  follow  the  Sacred  Volume,  we 
are  invited  to  depart,  or  to  look  far  beyond  the  shores  of  either 
Enffland  or  Scotland. 


SECTION  II.— NORTH  AMERICA. 

THE  REIGN  OF  .TAMES  THE  FIRST  TO    GEORGE  THE  THIRD. 

THE    BIBLE    FIRST     BEHELD     BY     THE     NATIVES     IN    AMERICA,    AN    ENGLISH    ONE 

COPIES    CARRIED    4,WAY    TO  NEW  ENGLAND  BY  THE    REFUGEES    AND    FOLLOWING 

SETTLERS — EXTRAORDINARY    RESULTS WILLIAMS,  ELIOT,  MATHER,    EDWARDS, 

BRAINERD THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE    IS  AT  LAST  PRINTED  IN    AMERICA THE  FIRST 

EDITION   IN    1782 THE    FIRST  BIBLES  IN  OCTAVO,  QUARTO,  AND    FOLIO,    PRINTED 

THERE    IN    1791. 

In  the  opening  of  the  seventeenth  century,  England  and  Scot- 
land, once  united  under  the  same  crown,  had  received  the  appel- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  485 

lation  of  Great  Britain  from  her  overjoyed  monarch,  James  the 
First — a  title  peciiharly  flattering  to  his  personal  vanity.  In  con- 
nection with  the  Sacred  Volume,  his  kingdom  exhibited  the  aspect 
of  an  island  which  had  been  invaded  from  without,  and  which, 
after  long  resistance  at  first,  had  been  ultitnately  subdued  by  the 
Word  of  God.  The  Scriptures  in  the  vernacular  tongue,  which 
were  now  happily  printing  both  in  England  and  Scotland,  had, 
from  the  beginning,  been  often  also  imported,  nay,  and  from  Hol- 
land, copies  were  importing  afterwards.  But  if  perfect  liberty  not 
only  to  read,  but  also  to  judge  of  their  contents,  is  not  to  be  here 
obtained.  Divine  Providence  has  now  another,  and  a  greater  lesfeon 
in  reserve.  The  inestimable  gift,  or  deposit,  is  not  to  be  always, 
or  even  long,  confined  within  the  shores  of  Britain. 

Of  course,  it  could  not  then  have  crossed  the  imagination  of 
any  man,  that  the  same  unseen  hand,  which  we  have  observed  all 
along,  was  already  in  motion,  and  actually  preparing  for  the  pop- 
idation  of  a  neiv  world,  where  a  freer  life  and  a  fresher  nature 
were  to  be  enjoyed  ;  and  even  at  the  present  day,  iew  individuals 
may,  at  first,  be  disposed  to  trace  the  populating  of  the  American 
wilderness,  in  any  degree,  to  the  consequences  of  reading  tlie  Eng- 
lish Bible  in  Britaiji.  At  all  events,  the  time  had  arrived,  when, 
as  it  was  carried  out  of  England  to  the  European  Continent  in 
the  reign  of  Q,ueen  Mary,  so  under  that  of  James,  nay,  and  of 
seven  sovereigns  in  succession,  it  was  to  be  carried  farther  still. 
If  the  liberty  to  form  opinion  of  its  dictates,  was  a  blessing  denied 
to  many  under  the  Tudor  family,  so  it  happened  under  that  of 
the  Stuarts ;  and  the  same  cause  produced  the  same  effect,  only 
to  a  far  greater  extent.  Under  Q,ueen  Mary  I.,  all  that  had  oc- 
curred, was  an  affair  of  little  more  than  five  years'  duration.  It 
might  be  compared  to  the  migration  of  those  birds  which,  in  sum- 
mer, return  again  to  gladden  the  land,  for  at  that  time  many  re- 
turned ;  but  now,  from  the  American  "Pilgrim  Fathers,"  and  so 
onward,  tlv?  people  in  general  who  hurried  across  the  Atlantic,  like 
the  passengers  to  eternity,  were  to  retiun  no  more.  For  this  sin- 
gular movement  of  the  British  people,  in  the  civil  department 
of  the  British  constitution,  there  was  not  to  be  found  even  the 
shadow  of  a  cause  ;  but  if  the  existing  government  of  the  mother 
country,  generally  speaking,  was  either  so  framed,  or  to  be  so  con- 
ducted, as  to  charge  itself  with  the  vain  task  of  regulating  the 
mind,  as  well  as  that  of  ruling  the  bodies  of  its  subjects,  then  was 
there  no  relief  or  rented}^,  but  in  another  arrangement  beyond  seas. 
Hitherto,  we  have  long,  and  not  unfrequently,  seen  the  Almighty 
overruling  individuals  of  the  highest  authority  within  this  king- 
dom ;  but,  if  necessary,  it  was  as  nothing  with  Him  to  overrule 
the  realm  itself.  The  only  question  will  be.  What  connection  had 
all  this  with  the  perusal  of  the  Sacred  Volume  in  our  native  lan- 
guage, and  in  our  native  land  ? 

The  very  first  Bible  that  was  ever  beheld  by  the  Indians  of 
North  America,  was,  unquestionably,  an  English  one,  and  so 
early  as  the  year  1585.     That  part  of  the  Continent  then  visited, 


486  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Q,u8en  Elizabeth  had  just  named  Virginia,  and,  in  the  expedition 
sent  out,  there  liappened  to  be  one  Heriot,  an  eminent  mathema- 
tician, and  apparently  a  kind-hearted  Christian.  Feehng  deeply- 
interested  in  the  artless  and  hospitable  Indian  natives,  he  took 
advantage  of  the  impressions  made  by  the  sight  of  their  instru- 
ments, whether  marine  or  mathematical,  perspective  and  burning 
glasses,  clocks  and  books.  This  led  many  of  them  to  give  credit 
to  what  he  said  respecting  God.  "  In  all  places,"  says  he,  "  where 
I  came,  I  did  my  best  to  make  his  immortal  glory  known,  and  told 
them,  though  the  Bible  I  showed  them  contained  all,  yet  of  itself 
it  \Vas  not  of  any  such  virtue  as  I  thought  they  did  conceive. 
Notwithstanding,  many  would  be  glad  to  touch  it,  to  kiss  and  em- 
brace it,  to  hold  it  to  their  breasts  and  heads,  and  stroke  all  their 
body  over  with  it." 

Although  America  had  been  discovered  to  England,  by  Cabot, 
in  1497,  under  Henry  VII.,  the  first  permanent  colony  on  the  coast 
of  Virginia  did  not  arrive  till  1607,  while  our  present  version  of  the 
Bible  was  preparing  ;  but  this  was  still  nothing  more  than  a  mer- 
cantile adventure  under  James  I.  It  was  in  the  year  1620  that 
the  refugees  from  England  to  Holland  embarked  on  board  the 
Mayflower,  and  touching,  by  way  of  farewell,  at  the  land  of  their 
birth,  proceeded  across  the  ocean.  On  the  12th  of  November  that 
year,  these  "  Pilgrun  Fathers,^'  as  they  have  been  ever  since 
styled,  having  their  Bibles  with  them,  kept  their  first  Sabbath  on 
the  shores  of  New  England.  The  name  thus  given,  by  Prince 
Charles,  a  few  years  before,  seemed  to  send  its  echo  back  to  the 
country  which  they  had  left  forever.  The  Sacred  Volume  in  their 
native  tongue,  which  these  people  prized  above  life  itself,  was  now 
within  the  shores  of  a  new  Continent ;  but  this  was  in  the  year 
1620,  whereas  i\iQ  first  Bible  with  an  Aiiierican  imprint  was  not 
'published  till  the  year  1782,  that  is,  above  a  hundred  and  sixty 
years  afterwards,  or  little  more  than  only  sixty  years  ago  !  Yes, 
such  is  the  remarkable  fact. 

From  the  first  reception  of  the  English  New  Testament  by  Britain, 
it  was  about  a  hundred  years  before  the  Bible,  so  singularly  con- 
veyed to  the  island  at  first,  began  to  be  carried  away,  never  to 
return.  But  what  must  now  appear  in  retrospect  far  more  extraor- 
dinary, for  a  hundred  and  sixty  years  the  authorities  at  home  would 
never  permit  of  a  single  edition  being  printed,  except  within  this 
island  !  To  speak  still  more  correctly  is  humiliating  to  our  com- 
mon nature.  The  British  authorities,  in  fact,  never  did  give  any 
permission,  but  at  the  end  of  this  long  period,  the  English  Bible 
was  then  printed,  four  thousand  miles  distant,  without  authority 
or  liberty  being  either  asked  or  granted  by  any  man.  As  if  the 
singular  history  of  this  version  must  still  retain  the  integrity  of  its 
character,  down  to  our  own  day,  and  exliibit  to  the  world,  once 
more,  the  same  independence  with  which  it  was  first  presented  to 
us  at  home,  the  American  edition  was  printed  in  defiance  of  all 
British  restrictions,  in  the  year  1782. 

The  simple  announcement  of  this  fact,  though  never  pointed 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  487 

\ 

out  or  contemplated,  as  it  has  deserved  to  be,  at  once  gives  birth  to 
a  crowd  of  remarkable  associations.  Here  was  a  period  of  more 
than  a  century  and  a  half,  in  all  which  time  no  man,  or  set  of  men, 
is  represented  in  history  as  particularly  zealous  in  the  business. 
Nothing  similar  to  a  society,  confederacy,  or  association,  was 
formed  ;  the  idea  of  either  cheap  or  gratuitous  circulation  had 
never  once  entered  the  human  mind,  to  any  known  extent ;  and 
yet,  by  the  good  providence  of  God,  through  the  usual  channels  of 
commerce,  yro/?i  the  reign  of  James  the  First,  down  to  tltat  of 
the  eighth  sovereign  in  succession,  or  the  22d  year  of  George 
III.^  was  the  Divine  Record,  in  English  vniformly  carried  all 
the  way  across  the  Atlantic !  It  belongs  to  the  Christians  through- 
out America  at  present,  along  witli  those  now  living  in  Britain, 
devoutly  to  mark  this  as  by  far  the  most  remarkable  sign  of  those 
TIMES.  It  was  the  zeal  and  long-suffering  patience  of  God  which 
thus  ministered  his  Word  to  those  who  lived  and  died  at  such  a 
distance  from  the  spot  where  it  was  prepared  !  Odious,  indeed, 
and  humiliating  must  this  spirit  of  restriction  or  monopoly  now 
appear ;  but  as  to  the  event  itself,  never  were  any  people  upon 
earth  so  singularly  supplied,  and  for  so  long  a  period,  with  the 
Word  of  Life.  As  one  step  in  the  path  of  Providence,  it  even  still 
suggests  the  idea  that  something  far  more  powerful  and  extensive 
is  intended,  through  the  medium  of  this  version,  than  it  has  ever 
yet  accomplished. 

The  greatness  and  importance  of  this  movement,  however,  can 
only  be  estimated,  by  observing  its  results  ;  or,  in  other  words,  by 
adverting  to  the  trans-Atlantic  events  of  that  period,  or  the  men 
who  lived  and  died  in  America,  throughout  these  years,  and  this 
would  require  a  volume.  But  for  our  present  purpose  a  very  few 
names  may  suffice,  and  these  are  mentioned  simply  in  the  order 
of  time,  as  they  come  before  us.  The  first  was  born  in  Wales, 
the  second  in  England,  and  the  three  last  in  America  itself. 

Roger  Williams,  born  in  1599,  died  in  1683.  Aged  84. 

John  Eliot,  born  in  1604,  died  in  1690.  Aged  86. 

Cotton  Mather,  born  in  1663,  died  in  1728.  Aged  65. 

Jonathan  Edwards,  born  in  1703,  died  in  1758.  Aged  55. 

David  Brainerd,  born  in  1718,  died  in  1747.  Aged  30. 

Roger  Williams,  a  native  of  Wales,  had  been  first  bred  to  the 
law  in  England,  under  the  immediate  eye  of  Sir  Edward  Coke. 
He  had  once  conversed  with  King  James  himself,  procured  his 
first  charter  in  1644  from  Charles  I.,  and  the  second  in  1663,  with 
the  full  consent  of  Charles  the  Second.  The  latter  gave  his 
promise,  under  his  hand  and  broad  seal,  that  "  no  person  in  Rhode 
Island  should  be  molested,  or  questioned  for  matters  of  conscience 
to  God,  if  so  be  he  was  loyal  and  kept  the  peace."  Thus  was  in- 
sured to  this  small  State  almost  entire  exemption  from  all  Indian 
hostility,  and  although  their  quiet  was  interrupted  once  in  1686, 
under  James  the  Second,  by  Sir  Edmund  Andros,  who  dissolved 
their  o-overnment.  and  broke  their  seal ;  after  the  Revolution  in 


488  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

1688-9,  Rhode  Island  and  Piovidence  resumed  their  charter,  on 
the  ground  that  an  act  extorted  by  terror  might  be  justly  recalled 
when  restraint  no  longer  remained.  With  the  exception  of  these 
three  years,  therefore,  the  Government,  on  Avhich  King  Clrarles 
was  experimenting,  has  now  consisted  for  two  hundred  years. 

Next  comes  John  Eliot  to  meet  us,  and  carrying  his  Bible  m 
the  language  of  the  North  American  Indians,  completed  in  the 
year  16(33 ;  for  though  the  emigrants  to  America  might  not  print 
their  o)V)i  Bible,  they  might  print  the  Indian,  or  any  other  they 
pleased  ! 

In  the  same  year  that  Eliot  published  his  Bible,  Cotton  Mather. 
was  born,  and  here  he  comes  with  his  singular  "  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  New  England."  For  passing  over  all  its  strange  cre- 
dulity, he  brings  his  "  Essays  to  do  good,"  to  which  Benjamin 
Franklin,  and  many  others,  have  acknowledged  themselves  so 
much  indebted  ;  to  say  nothing  of  his  three  hundred  and  eighty 
publications  beside. 

Lest,  however,  any  inquiry  be  made  after  strength  of  mind,  here 
is  Jonathan  Edwards,  not  only  Avith  his  "  Notes  on  the  Enghsli 
Bible,"  and  his  "  History  of  Redemption,"  but  all  his  profound 
writings.  Perhaps  no  man  was  held  by  him  in  higher  admira- 
tion tban  David  Brainerd,  that  prince  of  missionaries  to  the 
American  Indians,  whose  example  has  been  of  such  value  ever 
since. 

The  time  would  now  fail  to  tell  of  many  other  venerable,  la- 
borious, and  useful  characters  ;  but  though  they  were  all  before 
us,  or  all  mentioned  by  name  individually,  one  of  the  most  notable 
circumstances  in  their  lives  was  this — that  not  one  of  these  men 
ever  possessed  anij  other  ilian  an  imported  English  Bible! 
And  all  who  ever  heard  them,  all  who  read  the  book  from  which 
they  preached,  were  using  volumes  which  had  come  to  them, 
thousands  of  miles,  across  the  sea,  from  the  land  of  their  ances- 
tors !  A  similar  track,  or  lengthened  train  of  proceeding,  of  course 
cannot  be  pointed  out,  with  relation  to  any  other  European  ver- 
sion of  the  Scriptures  ;  and,  with  reference  to  any  Bible  in  any 
language  whatever,  we  may  safely  say,  that  the  same  remarkable 
course  will  never  again  occur  in  the  history  of  future  times. 
Meanwhile,  if  the  path  pursued  has  lent  additional  emphasis  to 
the  history  of  the  English  Bible,  so  it  ought,  assuredly,  to  the  obli- 
gations of  those  millions,  far  and  near,  who  now  all  read  the  same 
version. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  history  itself,  the  first  proper  Ameri- 
can imprint,  as  already  stated,  was  not  before  1782 ;  though  in  the 
course  of  this  long  extended  period,  there  was  one  attempt  at  what 
has  been  styled  piracy,  in  a  small  edition  of  only  800  copies  of  the 
Bible,  in  quarto,  by  Kneeland  and  Green  of  Boston.  But  it  cer- 
tainly casts  no  honorable  reflection  on  the  monopoly  so  long  main- 
tained in  England,  that  this  was  done  only  by  an  evasion  of  the 
patent.  Carried  through  the  press  as  privately  as  possible,  about 
the  year  1752,  it  bore  this  imprint — "  London  :  Printed  by  Mark 


,  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  489 

Baskett,  Printer  to  the  King's  most  excellent  Majesty."  A  similar 
expedient  was  resorted  to  with  a  solitary  edition  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, by  Rogers  and  Fowle  of  the  same  place.  The  principal 
man  concerned  in  both,  was  Daniel  Henchman,  a  spirited  book- 
seller, who  had  built  one  of  the  first  paper  mills  in  New  England. 
The  fact  is,  that  the  printing  press  had  been  set  up  as  early  as 
1(339,  and  its  noblest  fruit  had  been  the  Indian  Bible  for  the  na- 
tives ;  other  books  they  were  at  liberty  to  print ;  they  had  a  news- 
paper as  early  as  1704,  and  were  making  paper  from  one  genera- 
tion to  another;  but  owing  to  their  connection  with  Britain,  they 
must  not  print  the  English  Bible!  The  very  few  Scriptures  now 
mentioned — such  was  the  huniihating  apology — were  thus  put 
forth,  "  in  order  to  prevent  a  prosecution  from  those  in  England 
and  Scotland  who  published  the  Bible  by  a  patent  from  the  Crown, 
or  ' cam privilegio,'  as  did  the  universities  of  Oxford  and  Cam- 
bridge." Nor,  alas !  for  Old  England,  was  the  liberty  ever 
granted  !  At  last  it  was  wrested  from  her,  nolens  volens,  so  that 
the  first  English  Bible,  with  an  American  imprint,  was  not  pub- 
lished till  the  year  already  specified.  In  connection  with  this  fact, 
one  should  have  imagined  there  could  scarcely  have  been  another 
more  humiliating  to  national  vanity;  and  yet  there  was  one, 
which  must  not  be  suppressed,  as  it  may  be  of  some  value  even 
still.  During  this  long  period,  no  other  nation  in  Europe  had  so 
treated  its  vernacular  Bible.  There  never  was  any  monopoly  of 
the  Sacred  Scriptures,  as  to  printing  them,  in  Germany,  similar 
to  that  in  England ;  no  patents  from  the  beginning,  to  compare 
with  British  policy.  And  therefore  the  first  Bible  in  any  Euro- 
pean language,  printed  in  our  cum  America,  was  in  Ger7nau. 
This  was  in  1743,  after  having  been  three  years  in  the  press,  by 
Christopher  Sauer  at  Germantown,  near  Philadelphia.  He  printed 
a  second  edition  in  1762,  and  a  third  in  1776.  It  was  only  her 
oxvn  Bible,  as  already  stated,  that  England  held  in  chains. 

Still,  however,  and  as  if  to  link  the  two  countries,  even  tJien, 
more  closely  than  ever  in  Christian  bonds,  this  first  American 
Bible  is  the  more  worthy  of  notice,  as  not  having  been  the  work 
of  a  native  American.  It  was  a  year  equally  memorable  in  both 
countries.  Political  ties  might  be  snapt  asunder;  not  so  those  of 
Christianity ;  and  at  tiie  very  moment  in  which  American  inde- 
pendence was  acknowledging  by  Britain,  there  had  been  printed 
by  a  native  of  Scotland,  on  the  American  shore,  and  in  the  city  of 
Philadelphia,  a  practical  acknowledgment,  that  we  were  still  the 
readers  of  one  common  Bible,  and  equally  bound  by  the  same 
Divine  authority. 

Robert  Aitken,  born  in  1734  at  Dalkeith,  had  served  a  regu- 
lar apprenticeship  to  some  bookbinder  in  Edmburgh,  and  after- 
wards perfecting  himself  in  the  knowledge  of  the  book  trade,  at 
the  age  of  thirty-five  he  sailed  for  America.  Having  seen  the 
country,  he  came  home,  and  in  1771,  with  a  stock  of  books,  em- 
barked for  Philadelphia.  Three  years  after  this,  having  com- 
menced printer,  and  in  1775,  a  magazine,  it  was  in  1782  that  he 


490  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

published,  in  small  duodecimo,  his  edition  of  the  Bible  in  bre- 
vier type — "  Philadelphia,  printed  and  sold  by  R.  Aitken,  &.c., 
MDccLxxxii."  Mr.  Aitken  died  only  in  1802,  having  survived 
his  son,  but  he  left  a  daughter,  who  continued  the  business  ;  and 
she  has  had  the  honor  of  printing  the  only  edition  of  the  Septua- 
gint  that  ever  had  been  translated  into  English. 

At  the  end  of  the  Old  Testament,  in  Aitken's  edition,  was 
printed  a  resolution  of  Congress,  recommending  it  to  the  people  at 
large,  "  as  a  pious  and  laudable  undertaking,  in  the  existing  state 
of  the  country."  Into  the  history  of  the  printing  of  the  English 
Scriptures  by  native  Americans,  we  here  enter  no  farther  than  to 
mention,  that  the  frst  English  Bible,  in  folio,  was  publislied  in 
Worcester,  Massachusetts,  by  Isaiah  Thomas,  in  1791 ;  and  the 
first,  in  quarto,  with  a  concordance,  also  that  year.  At  the  same 
period,  the  first  edition  of  the  English  version  in  octavo,  was  printed 
at  Trenton,  in  New  Jerse}^,  by  Isaac  Collins.  The  second,  in  duo- 
decimo, was  not  published  till  1797,  by  Thomas  at  Worcester, 
Massachusetts,  which  seems  to  prove,  that  Bibles  of  this  size,  at 
least,  if  not  others,  were  still  importing  from  Britain. 

Thus,  as  far  as  we  have  come,  and  before  we  proceed  to  our 
final  section,  we  may  be  permitted  to  assert,  it  has  been  demon- 
strated, that  for  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  or  from 
1526  to  1782,  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  events  had  proceeded 
invariably,  and  with  infinite  long-suffering,  after  the  satne  manner, 
v.'hether  in  England  or  Scotland,  or  finally  in  America. 


III.— OR  FINAL  SECTION. 

REIGN    OF    GEORGE    THE   THIRD    TO   QUEEN    VICTORIA. 

Tlic  last  Sixti/'four  Years. 

THE     COMMENCEMENT     OF     A     GREATER      MOVEMENT     THAN     EVER     BEFORE THE 

REVOLUTIONARY    MOVEMENT    IN    FRANCE ACTION    IS    CALLED  FOR THE    SOVER- 
EIGN DISPOSER  OF  ALL  EVENTS,  AS    A    SECRET  MOVER,  UNOBSERVED THE    FIRST 

FEEBLE    MOVEMENT    TAKING    ITS    NAME    FROM    THE     BIBLE THE     SECOND ITS 

ENTIRE  FAILURE    NO    GROUND    FOR    DISCOURAGEMENT TEN  YEARS    BEFORE  DI- 
VINE PROVIDENCE  FIXED  ON  ONE  YOUNG  MAN — TWO  OTHER  MEN  GO  TO  HIS  AID 

THE  BIBLE  WITHOUT  EITHER  NOTE  OR  COMMENT  DRAWS  MORE  ATTENTION THE 

DESTITUTION  OF  IT  IN  WALES THE  BRITISH  AND  FOREIGN  BIBLE  SOCIETY  WITH  ITS 

AUXILIARIES THEIR  EXERTIONS  UP  TO  THE  PRESENT  DAY FALL   IN  THE  PRICE 

OF  THE  SACRED  VOLUME AMERICAN  BIBLE  SOCIETY CONCLUSION  AS  CHEERING 

AS  IT  WAS  UNANTICIPATED. 

Speaking  generally,  for  these  three  hundred  years,  there  has 
been  one  feature  of  distinction  between  England  and  France.  A 
marked  distinction,  confessed  by  all,  has  long  existed,  and  it  has 
appeared  so  palpable,  that  the  British  people  have  been  described 
as  "  living  in  a  sort  of  moral  separation  from  the  rest  of  Europe, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  491 

analogous  to  their  physical  insulation."  An  eminent  French  wri- 
ter, M.  Guizot,  has  lately  said  as  much,  and  then  he  traces  this 
to  "  the  development  of  the  principles,  the  different  elements  of 
society  taking  place  in  some  measure  at  the  same  time,  at  least 
much  more  simultaneously  than  upon  the  Continent."  There  is 
much  of  truth  and  beauty  in  his  subsequent  explanation,  but  in 
searching  for  an  adequate  cause  of  distinction,  must  we  not  go 
farther,  or  deeper  than  this?  Must  we  not  inquire  whether  there 
was  not  some  appliance,  or  powerful  agency  within  this  country, 
which  France,  as  a  country,  had  repudiated,  or  of  which  she  has 
been,  for  ages,  comparatively  destitute?  And  if  we  (/o  find  some- 
thing among  the  people  here,  but  not  there,  the  operation  of  which, 
in  its  influence  on  society,  may  be  compared  to  the  irresistible  in- 
fluence of  secreted  leaven,  are  we  not  called  to  watch  and  observe 
it?  To  observe  it,  too.  in  its  operation  upon  every  element  of  soci- 
ety, let  that  society,  as  a  whole,  be  found  in  whatever  condition  it 
may?  Now  it  is  notorious,  that  the  Sacred  Volume  has  never 
been  received  so  as  to  be  calmly  and  deliberately  enjoyed  in 
France,  as  it  has  been  in  Britain.  Civilization,  indeed,  in  the 
popular  sense  of  that  term,  has  proceeded  in  both  countries,  and 
so  much  the  better  for  all  the  purposes  of  comparison.  There  is, 
indeed,  no  necessity  for  our  nicely  balancing  which  has  been  fore- 
most in  that  race,  but  we  are  certainly  bound  to  observe  how  one 
people,  loitli  the  Divine  record  in  their  hands,  have  gone  on  ;  and 
then  to  observe  the  other,  who  have  advanced  in  what  is  styled 
civilization,  without  it.  Their  respective  careers  aflbrd  one  great 
moral  lesson,  in  which  the  incidents  on  the  road,  and  the  progress 
of  the  journey,  become  alike  impressive  and  full  of  instruction; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten  that  such  has 
been  the  place  which  France  and  Britain  have  occupied  in  the  eye 
of  the  world,  that  all  Europe  has  looked  on — all  Europe  has  been 
engrossed,  and  even  affected ;  nay,  such  is  the  actual  position  of 
these  two  kingdoms  at  the  present  moment. 

The  history  of  Britain,  in  connection  with  the  Scriptures,  we 
have  already  given  ;  and,  in  this  comparison,  let  all  justice  be  done 
to  her  potent  neighbor.  There  was  a  time,  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, when  France  bade  fair  to  have  followed  in  the  same  career. 
Like  England,  and  especially  Scotland,  she  was  highly  favored 
from  without.  In  the  course  of  only  fifty  years,  or  from  1.550  to 
1600,  there  were  printed  not  fewer  than  ninety-eight  editions  of 
the  French  Bible,  and  fifty-nine  of  the  New  Testament  sepa- 
rately. Again,  when  in  1600,  Lertourt  had  printed  his  edition  hi 
folio,  it  was  followed  by  thirty-five  editions  in  various  sizes,  besides 
fifty-six  separate  editions  of  the  New  Testament.  To  these  we 
ma)^  add  thirty-six  editions  of  the  Catholic  version,  and  seventy- 
four  of  tlie  New  Testament,  from  1600  to  1700.  Here,  then,  of 
the  Scriptures  in  the  French  tongue,  we  have  not  fewer  than  three 
hundred  and  fifty-eight  distinct  issues  from  the  press  !  Oh,  what 
an  affecting  retrospect,  if  all  this  was  not  to  prevail  ?  If  all  this 
was  to  be  resisted  from  within  the  kingdom  at  large?    For  of  these 


492  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

358  editions,  not  fewer  than  205  had  been  printed,  not  in  France, 
but  chiefly  at  Geneva,  on  the  one  hand,  and  at  Amsterdam,  on  the 
other.     Yet  so  it  happened,  for  then   came  the  reign   of  Louis 
XIV.,  with  a  briUiancy  of  a  far  different  character.     Were  any 
one  to  take  the  hundred  years  which  preceded  his  being  declared 
of  age  in  1651,  and  compare  it  with  the  century  which  followed 
his  death  in  1715,  few  historical  contrasts  would  be  more  striking. 
In  the  former,  we  should  see  the  truth  of  God  combating  supersti- 
tion, and  promising,  if  only  let  alone,  to  make  the  vine-covered 
liills  of  France  rejoice  in  the  possession  of  the  true  vine  ;  in  the 
latter  would  be  seen  but  little  or  nothing  else  save  infidelity,  undis- 
guised and  unblushing,  in  frantic  rage  against  Divine  truth  itself. 
During  the  seventeenth  century  in  France,  but  more  especially 
from  the  year  when  Louis  the  Fourteenth  w^as  declared  of  age,  all 
eyes  were  fixed  on  the  Crown,  and  for  sixty  years  despotic  mon- 
archy was  the  order  of  the  day.     This  long  reign  has  not  unfre- 
quently  been  compared  to  that  of  Augustus.     Poets  and  orators, 
philosophers  and  lawyers,  painters  and  architects,  were  not  merely 
allowed  to  play   their  several  parts,  but  they  were  fostered  and 
stimulated  by  the  royal  bounty,  while  at  the  same  time  arts  and 
commerce  were  brouglit  into  a  flourishing  condition.     But  was 
this  all  ?     Not  to  mention  the  licentiousness  of  this  Monarch  and 
his  Court,  how  did  he  conduct  himself  towards  the  human  mind 
and  the  Sacred  Volume  ?     After  hearing  Massillon  on  more  occa- 
sions than  one,  well  might  he  go  away,  as  he  confessed,  "  very 
much  displeased  with  himself;"  but  he  was  the  slave  of  his  own 
passions,  and  so  died.     It  was  the  same  man  who  persecuted  the 
Port-Royal  of  which  Pascal  v/as  the  head,  who  banished  Fenelon, 
but  to  crown  all,  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes,   in   1685  !     And 
what  than  ?     More  than  fifty  thousand  families,  nay,  it  has  been 
said  eight  hundred  thousand  individuals  fled  the  kingdom,  and 
they  are  not  in  this  history  to  be  called  by  any  mere  nickname. 
Correctly  speaking,  they  were  the  people  who  plead  for  the  Script- 
ures, or  possessed  them  ;  and  prizing  them  from  principle,  above 
life  itself,  left  all  l)ehind.     They  were  the  salt  of  the  land,  as  the 
pestilential  exhalations  w^iich  followed  most  fully  proved.     No, 
the  condition  in  which  a  Monarch  leaves  his  country,  has  been 
well  described  as  the  key  to  his  character  and  to  !iis  reign  ;  and  in 
what  condition  was  France  when  Louis  the  XIV.  died  in  Septem- 
ber 1715 '?     Dying  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven,  after  a  reign,  in 
full  sovereignty,  of  more  than  sixty  years*  several  provinces  were 
left  less  powerful  than  they  were  even  at  the  beginning.     The  in- 
satiable thirst  for  splendor  at  Court  had  beggared  the  kingdom, 
and  another  Versailles  would  have  completed  its  ruin.     The  peo- 
ple possessed  no  rights  ;  the  Royal  authority  was  restrained  by  no 
limits.     And  how  did  the  people  behave,  when  their  King  died? 
They  insulted  his  funeral  procession,  and  the  Parliament  cancelled 
his  will.     He  had  carried  despotism  to  its  utmost  heiglit,  violating 
laws  both  human  and  divine  ;  but  the  eyes  of  Louis  Le  Grand 
once  closed  in  death,  his  entire  system  was  levelled  to  the  ground. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


493 


Such   was   the    termiriatioa    of    brilliant    despotic    monarchy    in 
France. 

But  if  after  this  period,  French  government  as  such  had  httle 
or  no  power  to  annoy,  the  eighteenth  century  was  to  prove  of  a 
far  more  serious  or  searching  character.  A  storm  which  had  been 
long  gathering,  amidst  the  elegant  gayety  or  external  polish  which 
reigned  at  Paris  and  Versailles,  was,  in  the  end,  to  break  over  the 
country  at  large  ;  and  occasion  not  a  few,  even  in  Britain,  to  stand 
in  doubt  whether  she  should  be  able  to  weather  it.  Properly 
speaking,  this  was  a  question,  not  respecting  govermnent  of  any 
kind,  but  society  at  large.  It  was  not  any  single  monarch  which 
now  filled  the  eye,  all  over  Europe,  but  the  people  of  France,  in 
full  resolve  to  throw  off  every  restraint,  human  and  divine.  It 
was  a  development  of  what  was  styled  "  public  opinion,"  working 
for  unlimited  display,  and  for  many  years.  The  closing  ten  years 
of  the  eighteenth  century  only  interpreted  a  process  which  had 
been  in  constant  operation  ever  since  the  days  of  the  Grand  Mon- 
arch. The  death  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth  had  been  the  signal 
for  action.  In  patronizing  genius,  he  had  been  all  along  inviting 
intelligence  and  opinion,  and  the  next  century  was  to  explain  to 
all  Europe,  as  had  been  done  in  ancient  times,  "  that  science  may 
flourish  amidst  the  decay  of  humanity,  and  that  the  utmost  bar- 
barity may  be  blended  with  the  utmost  refinement." 

Under  Louis  the  Fifteenth,  the  French  in  general  were  at  a  loss 
to  comprehend  how  a  narrow  channel  of  seven  leagues  sufficed  to 
separate  a  country  where  the  people  were  everything,  from  one  in 
~  which  they  were  nothing  :  but  there  were  philosophers,  falsely  so 
called,  busy  night  and  day,  and  they  had  sternly  resolved  to  make 
"  something"  of  the  people.     It  was  not  an  error  into  which  these 
men  had  separately  fallen,  and  which  they  separately  avowed,  but 
a  deep-laid,  understood  design.     A  powerful  confederacy  had  been 
formed,  at  the  head  of  which  all  historians  agree  in  placing  Vol- 
taire.    His  disciples  or  associates  are  known  to  all.     There  was 
Toussaint   and   Helvetius,  D'Alembert,    Diderot,  Condorcet,  and 
many  others  of  the  same  school.     The  vain  design,  which  was 
carried  on  for  many  years,  with   great  subtilty,  was  to  sap  the 
foundations  of  Christianity,  and  destroy  the  authority  of  Scripture. 
Before  these  men,  there  was  nothing  so  inviting  in  their  own  ap- 
prehension as   the   triumph  of  Reason,  the   perfectibility  of   the 
human  race.     By  this  time,  the  mind  of  man,  they  said,  sighed  for 
its  native  home,  and  well  it  might ;  but  they  fearfully  mistook  their 
way,  when  they  confounded  Christianity  with  superstition,  and 
cast  away  the  word  of  Jehovah.     There  was,  however,  to  be  no 
Temple  save  the  Temple  of  Reason.     As  it  were,  in  the  inner 
coiH't  of  this  structure,  the  league  had  been  formed  against  all  who 
looked  higher  than  Nature,  for  the  object  of  their  veneration  and 
confidence.     They  had  banded  together,  and  their  Dictiomiaire 
Encijclopklique  contained  the  entire  poison  of  the  sect — Scepticism, 
Materialism,  Deism,  and  unblushing  Atheism.     Carefully  enlisting 
the  lusts  and  passions  on  their  side,  against  every  species  of  re- 


494  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

straint  they  had  vowed  vengeance  ;  but,  above  all,  the  Sacred 
Volume  excited  their  implacable  hatred.  Voltaire,  their  hoary 
ringleader,  was  born  in  169 1,  and  at  the  age  of  81,  was  full  of  the 
hope  of  success.  Upon  Louis  the  Sixteenth  ascending  the  throne, 
in  1775,  when  writing  to  Frederick  of  Prussia,  the  philosopher 
King,  for  such  was  the  title  in  which  they  gloried — "I  know 
not,"  said  he,  "  whether  our  young  King  will  imitate  your  exam- 
ple, but  I  know  that,  with  the  exception  of  one,  who  is  a  bigot,  he 
has  taken  philosophers  for  his  ministers  ;  one  of  them,  M.  Turgot, 
is  worthy  of  your  Majesty's  conversation.  The  priests  are  in 
despair.      This  is  the  heginning  of  a  great  revolution.'''' 

This  vain  and  miserable  apostle  and  high  priest  of  infidelity  had 
now  for  half  a  century  vented  all  his  malice,  especially  against  the 
Scriptures.  With  learning,  such  as  he  had  cultivated  and  pos- 
sessed, with  genius  and  wit,  he  had  daily,  year  after  year,  put  forth 
all  his  strength.  Both  Jews  and  Christians,  the  Old  Testament 
and  the  New,  he  had  assailed,  as  if  laboring  under  a  virulent  spe- 
cies of  black  inspiration.  At  this  moment  he  was  within  three 
years  of  his  death,  as  he  expired  at  Paris  on  the  30th  of  May, 
1778,  it  is  generally  understood,  in  mental  agony  not  to  be  de- 
scribed. It  was  only  three  years  after,  when  one  of  the  best  of  oui 
English  poets  placed  him  in  contrast  with  an  English  Christian 
cottaofer — "never  heard  of  half  a  mile  from  home,"  and  in  verse 
which  will  never  die. 

'■  The  Scripture  was  his  jest-book,  whence  he  drew 
'  Bon  mots'  to  gall  the  Christian  and  the  Jew; 
An  infidel  in  health — but  what  when  sick. '! 
Oh— then  a  text  would  touch  him  at  tjie  quick: 
View  him  at  Paris  in  his  last  career. " 

The  votaries  of  this  school,  it  is  well  known,  died  miserably  al- 
most to  a  man.  Condorcet  swallowed  poison,  when,  in  the  depth 
of  wretchedness,  he  was  pursued  by  the  myrmidons  of  the  Revo- 
lution at  that  time  raging.  Tlie  scene  was  then,  if  it  be  not  still, 
indescribable.  There  was  no  inundation  of  surrounding  nations 
from  without,  no  earthquake  or  pestilence  from  within,  but  a 
ferocity  more  terrible  than  them  all  in  vniion,  which  spared  no  age, 
nor  sex,  nor  rank.  With  all  its  horrors,  however,  it  was  nothing 
more  than  the  natural  or  necessary  result  of  those  principles  which 
had  been  diffused  throughout  France,  for  many  years ;  and  with 
a  zeal  which  had  never,  in  modern  times,  been  exhibited  by  the 
believers  in  Christianity.  As  if  to  keep  them  humble,  and  rouse 
them  to  activity,  in  all  time  to  come,  and  especially  in  times  like 
the  present ;  never  let  it  be  forgotten,  that  before  the  Revolution 
of  1792,  the  promoters  of  infidehty  in  France  are  stated  to  have 
raised  among  themselves  and  spent,  a  sum  equal  to  nine  hundred 
thousand  pounds  in  one  year,  nay,  again  and  again,  in  purchas- 
ino-,  printing  and  dispersing  books,  to  corrupt  the  minds  of  the 
people,  and  prepare  them  for  desperate  measures  ! 

Amidst  a  frenzy,  so  peculiar  in  its  character,  and  certainly  un- 
known to  any  former  age.  while  France  was  driving  on  in  misery, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  495 

neither  Britain,  nor  even  her  colonies,  remained  unmoved.  To 
say  nothing'  of  older  sceptics,  from  Herbert  to  Hobbes,  England  had 
now  her  Edward  Gibbon  ;  Scotland,  her  David  Hume,  who  by  the 
way  had  first  lighted  his  taper  in  France,  with  a  view  to  his  own 
country;  and  then  finally  came  home,  an  Apostle  to  the  common 
people,  Thomas  Paine  from  xlmerica.  In  Britain  the  sentiments 
of  Ciibbon  and  Hume  had  infected  the  higher  classes,  and  it  is  well 
if  many  of  them  be  not  infected  still;  but  for  the  people  at  large, 
Paine,  though  obliged  to  leave  his  native  land,  sent  into  it  four- 
teen thousand  of  his  deistical  publications,  and  these  were  followed 
by  large  and  cheap  editions  printed  on  British  ground,  and  most 
industriously  circulated. 

After  all  this,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  Channel,  certainly  never 
more  could  infidelity  complain  of  want  of  time  or  space,  to  put 
forth  all  her  strength.  The  tree  was  one  of  a  hundred  years' 
growth,  and  now  it  stood  like  the  deadly  upas,  in  great  vigor, 
spreading  its  branches  all  around.  Philosophy,  falsely  so  called, 
had  actually  done  her  "perfect  work,"  and  to  what  now  did  it  all 
amount?  The  mass  of  a  mighty  neighboring  nation  was  reduced 
to  the  rank  of  atheism  ;  one  of  the  most  current  of  all  languages 
had  become  the  language  of  infidelity  ;  the  most  polished  people 
upon  earth  had  become  the  most  profligate,  and  even  ferocious  ; 
the  burning  lava  of  French  principles  was  overflowing  the  Conti- 
nental nations,  and  Britain  was  now  jnore  than  threatened  :  she  had 
been  scorched,  and  begun  to  suflTer.  Her  very  colonies  were 
affected.  Not  only  Avas  the  baneful  influence  felt  in  America,  but 
even  in  India,  almost  all  Europeans  were  of  the  infidel  school. 
There,  said  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  "  every  form  of  religion  was 
tolerated,  except  the  Christian."'  Some  English  writers  went  so 
far  as  to  apply  to  the  times  one  passage  of  Sacred  writ :  "  And  the 
fourth  angel  poured  out  his  vial  on  the  sun  ;  and  power  was  given 
unto  him  to  scorch  men  with  fire  :  and  men  were  scorched  with 
great  heat,  and  blasphemed  the  name  of  God,  which  hath  power 
over  these  plagues :  and  they  repented  not  to  give  him  glory." 
They  remarked,  at  the  same  time,  that  this  "heat"  could  not  be 
understood  of  the  persecution  of  the  faithful,  because  they  would 
not  blasphejne  under  it.  But  all  prophetic  or  ambiguous  language 
apart — 

"The  very  spirit  of  the  world  was  tired 
Of  its  own  tauntintj  question,  asked  so  long, 
'  Where  is  the  promise  of  your  Lord's  approach  1'    ' 
The  infidel  had  shot  his  bolts  away, 
Till,  his  exhausted  quiver  yielding  none. 
He  glean'd  the  blunted  shafts  that  had  recoil'd, 
And  aiiu'd  them  at  the  shield  of  Truth  again." 

Such  a  scene  Europe  had  never  before  witnessed,  so  that  if  the 
dormant  energies  of  all  who  believed  in  Divine  Revelation  had 
not  been  awakened,  never  could  they  have  said  that  burning  zeal 
had  not  been  displayed  by  the  enemy — zeal  sufficient  to  have 
roused  the  soul  of  every  one  in  this   country,  who  rested  all  his 


496  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

hope  for  time  and  eternity  on  the  Sacred  Vokime  o.lone.  To  this, 
therefore,  and  to  this  alone,  and  witlioiii  note  or  comment,  mu&t, 
they  not  finally  turn  ? 

In  these  circumstances,  however,  and  only  thus  far,  we  may  be 
permitted  to  remark  one  notable  distinction  between  France  and 
Britain.  Both  countries,  it  will  be  said,  had  produced  their  re- 
spective infidels,  and  where  then  lay  any  dilFerence  ?  In  France 
had  they  not  enjoyed  elegant  writers  in  Fenelon  and  Pascal  ? 
Ecclesiastical  and  civil  historians,  as  in  Dupin,  Fleury,  and  Rol- 
lin  ?  Nay,  celebrated  preachers,  as  in  Bourdaloue  and  Massillon  'I 
True,  nor  do  we  forget  among  them  all,  Houbigant,  living  till 
within  about  thirty  months  of  being  an  hundred  years  old,  from 
1686  to  1783.  Shut  out,  by  deafness,  from  society  around  him, 
for  more  than  eighty  years  of  study,  he  had  put  forth  his  Hebrew 
Bible  in  four  volumes  folio  in  1753  ;  and  borrowing  strength  from 
FiHgland  and  Scotland,  translated  Charles  Leslie's  tracts  against 
Deism,  and  President  Forbes's  thoughts  on  Religion,  natural  and 
revealed.  But  still,  throughout  the  eighteenth  century,  there  had 
risen  not  one  French  mind,  of  sufficient  power  and  skill  to  gain- 
say and  resist,  so  as  to  check  the  tide  of  infidelity.  No,  it  spread 
over  the  people,  and  swept  all  before  it  into  one  common  ruin. 
And  why?  The  people  in  France  had  not  read  the  Script- 
ures FOR  THEf^sELVES.  A  Ceremonial  religion,  though  sup- 
ported by  immense  v/ealth,  had  proved  to  be  no  barrier.  On 
British  ground  there  was  a  difference.  Her  sceptics  in  succes- 
sion, had,  every  one  of  them,  been  looked  hard  in  the  face.  From 
Herbert  down  to  Hume  and  Paine,  the}^  had  been  fully  met,  ex- 
posed and  overthrown  ;  while  Deism,  false  philosophy,  and  boasted 
human  reason  were  not  only  tried  by  appeal  to  the  oracles  of  God, 
but  scrutinized  as  to  their  moral  tendency,  and  found  wanting. 
But  Yv4iy  all  this,  or  rather  why  successful,  to  whatever  degree? 
AVe  hesitate  not  to  reply,  that  there  is  but  one  answer.  The 
people  in  Britain  had  long  read  the  Scriptures  for  them- 
selves. 

Such  a  storm  as  this,  however,  was  not  to  be  drifted  to  leeward 
by  the  breezes  of  controversy.  Man  might  do  his  utmost,  and 
seemed  to  have  done  so  ;  but  the  sky  had  not  cleared,  nor,  to 
human  apprehension,  had  the  tide  tuined.  At  last,  towards  the 
close  of  the  century,  Richard  Watson,  who  had  so  meanly  crouched 
to  Gibbon  in  1779,  after  having  written  against  him  in  his  "  Apol- 
ogy for  Christianit}^,-'  put  forth  a  second  apology.  It  v/as  no  other 
than  an  '■'■  Apolo^.y'''  for  the  Bible  !  !  This  able  publication  was 
of  great  use,  so  far  as  the  audacious  and  vulgar  sophistry  of  Paine 
had  imposed  on  such  as  had  not  previously  examined  for  them- 
selves ;  although  the  advocate  of  divine  truth  could  not  have  de- 
scended loiDer,  in  adopting  such  a  title,  in  reference  to  such  a 
creature;  but  still  there  was  actually  nothing  done  by  man,  such 
as  the  times  demanded.  Disintangling  the  sophisms  of  infidel 
writers,  or  resisting  the  scurrility  of  licentious  and  profane  men, 
was  but  like  fighting  in  the  fire  for  very  vanity.     Human  compo- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  497 

sition  of  any  kind  was  but  of  little  avail.  It  was  not  a  time  for 
writing  books.     The  season  called  for  action — united  action. 

Here,  however,  obstacles  deeply  rooted,  and  of  long  standing", 
presented  themselves,  and  especially  in  Britain  throughout.  That 
there  were  myriads  of  Christians  within  her  shores,  all  reading 
the  same  Bible,  could  be  questioned  by  no  man  ;  but  how  to  bring 
those  myriads  together,  or  how  to  make  them  act  in  union,  were 
questions  more  difficult  than  that  which  Columbus  proposed  with 
respect  to  the  Qg^.  Dilferences,  professedly  conscientious,  had  kept 
British  Christians  asunder  for  ages.  As  bodies  of  men,  they  had 
been  living  in  a  state  of  estrangement  from  each  other,  from  father 
to  son.  It  seemed  as  if  there  were  even  a  degree  of  hereditary 
alienation  from  each  other.  The  writer  is  old  enough  to  remember 
all  this  distinctly,  and  more  than  this.  Not  to  mention  prejudice, 
selfishness,  or  easy  indifference,  there  was  the  spirit  of  nationality, 
as  seen,  not  merely  in  the  different  forms  under  which  Christianity 
was  professed,  but  in  the  five  different  languages  spoken  within 
the  realm.  Among  them  all,  there  were  those  who  read  and  re- 
vered the  sacred  page  ;  but  lioio  they  were  to  be  brought  together; 
how  they  were  ever  to  put  forth  their  energy  in  union,  no  man 
had  yet  said,  because  no  one  had  yet  seen.  There  was  the  spirit 
of  monopoly  affecting  every  interest,  whether  sacred  or  civil ;  or. 
what  was  many  years  since  designated  by  no  common  mind,  the 
mind  of  Wilberforce,  that  "nasty  little  corporation  spirit,"  which  not 
only  tied  up  the  hand,  but  froze  the  heart,  and  made  self  the  centre 
and  circumference,  whether  of  feeling  or  desire.  All  these  things 
had  given  such  a  tough  and  unaccommodating  character  to  Christ- 
ians, on  the  whole,  that  imion  to  any  great  extent  was  certainly 
tiot  premeditated.     By  the  generality  it  was  not  then  expected. 

Long  had  Britain  boasted  of  her  "  Listituiions'^ — far  too  long. 
But,  though  formed  professedly  both  for  defence  and  safety  in  time 
of  danger,  to  which  of  them  could  she,  or  did  she,  now  look  for 
help,  against  the  common  foe  of  divine  truth  7  She  stood,  indeed, 
like  a  stag  at  bay,  and  withstood,  as  no  other  nation  had ;  but  it 
is  not  now  to  be  concealed,  or  to  be  forgotten,  that  not  one  of  her 
corporate  bodies,  not  one  of  her  "interests,"  or  her  long-estab- 
lished institutions,  stepped  forward,  as  such  ;  nor  would  the  strong- 
est of  them  all  have  been  of  any  avail  in  turning  the  tide  of  infi- 
delity, much  less  in  driving  it  back.  The  fact  was,  that  a  spirit 
of  scepticism  had  more  or  less  infected  all  ranks  and  all  parties  ; 
and  yet  the  union  of  all  w^as  demanded,  a  united  phalanx,  a 
larger  Christian  circle  than  Britain  had  ever  vv'itnessed,  and,  ulti- 
mately, than  the  world  itself  had  seen.  Yet  how  was  such  a 
thing  possible? 

Meanwhile,  the  enemy  had  been  united,  and  united  only  for 
purposes  of  vengeance  or  disorganization.  The  enemy  was  at 
the  gates,  and  had  spoken  with  a  voice  which  had  made  the  na- 
tions quail — our  own  included.  But  in  regard  to  this  country,  it 
is  most  of  all  remarkable,  for  we  are  now  at  sufficient  distance  to 
see  it  as  soon  as  pointed  out,  the  real  state  of  things  was  per- 

32 


498  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

ceived  by  no  man  in  it.  In  the  very  heart  of  this  crisis,  as  in 
every  other  such,  or  just  when  the  tide  of  infidehty  was  rising  to 
its  height,  Providence  was  first,  and  the  first  mover.  The  names 
of  a  very  few  men  then  moved,  remain  unknown  to  this  day ;  nor 
was  a  single  individual  among  this  feeble  band  then  aware  of  the 
work  he  had  begun.  The  enemy  was  certainly  coming  in  like  a 
flood;  but  the  finger  of  God  had  already  at  least  pointed  to  a 
standard  against  him.  It  involved  but  a  single,  but  a  simple 
idea,  in  proof  of  the  quarter  from  whence  it  came ;  yet  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  century  passed  away,  before  it  was  heartily  taken  up 
by  man.  God  had  spoken  once,  nay,  twice,  yet  man  perceived  it 
not.  The  first  time  he  did  so,  a  remedy  was  pointed  out,  appli- 
cable not  to  one  class  in  this  nation  alone,  or  at  such  a  season,  but 
to  the  world  at  large,  though  this  was  not  yet  observed.  The 
second  time  was  in  reference  to  France  itself,  and  at  the  very 
moment  in  which  their  fearful  Revolution  was  about  to  burst  out ; 
though  that  was  not  a  soil  where  such  an  idea  could  tJien  be  ex- 
pected to  ripen  into  action.  "  The  still  small  voice,"  however, 
already  uttered,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  channel,  was  not  to  be 
ultimately  drowned  in  the  roar  of  infidelity. 

But  in  addition  to  those  incidents,  which  will  be  explained  pres- 
ently, it  will  also  appear  that,  though  it  was  in  the  shades  of  ob- 
scurity, God  had  already  infused  a  spirit  of  deepest  sympathy  into 
one  human  breast  in  England.  It  was  sympathy  for  his  country, 
though  not  for  it  alone,  but  more  especially  for  foreign  and  dis- 
tant, or  heathen  nations.  In  modern  times,  it  was  the  commence- 
ment of  a  NEW  feeling  in  the  human  heart,  and  of  more  value  to 
the  best  interests  of  Britain,  than,  as  a  nation,  she  has  even  yet 
perceived.  Such,  however,  will  turn  out  to  be  the  first  symptoms 
of  that  great  movement  to  which  Ave  have  alluded,  and  now  turn. 

In  the  year  1780,  while  England  was  in  a  state  of  warfare  not 
only  with  America  and  France,  but  with  Spain  and  Holland,  the 
first  association  of  individuals  known  by  a  title  taken  from  the 
Scriptures  themselves,  without  note  or  comment,  took  its  rise. 
'■'■The  Bible  ^Society,'"  and  nothing  more,  was  the  name  chosen. 
With  whom  the  idea  originated,  has  never  been  clearly  stated ; 
but  at  such  a  period  it  was  the  more  singular,  as  being  intended 
solely  for  the  benefit  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  It  had  been  resolved 
to  put  into  their  hands  the  words  of  Him  of  whom  it  is  said,  "  He 
shall  judge  among  the  nations,  and  rebuke  many  people,  and  they 
shall  beat  their  swords  into  ploughshares,  and  their  spears  into 
pruning  hooks — neither  sliall  they  learn  war  any  more."  It  ap- 
pears to  have  been  simply  the  idea  of  their  frequent  exposure  to 
death,  whether  by  land  or  sea,  that  suggested  the  movement. 

This  Society  was  supported  by  ''voluntary  individual  subscrip- 
tions, and  collections  at  difierent  places  of  worship."  Within  two 
years  they  had  expended  upwards  of  £1500,  having  distributed 
more  than  eleven  thousand  Bibles  among  different  regiments  and 
ship's  crews.  The  very  first  ship  to  which  they  gave  the  Script- 
ures, it  is  singular  enough,  was  one,  the  hulk  of  wiiich  Major- 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  499 

General  Pasley,  with  such  laborious  ingenuity  has  been  raising 
out  of  the  deep  in  our  own  day,  at  the  distance  of  sixty  years 
after  she  had  sunk. 

"  It  was  not  in  the  battle  ;  "  A  land  breeze  shook  the  shrouds, 

No  tempest  gave  the  shock  ;  And  she  was  overset; 

She  sprang  no  fatal  leak ;  Down  went  the  Royal  George, 

She  ran  upon  no  rock.  With  all  her  crew  complete." 

It  must  have  been  about  eighteen  months  before  this  that  a 
Bible  had  been  given  to  every  couple  of  seamen  ;  and  "  by  letters 
from  some  on  board,  written  before  the  sad  and  sudden  event,  there 
was  sufficient  ground  to  believe  that  the  Holy  Scriptures  had  made 
some  of  that  crew  wise  unto  salvation."  There  were  400  Bibles 
on  board,  "  when  Kempenfelt  went  down  with  twice  four  hundred 
men."  At  subsequent  periods  we  read  of  many  thousands  of  the 
Sacred  Volume  having  been  distributed  ;  for  it  need  scarcely  be 
mentioned  that  this  is  the  same  institution  which  exists  at  the 
present  day,  under  the  title  of  the  Naval  and  Military  Bible 
Society. 

It  was  not  till  ten  years  later,  or  May  1792,  that  we  hear  of  an- 
other kindred  association.  A  certain  number  of  individuals  in 
England,  chiefly  in  London,  had  met,  and  assumed  the  title  of 
^'' The  French  Bible  iSocieti/J''  Their  object  Avas  to  furnish  those 
persons  in  the  French  nation  who  were  destitute,  with  copies  of 
the  Scriptures  in  their  native  tongue. 

They  had  opened  correspondence  with  some  gentlemen  in 
Paris,  who  had  expressed  an  intention  of  forming  a  similar  So- 
ciety. A  printer  at  Paris  had  been  engaged,  and  four  thousand 
livres  remitted  in  advance,  while  they  in  England  recommended 
the  formation  of  societies  in  different  parts  of  this  country.  But 
all  this  was  in  vain  :  it  was  all  too  late,  whether  on  this  side  of 
the  Channel  or  on  that.  Over  France,  in  general,  and  especially 
throughout  the  summer  of  1792,  there  was  lowering  nothing  save 
the  sulkiness  of  a  thunder-storm  before  it  opens,  and  the  Revolu- 
tionary war  put  a  period  to  all  communication  between  the  coun- 
tries. The  funds  remitted  were  lost.  "  We  have  lived  in  times," 
said  the  printer,  still  alive  in  1801,  "  which  have  destroyed  every- 
thing, overturned  everything,  and  all  must  begin  afresh."  But 
nothing  then  could  be  either  begun,  or  carried  on  ;  so  the  money 
collected  in  England  had  to  be  spent  in  circulating  English  Bibles 
in  Ireland,  and  the  Society  was  then  dissolved  ! 

Nor,  in  this  failure,  was  there  anything  to  discourage  the  histo- 
rian of  the  times.  No  work  of  any  magnitude  ever  took,  its  first 
rise  from  an  assemblage,  or  confederacy,  whether  large  or  small. 
Of  this  fact  we  have  abundant  illustration  in  Scripture  itself ;  it 
is  reiterated  with  great  power,  especially  in  t!ie  eleventh  chapter 
to  the  Hebrews ;  and  our  previous  history  from  the  beginning 
throughout  forms  a  running  attestation  to  the  same  efTect,  An 
association  of  any  kind,  involved  too  many  for  God  to  begin  with. 
At  all  events,  we  do  not  hear  one  word  more  of  a  Bible  Society, 
nor  was  one  spoken  of,  for  more  than  ten  years  to  come. 


500  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

These  years,  however,  even  from  1780,  were  pregnant  with  vital 
importance  in  regard  to  all  that  have  followed  since.  And  though 
even  now  but  imperfectly  understood,  in  other  days,  when  tracing 
the  footsteps  of  a  gracious  Providence,  not  in  our  Island  alone,  but 
in  lands  distant  "  far  as  the  sea-fowl  in  a  year  can  fly,"  they  will 
look  back  to  this  period,  or  before  the  existence  of  any  modern 
efforts,  styled  missionar}^,  when  the  Church  at  large  lay  in  a  state 
of  sad  and  criminal  repose.  But  in  doing  this,  every  one  will  have 
to  be  alike  content,  siiould  he  meet  with  scarcely  more  than  one 
human  agent,  or  no  more  than  one  man,  wherever  he  was,  and 
however  unknown  at  the  time. 

If,  therefore,  throughout  these  years,  there  was  anything  else  in 
progress,  however  secretly, — if  there  was  one  individual  mind 
loaded  with  one  subject,  and  if,  instead  of  any  community  of 
whatever  description,  that  individual  attract  notice,  it  will  only  be 
in  perfect  keeping  with  the  entire  history  through  which  we  have 
passed.  Now.  from  the  year  1780  down  to  1792,  when  he  fully 
declared  himself,  and  in  the  very  same  month,  when  certain  men, 
of  whom  he  knew  nothing,  were  thinking  of  France,  their  next- 
door  neighbor  only  ;  we  are  informed  of  one  who.  when  all  that  he 
accomplished  before  death  is  taken  into  account,  cannot  be  over- 
looked without  doing  injustice  to  the  present  history.  If  his  mind 
had  been,  for  years,  engrossed, — if  his  heart  had  been,  in  truth  op- 
pressed by  a  sense  of  pity  for  mankind,  and  of  imperative  obligation 
to  convey  the  Volume  of  Inspiration  to  every  land,  we  have  found 
at  least  one  appropriate  link  in  the  chain  of  our  narrative  with 
regard  to  the  Scriptures,  nor  have  we  been  able  to  find  any  other. 

It  was  in  the  year  1779,  v.dien  he  had  only  completed  his 
eighteenth  year,  that  this  young  man  was  brought  to  a  heartfelt 
persuasion  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  and,  in  justice  to  the 
English  Bible,  in  the  first  instance,  let  it  be  observed,  that  in 
little  more  than  three  years,  "  without  reading  anything  material 
on  Christian  doctrine,  besides  the  Scriptures,  he  had  formed  his 
own  system."  The  same  version,  for  many  generations,  his  coun- 
trymen and  forefathers  in  succession  had  been  perusing  ;  but  cer- 
tainly never  since  it  was  first  translated,  had  it  been  read  with  the 
same  ultimate  effects,  for  his  mind  was  already  bent  upon  action. 
These  early  impressions  were  the  more  remarkable  in  that  they 
were  cherished,  and  grew,  amidst  a  most  singular  conflict  of 
opinion,  respecting  the  duty  of  all  to  whom  the  Gospel  is  pro- 
claimed, to  believe  it — so  very  low  had  Scriptural  Christianity 
sunk  !  At  the  same  moment,  senior  ministers  of  the  truth,  around 
him,  we're  saying, — ^'-The  time  is  not  come;  the  time  that  the 
Lord's  house  should  be  built ;"  and  those  in  younger  3^ears  re- 
sponded,— "There  is  more  than  enough  to  do  at  home."  Cer- 
tainly, no  one  was  more  ready  to  admit,  that  much,  very  much, 
remained  to  be  accomplished  in  his  own  country ;  but  of  this 
young  man  it  requires  to  be  particular!}^  observed,  that  it  was 
rather  the  dark  and  immoral  state  of  the  world  itself,  and  upon 
the  largest   scale,  which  had   taken  possession  of  him,  and  so 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH     BIBLE.  501 

preyed  upon  his  spirits.  It  is  now  an  established  fact,  that  for 
years  together  he  had  no  one  who  could  fully  sympathize  with 
the  deep  and  peculiar  frame  of  his  spirit.  From  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  circumstances,  even  the  writer  is  able  to  attest 
as  much.  All  that  time  he  emphatically  belonged  to  himself. 
A  persisting  and  unquenchable  efficacy  of  purpose  dwelt  in  him, 
night  and  day. 

^Y  this  time  there  may  be  not  a  few  who  suspect  or  anticipate 
that  we  have  been  alluding  to  Carey — the  Tyndale,  in  our  own 
day,  not  of  an  island  only,  but  of  a  continent,  or  not  of  Bengal 
alone,  with  its  thirty  millions  of  a  population,  but  the  first  transla- 
tor of  the  Bible  entire  into  the  parent  language  of  India,  as  well 
as  several  of  its  dialects,  and  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures 
into  others,  not  a  few.  As  a  reader  of  the  English  Bible,  in  the 
first  instance,  and  with  such  efiect,  he  comes  to  fill  his  appropriate 
place  in  such  a  work  as  the  present. 

At  the  same  time  in  which  William  Carey  was  meditating  on 
this  subject,  and  devising  ways  and  means  to  give  the  Bible  to  the 
whole  world,  the  great  philanthropist,  Thomas  Clarkson,  then  a 
young  man,  was  revolving  in  his  noble  heart  his  plans  for  the 
abolition  of  slavery  and  the  slave  trade. 

Throughout  the  whole  of  the  following  year,  or  1786,  it  is  im- 
possible to  say  of  Carey  and  Clarkson,  which  was  most  painfully 
engrossed  with  his  appropriate  subject.  The  latter  began  to  think 
"that  the  finger  of  Providence  was  discernible,"  but  the  former 
still  met  with  objections,  on  the  ground  of  "  so  much  needing  to 
be  done  at  honic.'^  Before  the  close  of  this  year.  Clarkson  imag- 
ined "  that  the  day-star  of  African  liberty  was  rising,  and  that 
probably  he  might  be  permitted  to  become  a  humble  instrument  in 
promoting  it ;  l)ut  to  Carey  neither  sun  nor  star  for  many  days 
appeared.  His  object  being  of  a  deeper  character,  he  must  sustain 
still  longer  mental  suspense.  The  fact  was,  that  Clarkson  had 
been  more  than  surprised,  to  hear  of  the  labors  of  Granville 
Sharp,  and  that  some  six  individuals  in  London  had  been  associ- 
ated for  the  purpose  of  enlightening  the  public  mind  ;  while,  at  the 
same  moment,  Carey  also  had  at  least  three  stanch  friends,  to  whom 
he  had  applied  with  great  earnestness.  These,  it  is  well  known, 
were  Fuller,  Sutcliff,  and  Ryland.  He  this  year  had  urged 
any  one  of  thera  to  take  up  his  subject,  but  they  knowing  well 
how  much  and  deeply  he  had  thought,  devolved  it  on  himself 
When  the  extent  to  which  he  pushed  his  "Enquiry,"  is  observed, 
and  the  circumstances  of  the  writer  at  the  moment  are  taken  into 
account,  if  we  consider  it  simply  as  a  literary  production,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  parallel.  Ungainly  in  his  appearance,  ab- 
sorbed in  thought,  he  was  regarded  by  some  others  as  phlegmatic, 
and  how  could  he  be  otherwise  than  dull?  Independently  of  the 
subject  with  which  his  mind  was  loaded,  he  was  now  preaching 
regularly  at  Moulton,  a  village  four  miles  from  Northampton,  for 
an  income  much  below  twenty  pounds,  and  he  was  teaching  a 
school  as  an  additional  means  of  support !     These  were  circum- 


502  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

stances  not  likely  to  elevate  the  spirits  of  any  man,  and  which 
certainly  augured  anything  but  future  influence  and  power ;  save 
in  the  eye  of  Him  who  "draws  from  human  littleness  his  grand- 
eur and  renown."  But  still,  he  was  now  reading  the  Bible  in 
three,  if  not  four  languages,  and  every  incidental  circumstance 
only  contributed  to  deepen  the  impression  on  his  mind,  as  well  as 
his  sympathy  for  the  most  distant  nations.  Among  other  branches, 
when  instructing  some  of  the  village  children  in  geography,  of 
which  he  was  very  fond,  he  had  resolved  to  inform  them,  as  he 
pointed  out  the  different  countries  on  the  map,  or  rather  on  a  globe 
by  himself  constructed  of  leather,  the  religion  professed  by  each 
of  them.  Going  over  these,  as  he  had  to  do,  again  and  again, 
saying — "  These  are  Christians,  and  these  are  Mahomedans,  and 
these  are  Pagans,  and  these  are  Pagans,  and  these  are  Pagans .'" 
the  thought  would  as  often  return  upon  him — "Why,  they  are 
almost  all  Pagans,  and  I  am  now  telling  these  children  as  a  mere 
fact,  that  which  involves  a  truth  of  the  most  melancholy  charac- 
ter."    Bui  so  passed  away  1786,  and  longer  still. 

Heartfelt  sympathy,  or  conscientious  obligation  with  regard  to 
the  moral  condition  of  Heathen  nations,  or  distant  lands,  was  un- 
questionably a  neiv  feeling,  which  had  now  sprung  up  within  the 
shores  of  P^ngland.  For  more  than  two  centuries  and  a  half  she 
had  enjoyed  the  light  of  Divine  revelation,  but  had  never  yet 
acted  fully  in  character,  or  almost,  in  any  degree,  worthy  of  the 
high  favor  bestowed  upon  her,  whether  in  1.526,  or  in  1537. 

The  feeling,  however,  now  to  be  found  in  the  bosom  of  one 
man,  w^as  not  to  be  cherished  only,  and  then  to  die  with  him. 
For  several  years  still,  indeed,  this  deep  impression  had  to  be 
maintained  amidst  feeble  hopes  of  success,  or  rather  many  discour- 
agements. Thus,  partly  owing  to  straitened  circumstances,  and 
to  his  own  modesty,  the  "Enquir}^,"  of  Carey  w^as  not  published 
till  1792.  But  the  same  year  he  enjoyed  one  special  public  oppor- 
tunity of  unburdening  his  mind  of  the  convictions  and  impres- 
sions of  previous  years.  Having  read  Isaiah  liv.  2,  3,  he  remarked 
in  his  introduction,  that  the  Church  was  here  addressed  as  a  deso- 
late widow,  dwelling  in  a  little  cottage  by  herself;  that  the  com- 
mand given,  to  enlarge  her  tent,  contained  an  intimation  that 
there  should  be  an  enlargement  of  her  family;  and  that  to  ac- 
count for  so  unexpected  a  change,  she  was  told  that  her  "  Maker 
was  her  husband,"  so  that  another  day  he  would  be  called  "  the 
God  of  the  whole  earth."  He  then  enforced  what  he  conceived  to 
be  the  spirit  of  his  text,  in  two  exhortations.  ^'-Expect  great 
things— fro?n  God.'^  "  Attempt  great  tilings— for  God."  "  If 
all  the  people  had  lifted  up  their  voices  and  wept,"  said  Ryland, 
"I  should  not  have  wondered  at  the  effect;  it  would  only  have 
seemed  proportionate  to  the  cause  ;  so  clearly  did  he  prove  the 
criminality  of  our  supineness,  in  the  cause  of  God."  To  all  he 
then  uttered,  the  preacher  soon  gave  the  force  of  his  own  example, 
by  leaving  his  native  land,  with  the  fixed  intention  of  laying  his 
bones  in  India. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  503 

It  io  worthy  of  lemaik,  that  while  the  audience  he  had  ad- 
dressed, was  so  deejily  moved  at  the  inomeat,  there  is  certainly  no 
discourse  in  modern  times,  which  has  been  so  frequently  alluded 
to  since.  The  two  leading  remarks  have  been  repeated,  as  a  sort 
of  "  key-note  ;"  then  first  struck  ;  and  repeated  also,  as  an  instiga- 
tion to  exertion,  ever  since,  for  these  fifty  years,  in  England,  Amer- 
ica, and  the  East.  And  why?  Within  the  compass  of  an  hour, 
the  man  was  expressing  the  deep  feeling  of  eight  or  nine  years. 

Upon  embarking  for  India  next  year,  it  might  have  been  sup- 
posed that  England  would  have  enjoyed  the  favor  of  sending  to 
her  own  colonial  possessions  one  of  her  own  sons,  so  bent  on  con- 
veying the  word  of  life  and  truth  to  the  Heathen ;  but  as  a  nation 
or  government,  she  could  no  more  enter  into  the  design,  even  in 
1792,  than  she  had  done  when  she  herself  was  about  to  be  so  mer- 
cifully visited,  through  Tyndale,  in  1526.  The  analogy  between 
the  two  cases  was  but  too  strong.  If  on  the  part  of  authority,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  there  had  been  fear  of 
England  receiving  the  Sacred  Volume  in  her  native  language  ;  so 
in  the  close  of  the  eighteenth,  on  the  part  of  certain  authorities, 
there  was  also  fear  as  to  the  consequences  of  giving-  it,  and  that 
to  her  own  Eastern  possessions  !  !  The  second  psalm,  after  hav- 
ing been  read  upon  British  ground,  for  above  two  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  was  not  yet  understood  !  The  honor,  therefore,  of  con- 
veying Carey  to  his  appointed  field  of  action,  was  given  to  a 
Danish  vessel,  and  he  left  his  native  land,  never  to  return,  as  Tyn- 
dale had  done,  so  long  before.  Nor  did  the  resemblance  here  ter- 
minate. Our  translator  was  never  quite  secure  of  permanent  resi- 
dence, in  his  adopted  continent,  till  he  had  sat  down  upon  Danish 
ground  at  Serampore,  and  for  a  short  period,  when  it  was  taken 
by  the  British,  scarcely  even  there.  Still  it  was  from  this  spot, 
as  from  a  little  sanctuary  of  only  six  square  iiiiles,  that  the  Sacred 
Volume  was  to  issue  forth  in  so  many  of  the  Oriental  languages. 
In  the  modern,  as  well  as  the  ancient  instance,  the  undertaking 
must  appear  to  be,  not  a  national,  but  a  providential  one. 

Carey  having  arrived  at  Calcutta,  in  November  1793,  as  there 
was  no  decided  movement  in  his  native  land  with  regard  to  the 
Eiiglish  Bible,  or  any  other,  for  more  than  ten  years  to  come,  the 
space  can  only  be  filled  up  by  his  progress  in  the  translation  of  the 
Scriptures  into  Bengalee  and  other  tongues,  and  in  their  printing, 
as  commenced  in  the  year  1800. 

Possessed  Vv^ith  a  mature  acquaintance  with  Christian  doctrine, 
in  his  thirty-third  year,  and  in  the  spring  of  1794,  Carey  had  be- 
gun to  translate  the  New  Testament  into  the  language  of  Bengal, 
and  by  1797  it  was  finished,  and  nearly  ready  for  the  press,  as 
soon  as  types  could  be  cast,  and  a  printing-press  procured.  These 
were  the  days  when  everything  was  to  begin-,  and  far  dilferent  in 
their  cliaracter  from  those  of  following  years  ;  but  thus  laboring 
in  India,  there  was  time  sufficient  given,  if  not  appointed,  for  the 
character  and  exertions  of  our  Translator  to  make  a  deep  impres- 
sion upon  individual  minds  at  home,  and  this  they  certainly  did. 


504  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

Thus,  the  venerable  John  Newton  was  fully  acquainted  with 
his  progress,  and  so  early  as  August  1797,  in  his  own  playful  style, 
he  informs  his  intimate  friend.  Dr.  Ryland, — '-Mr.  Carey  has  fa- 
voured me  with  a  letter,  which,  indeed,  I  accept  as  a  favour,  and 
mean  to  thank  him  for  it.  J  look  to  sucli  a  man  with  reverence. 
He  is  more  to  me  than  bishop  or  archbishop  :  he  is  an  apostle. 
May  the  Lord  make  all  who  undertake  missions  like-minded  with 
brother  Carey."  Far  separated  from  all  Christian  society,  and 
literally  alone,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  ancient  idolatry  in  the 
world,  meeting  only  with  Europeans  more  than  tinged  with  inii- 
delity,  they  told  him  that  it  was  impossible  to  convert  the  natives  ; 
!)ut  nothing  could  either  damp  his  zeal,  or  at  least  affect  his  de- 
termined perseverance.  His  dearest  friends  at  home^  in  feeling  for 
his  situation,  had  become  more  alive  to  their  own.  Thus  in  April 
1798,  Fuller  informs  him, — "The  spark  wdiich  God  stirred  you 
up  to  strike  has  kindled  a  great  fire,  not  only  here,  but  in  America. 
I  received  a  letter  lately  from  a  society  in  New  York,  who  are  en- 
deavouring to  station  missionaries  all  along  their  frontiers.  There 
is  a  good  understanding  among  Christians  of  all  denominations 
on  this  subject.  Dark  clouds  overshadow  us  as  a  nation,  but  v/e 
are  happy  in  God.  Infidelity  threatens  to  swallow  up  Christ- 
ianity ;  but  however  those  who  are  interested  in  its  emoluments 
may  tremble,  we  have  no  apprehensions.  Instead  of  waiting  for 
the  attack  of  the  enemy,  we  are  acting  offensively.  The  Christ- 
ian w^orld  is  almost  laying  its  account  with  nothing  but  victory, 
and  commencing  its  operations  against  the  strongholds  of  heathen- 
ism. So  we  have  nothing  to  do  but  to  pray  and  preach.  Our 
worthy  friends  Hardcastle  and  Reyner  feel  interested  much 
in  the  work,  particularly  the  translation.  I  have  just  novv^  received 
a  letter  from  the  former,  full  of  inquiries  as  to  what  can  be  done 
to  promote  it."  Thomas  Scott,  the  well-known  expositor  of 
Scripture,  had  early  conceived  high  expectations  of  Carey,  and  in 
1703  had  written  to  Charles  Grant,  Esq.,  in  his  favour,  who  ex- 
pressed the  most  cordial  desire  to  serve  him  in  his  purpose.  At 
that  period,  however,  and  without  an  atom  of  patronage,  the  trans- 
lator must  and  did  proceed  to  India,  as  already  described.  The 
son  of  Mr.  Scott,  the  late  minister  of  St.  Mary's,  Hull,  had  felt 
with  his  father,  and,  in  writing  the  life  of  that  venerable  and  use- 
ful man,  alludes  to  Carey  and  these  early  days.  "He  is,"  says 
he,  "  perhaps,  better  entitled  than  any  other  individual  to  the 
praise  of  having  given  the  first  impulse  to  the  extraordinary 
exertions  of  the  present  age  for  the  propagation  of  Christ- 
ianity in  the  world.  I  well  remember  the  late  Rev.  Andrew  Ful- 
ler reporting,  at  my  Father's  house,  in  the  year  1792,  the  im- 
pression which  had  been  made  upon  an  a.ssociation  meeting  of  his 
own  denomination,  by  Carey's  sermon  on  the  address  to  the 
Church,  Isaiah  liv.  2,  3,"  (fee.  Mr.  S.  then  refers  to  various  insti- 
tutions as  springing  up  in  succession,  "  all,  we  trust,  destined  to 
contribute  their  share  to  that  great  and  blessed  consummation,  by 
prophecy's  unerring  finger  mark'd,  to  faith's  strong  eye."     But  in 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  505 

these  pages  we  are  necessarily  restricted  to  ^Ae  Scriptures  tliem- 
selves,  and  the  progress  here  made,  till  the  period  when  that  sub- 
ject was  taken  up,  in  good  earnest,  by  the  mother  country. 

By  the  close  of  1799,  Marshman  and  Ward  having  arrived  in 
India,  the  three  men  so  well  known  ever  since,  had  met,  and  set- 
tling down  at  Serampore,  on  the  16th  of  May,  1800,  the  Bengalee 
New  Testament  was  put  to  press,  and  in  less  than  nine  months  it 
was  finished,  on  the  7th  of  February  1801. 

In  1801,  Carey  having  been  appointed,  by  the  lately  deceased 
Marquis  Wellesley,  to  one  of  the  Chairs  in  Fort-Wilham  College, 
his  views  as  to  translation,  \n  conjunction  with  those  of  his  col- 
leagues, were,  throughout  1802,  ripening  into  a  plan  for  embracing 
others.  "  We  have  it  in  our  power,"  said  Carey,  in  1803,  "  if  our 
means  would  do  for  it,  in  the  space  of  about  fifteen  years,  to  have 
the  Word  of  God  translated  and  printed  in  all  the  languages  of 
the  East.  Our  situation  is  such  as  to  furnish  us  with  the  best  as- 
sistance from  natives  of  the  different  countries.  We  can  have 
types  of  all  the  different  characters  cast  here,  and  about  700 
rupees  per  month,  part  of  which  I  hope  7oe  shall  be  able  to  furnish, 
would  complete  the  work." 

Sentiments  of  such  enlarged  compass  as  these,  ever  met  with 
congenial  minds  at  Serampore.  In  truth,  the  "  Enquiry"  of  Carey 
had  spread  out  before  them  the  four  quarters  of  the  earth  with 
their  various  countries,  in  all  their  destitution  of  the  Word  of  God, 
or  knowledge  of  Christianity. 

Carey,  in  the  close  of  1799,  as  already  hinted,  having  been 
joined  by  two  others,  Marshman  and  Ward,  who  labored  with 
him,  they  all  in  union  pursued  the  same  course.  Wai^d,  though 
he  had  been  called  to  the  ministry,  was  a  finished  printer,  and 
under  his  eye  all  printing  was  conducted.  When  upon  his  voy- 
age to  the  East  he  happened  to  write  in  his  journal  these  words, 
by  way  of  anticipation, — "  Unto  me,  who  am  less  than  the  least 
of  all  saints,  is  this  grace  given,  that  I  should  print  among  the 
Heathen  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ," — though  he  little 
knew  to  what  extent  this  favor  would  be  granted  him ;  otherwise 
he  might  have  added,  "  and  in  tioeiity  of  their  languages."  The 
twentieth  version  of  the  New  Testament  had  advanced  to  the 
book  of  Revelation  at  the  press,  by  the  day  of  Mr.  Ward's  decease, 
Friday  7th  March  1823.  It  was  the  twenty-fourth  year  of  his 
residence  in  India. 

In  Marshman,  our  first  translator  had  met  with  a  mind  no  less 
determined  than  his  own  ;  but  as  he  had  taken  up  India,  Marshman 
had  sat  down  to  the  language  of  the  largest  associated  population 
upon  earth — the  Chinese.  "  Four  or  five  persons  in  our  family," 
said  Carey  in  February  1806,  "  are  labouring  hard  at  the  Chinese 
language."  It  was  about  the  beginning  of  that  year  that  Marsh- 
man, with  two  of  his  own  sons  and  one  of  Carey's,  had  com- 
menced the  study  of  this  peculiar  tongue,  and  through  their  per- 
severing efforts,  within  two  years  they  had  attracted  notice. 

But  it  should  see'm  as  if  the  time  to  favor  China,  yea,  the  set 


506  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

time  had  come,  since  another  laborious  and  persevering  man  had 
now  been  engaged  with  the  same  language.  Robert  Morrison  of 
Morpeth,  in  Nortliumberland,  had  landed  at  Macao  in  September 
1807,  and  in  1808  had  commenced  his  studies.  By  1811  and 
181^,  he  too  liad  printed  the  Gospels  of  Mattliew,  Mark,  and  Luke. 
Next  year,  William  Milne,  a  native  of  Aberdeenshire,  also  arrived 
at  Macao,  and  v/as  no  less  diligent  in  the  cultivation  of  Chinese. 
In  short,  here  at  last  were  two  translations  of  the  entire  Script- 
ures in  Chinese  left  by  these  three  men.  The  Chinese  Bible  entire, 
by  Marshman,  was  completed  at  press  in  April  1822.  Upwards 
of  a  year  after,  or  in  the  summer  of  1823,  that  by  Morrison  was 
ready  for  publication.  As  first  versions,  they  remain,  just  as  all 
our  first  European  versions  did,  to  be  greatly  improved.  But  as 
divine  truth  makes  progress  in  China,  as  unquestionably  it  will, 
another  day,  when  contemplating  the  infancy  of  Scriptural  Christ- 
ianity there,  these  devoted  men  will  never  be  forgotten  as  the 
first  and  best  friends  of  that  vast  Empire. 

To  proceed,  therefore,  no  further  than  the  tenth,  or  last  memoir 
of  translations  before  the  decease  of  Carey  on  the  9th  of  June 
1834,  the  entire  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  had 
been  printed  and  circulated  in  seven  languages,  that  is,  in  six 
Oriental  tongues  besides  the  Chinese  ;  the  New  Testament  had 
been  printed  in  twenty-three  languages  more  ;  the  Pentateuch, 
and  other  parts  of  the  Old  Testament,  had  been  also  printed  and 
circulated  in  several  of  these  languages  last  mentioned,  and 
portions  of  the  Scriptures  had  been  printed  in  ten  others.  In 
other  words,  more  than  (loo  hundred  and  tivelve  thousand  volumes 
of  the  Divine  Word,  inforti/  difierenf  languages,  had  issued  from 
the  Serampore  press.  The  population  of  China  has  been  rated 
as  low  as  one  hundred  and  fift}^,  and  as  high  as  three  hundred 
and  sixty-five  millions ;  but  should  w^e  reckon  it  at  no  more  than 
two  hundred  millions,  these  languages  embrace  the  vernacular 
tongues  of  three  hundred  and  eighty  millions  of  immortal  beings; 
of  whom  about  one  hundred  and  forty  millions  are  either  our  fel- 
low subjects,  or  living  under  the  immediate  eye  or  influence  of 
our  rule.  It  is  curious  enough,  that  upon  an  average,  we  have 
a  distinct  language  issued  from  the  press  where  he  was  sitting, 
for  every  year  in  which  Carey  had  been  so  engaged. 

Thus  it  happened,  and  before  the  death  of  this  indef^itigable 
translator,  that  as  far  as  the  translation  and  printing  and  circulat- 
ing of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  were  concerned,  or  in  reference  to 
thai  object  on  Vvhich  his  heart  was  daily  bent  for  forty  years,  there 
had  been  expended  above  ninety-one  tliousand  five  hundred 
pounds.  Of  this  sum,  more  than  sixty-five  thousand  pounds,  in 
congregational  collections,  donations,  or  subscriptions,  from  the 
year  1798  to  1833  inclusive,  had  been  furnished  by  the  Christian 
public  at  large  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  America,  and  India 
itself;  and  from  the  year  1809  to  182(3,  also  inclusive,  there  had 
been  voted  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  twenty-six 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  507 

thousand  two  hundred  pounds,  besides  two  thousand  reams  of 
paper,  to  repair,  in  part,  the  loss  sustained  by  fire  in  1812. 

That  an  undertaking  of  this  magnitude,  to  say  nothing  of  its 
infinite  importance,  should  have  been  accomplished  at  an  average 
annual  expense  of  less  than  two  thousand  four  hundred  pounds, 
is  not  the  least  extraordinary  feature  belonging  to  it ;  and  to  all 
who  have  paid  any  attention  to  such  business,  it  can  only  be  ac- 
counted for  by  certain  mejnorable  circumstances.  The  transla- 
tors, Carey  and  Marshman,  had  not  merely  supported  themselves, 
but  translated,  from  first  to  last,  without  salary  or  reward  from 
any  man,  whether  abroad  or  at  home  ;  not  forgetting  the  printers, 
whether  Ward  or  Marshman  junior,  who  had  followed  their  foot- 
steps, and  also  executed  their  part,  all  along,  at  tlie  lowest  rate. 
Nor  would  even  this  account  for  an  average  amount  so  very  low. 
The  great  expenditure  of  these  men  in  founts  of  types,  cut  on 
the  spot,  and  in  the  improvement  of  paper  made  in  India,  im- 
pervious to  the  worm,  to  which  every  sheet  was  before  exposed,  is 
not  here  included. 

In  conclusion,  therefore,  and  under  all  the  circumstances,  how- 
ever imperfectly  glanced  at,  we  presume,  that  in  this  undertaking, 
as  a  whole,  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize  the  hand  of  God,  and 
much  more  so,  when  it  is  to  be  traced,  as  it  has  been,  and  nmst 
be,  to  the  anxiety  felt  by  a  single  human  spirit — to  a  solitary 
young  man  reading-  his  English  Bible,  or  afterwards  expounding 
it  in  an  English  village,  for  less  than  tv.-enty  pounds  a-year,  and 
teaching  a  village  school  to  eke  out  his  support. 

Such  an  enterprise,  so  warndy  supported  from  home,  could  not 
possibly  fail  to  have  a  powerful  rejiectioe  influence  on  the  mother 
country,  and  more  especially  on  the  healthiest  minds  throughout 
Britain,  who  grounded  their  chief  liope  of  permanent  good  on  tlje  Sa- 
cred Volume  alone.  To  the  Scriptures  themselves,  however,  in  these 
pages  we  are,  of  necessity,  confined,  and  cannot  be  expected  to  no- 
tice various  delightful  proofs  of  the  mind  having  become  quite  alive 
io  foreign  operations,  as  a  duty  imperative  on  British  Christians. 
The  inclination  to  look  far  beyond  the  limits  of  our  own  Island  had 
shown  itself,  for  ten  years,  in  the  formation  of  one  institution  after 
another,  Vv'earing  a  foreign  aspect.  But  still  the  honor  of  an 
amount  of  union,  and  of  union  at  home  throughout,  such  as 
Britain  had  never  witnessed,  or  any  other  nation  known,  was  re- 
served for  the  Bible  alone,  without  note  or  comment.  We  turn 
therefore  to  that  movement,  which  marked  the  early  years  of  the 
present  century. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  had  been  con- 
templated, and  spoken  of,  by  a  few  individuals,  for  above  fifteen 
months  before  any  step  was  taken.  Its  origin  may  be  viewed  in 
one  simple  incident ;,  but  this  incident  occurring  within  the  king- 
dom, it  becomes  more  worthy  of  observation. 

It  is  generally  known  as  an  established  fact,  that  the  institution 
grew  out  of  the  scarcity  of  Welsh  Bibles  throughout  Wales.  It  is 
curious  enough,  that  it  was  not  the  Celtic  tribe  which  had  been, 


508  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

all  along,  so  grievously  neglected,  which  now  at  last  engaged  no- 
tice. The  destitution  of  the  native  Irish,  was  almost  Hke  the 
destitution  of  life  itself.  They  had  then  no  one  to  speak  for  them, 
and  Britain,  like  the  hard-hearted  Levite  of  old,  had  ever  passed 
by  on  the  other  side.  On  the  other  hand,  the  scarcity  so  com- 
plained of  by  the  Welsh,  was  actually  the  result  of  previous  supplies. 
But  upon  inquiry  respecting  these,  we  are  led  back,  not  to  any 
authoritative  or  national  movement,  but  simply,  as  in  other  cases, 
to  individual  benevolent  exertion. 

It  was  in  December  1802,  that  Mr.  Thomas  Charles,  of  Bala, 
happened  to  be  in  London,  lamenting,  as  he  had  often  done,  the 
scarcity  of  Welsh  Bibles  throughout  the  country.  On  Tuesday, 
the  7th  of  that  month,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Tract  Society,  of  which 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Hughes  of  Battersea  was  Secretary,  Mr.  Charles 
was  present,  and  the  subject  was  introduced.  Mr.  Hughes,  a 
member  of  the  same  community  with  Care}^,  had  been  acquainted 
with  every  step  of  his  progress  from  the  beginning,  ten  years  be- 
fore. After  a  long  conversation,  he  stood  up,  and  suggested 
whether  it  would  not  be  desirable  to  awaken  the  public  mind 
towards  a  general  dispersion  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  all  langua- 
ges, or  throughout  the  world.  The  proposal  was  warmly  greeted, 
and  at  the  request  of  all  present,  Mr.  Hughes  drew  up  his  tract  or 
pamphlet  of  thirty  pages,  on  "The  excellence  of  the  Holy  Script- 
ures, an  argument  for  their  more  general  dispersion."  Of  this 
tract,  two  editions  were  circulated  throughout  1803,  and,  after 
various  consultations,  the  result  was,  that  on  the  7th  March  1804, 
that  institution  was  formed,  with  whose  title  not  a  few  are  per- 
fectly familiar  in  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 

In  the  first  instance,  it  will  be  understood  that  it  \f  mainly  in  its 
connection  with  the  English  Scriptures  that  we  are  now  called  to 
notice  the  operations  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society ; 
while,  at  the  same  time,  the  reader  need  scarcely  be  apprized,  that 
the  field  now  opening  before  him,  in  the  history  of  the  English 
Bible,  embraces  a  far  larger  surface.  Before  and  since  the  for- 
mation of  that  Society,  the  printing  of  the  Sacred  Volume  in  our 
vernacular  tongue  has  proceeded  to  an  extent  which  was  never 
foreseen,  never  once  contemplated,  and  that  extent  has  now  reached 
a  point,  of  which  but  very  few  persons  are  at  all  aware.  This  ex- 
tent, indeed,  may,  at  first,  be  viewed  by  some  with  astonishment, 
but  unlike  many  other  events,  it  never  can  be  with  regret ;  not  only 
as  having  been  ordered  by  more  than  human  wisdom,  but  because, 
in  conclusion,  we  shall  find  there  is  a  moral  involved,  which  will 
be  found  to  demand  the  notice  of  the  Christian  community,  indi- 
vidually and  entire ;  and  in  the  present  day  especially,  more  than 
any  other  to  which  it  can  be  directed.  The  sphere  occupied  by 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  in  the  English  department 
has  been  delightfully  large,  and  this  has  been  dwelt  upon  in  a 
variety  of  ways  so  frequently,  that  it  is  in  danger  of  diminishing 
the  rate  or  pace  of  exertion,  if  not  of  filling  the  whole  field  of  vision. 
But  as  it  regards  the  Enghsh  Scriptures  printed  within  the  last 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  509 

forty -four  years,  the  field  we  now  contemplate  is  far  greater.  Inde- 
pendently of  whatever  number  of  English  Bibles  and  Testaments 
may  have  been  dispersed  through  that  one  medium,  wc  have  to 
include  those  which  have  been  printed  in  Scotland,  and  the  general 
sale  throughout  the  kingdom  from  1800  to  1844.  From  these  three 
sources  we  come  to  the  following  aggregate  of  English  Bibles  and 
New  Testaments  separately  : — - 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Societ}'  have  issued,      ....  9,400,00(1 

There  have  been  printed  in  Scotland,  independently,  above      .         .         .  4,000,000 
The  general  sales   besides  these,  have  been   considered  to  be  more,  but 

cannot  have  been  less,  than 9,000,000 

or  above  tive}itt/-tivo  mMlions  in  round  numbers  !  Now,  wherever 
these  volumes  have  gone,  whether  throughout  England,  Scotland, 
or  Ireland,  or  to  the  British  dependencies  at  the  ends  of  the  earth  ; 
we  have  here  to  do  at  first  simply  with  the  remarkable  fact,  and 
it  may  well  serve  to  regulate  exertion  for  years  to  come.  But  hav- 
ing once  pointed  it  out,  we  are  the  better  prepared  to  take  up  the 
institution  referred  to,  as  not  merely  an  important  subject  of  re- 
view, but  as  forming  one  index  to  the  plain  path,  or  the  special 
course  oi  future  duty. 

To  those  who  are  old  enough  to  remember,  with  any  interest, 
the  formation  of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  and  its 
immediate  effects,  the  recollection  must  ever  prove  one  of  the 
most  pleasing  in  their  past  lives.  Its  simple  or  exclusive  object 
being  to  circulate  the  Sacred  Volume ;  "  the  Bible,  without  note 
or  comment,"  being  its  only  molto,  the  effect  was  such  as  should 
be  pondered  still.  Well  does  it  deserve,  and  in  ^Aesedays  demand 
reconsideration;  for  no  proposal  on  British  ground  had  ever  gone 
so  directly  to  the  heart,  nor  to  the  hearts  of  so  many,  throughout 
the  empire.  Founded  on  a  principle  so  simple,  so  intelligible,  so 
unexceptionable,  the  formation  of  the  Society  produced  an  effect 
altogether  unprecedented  ;  indeed  the  mere  announcement  ran 
through  every  denomination  in  the  kingdom,  and  conveyed  an 
impulse,  at  once  the  most  powerful  and  the  most  extensive  under 
which  the  Christians  of  this  country  had  ever  come. 

The  title  assumed  was,  in  short,  tantamount  to  this, — that  the 
Sacred  text,  the  Divine  Record,  standing  by  itself,  as  it  always 
ought  to  have  done  from  the  beginning,  and  ought  in  due  rever- 
ence to  do,  in  all  time  to  come,  or.  in  other  words,  that  the  Bible, 
WITHOUT  note  or  COMMENT,  was  uot  Only  all-sufficient  for  iJie 
people  of  Britian,  but  for  eoery  other  nation  under  heaven,  or 
for  all  the  world,  far  as  the  curse ^vas  found.  British  Christians 
had  seized  at  last,  upon  a  simple  principle,  of  imperative  and  infi- 
nite value  to  our  common  humanity,  in  all  its  dialects:  and  in 
these  days,  by  solemn,  public,  and  often  repeated  acknowledg- 
ments, they  were  never  to  stop  short  of  its  universal  applica- 
tion. 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  is  now,  [1849,  the  date 
of  this  abridgment]  in  the  46th  year  of  its  existence  and  useful- 


510 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH     BIBLE. 


ness,  having  extended  its  blessed  influences  to  every  quarter  of 
the  known  world.  It  has  issued  more  than  twenty-one  mil- 
lions of  Bibles  and  New  Testaments,  and  has  received  and  ex- 
pended more  than  three  and  a  half  millions  of  pounds  sterling, 
or  $17,500,000,  in  publishing  and  distributing  these  copies  of  the 
Word  of  God. 

The  following  is  a  table  of  languages  and  dialects,  in  which 
the  distribution,  printing,  or  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  in  whole 
or  in  part,  has  been  promoted  by  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible 
Society,  either  directly  or  indirectly. 

Those  printed  in  Italics  are  new  translations ;  the  rest  are 
reprints  of  former  versions. 

Those  marked  (§)  v.'ere  printed  indirectly  at  the  expense  of  the 
Society,  or  in  some  measure  assisted  by  it.  All  the  rest  were 
printed  directly  for  the  Society — -with  the  exception  of  four,  pub- 
lished by  the  American  Bible  Society,  of  two  by  the  Danish,  of 
one  by  the  Basle,  and  of  one  by  the  Netherlands  Society  ;  which 
are  introduced  here,  in  order  to  complete  the  View  of  Languages 
into  which  the  Holy  Scriptures  have  been  translated.  To  each 
of  these  the  (*)  is  prefixed. 

The  letters  R.  and  >S*.  denote  the  Versions  of  the  Russian  Bible 
Society,  and  of  the  Serampore  Mission,  both  of  which  have  been 
aided  in  former  years  by  large  grants  from  the  Society. 


WESTERN  EUROPE. 


Versions. 
BRITISH    ISLES. 

English ;  Authorized  Ver- 
sion   

Welsh 

Gaehc 

Irish;  in  native  characters 
Ditto ;  in  Roman  ditto  . . 

Manks 


FRANCE. 

French ;  the  three  ver- 
sions of  Martin,  Oster- 
vald,  and  De  Sacy . .  . . 

Bretun.  or  Annorican;  Old 
Testament  translated, 
but  not  printed 

French  Basque 


SPAIN    AND    PORTUGAL. 

Spanish;  the  two  versions 
of  Scio  and  Enzinas  . . 

Catalan;  Pent,  and  Ps. 
not  yet  printed 

Spanish  Basque,  or  Escu- 
ara 

JiidoEo- Spanish .....  .... 

Portuguese ;  the  two  ver- 
sions of  Pereira  and  Al- 
meida  


What  printed. 


The  entire  Bible.  .. 


Ditto 
Ditto 

Ditto 
Ditto 

Ditto 


The  entire  Bible. 


New  Testament.  . . 


Ditto 


^  The  entire  Bible. 

I  New  Testament.  \ 

I  GospelofSt.Lukej 
New  Testament 


The  entire  Bible 


Where  circulated, 
or  for  whom  designed. 


British  Empire,  &c. 

Wales. 

Highlands  of  Scotland. 

Various  parts  of  Ireland,  partic- 
ularly the  provinces  of  Mun- 
ster  and  Connaught. 

Isle  of  Man. 


France, Switzerland,andFrench 
colonies. 

Province  of  Brittany. 

Departments  of  the  Pyrenees, 
and  Province  of  Navarre. 


Spain  generally,  and  Spanish 
colonies. 

Provinces  of  Catalonia  and  Va- 
lencia. 

Provinces  of  Biscay,  Guiposcoa, 
and  Alava. 

Spanish  Jews  in  Turkey.  &c. 

Portugal,  and  Portuguese  colo- 
nies. 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


511 


Versions. 


NORTHERN  EUROPE 

What  printed. 


19 


Icelandic 

Swedish   

Lapponese 

Finnish 

Danish    

Faroese,  or  Ancient   Ice- 
landic (DanishBib.Soc.) 


The  entire  Bible. 

Ditto 

Ditto 

Ditto 

Ditto  


St.  Matthew . , 


Where  circulated, 
or  for  whom  designed. 
Iceland. 
Sweden. 

Russian  and  Swedish  Lapland. 
Finland. 

Denmark  and  Norway. 
Faro  Islands,  between  Shetland 
and  Iceland. 


CENTRAL  EUROPE. 


34 


Dutch  ;  States-General 
version 

Do. ;  Luther's  and  Schu- 
rin's  version 

Flemish 

German;  Luther's  version 

Ditto  ;  three  versions — 
Gosner,  Van  Ess,  and 
Kistemaker 

German  and  Hebrew  (in 
columns 

German,  in  Hebrew  char- 
acters   

Lithuanian 

Samogitian 

Polish  R. 

JudtBO-Polish 

VVendish,  Upper 

Ditto,  Lower 


Bohemian  . 
Hunfrarian 


I  The  entire  Bible .  . , 

i  New  Testapient.  . , 

The  entire  Bible 

Ditto 

} 

>  New  Testament.  . , 

Pent.,    Prophets,^ 
and  Psalms.  . .   ! 


New  Testament. 


The  entire  Bible.  . . 
Ditto 


Holland  and  Dutch  colonies. 

Ditto. 

Belgium. 

ProtestantGermany, Prussia, &c. 

For  Rom. Catholics  in  Germany. 


For  German  Jews. 


The  entire  Bible Province  of  Lithuania. 

New  Testament In  three  districts  of  Wilna. 

Ditto Poland,  Posen,  Silesia,  &c. 

Ditto For  Polish  Jews. 

Ditto Saxon  Lusatia. 

Ditto Prussian  Lusatia, 

For  Tschehs  of  Bohemia, 
Slovaks  of  Hungary. 

Madgiares    of    Hungary 
(        Transylvania. 

SOUTHERN  EUROPE. 


and 
and 


ITAT.Y  AND  SWITZKRLAND. 

Italian ;    two    versions — 
Diodati  and  Martini  . . 

Latin    

Romanese 

DittoLower,orEnghadine 

Piedviontese 

Ditto  (with  Italian) 

Ditto  (with  French) 

Vaudois  (with  French) . . 

GREECE    AND    TURKEY. 

Greek,  Ancient 

Ditto,  ditto R. 

Greek.  Modern 

Albanian   (with   Modern 

Greek) 

Turkish 


Ditto,  in  Greek  characters 

Ditto,  in  Armenian  char- 
acters   


Moldavian,  orWallachian 
Servian,  or  Serbian. .  .R. 
Buls:arian 


The  entire  Bible. 


Ditto 

Ditto 

Ditto    

New  Testament.  . .  J 

Psalms ^ 

Gospels ) 

St.  Luke  and  St.  John 


New  Testament. 
The  entire  Bible. 
Ditto 


>  New  Testament. 
The  entire  Bible.  . . 


Ditto 


>  New  Testament. 

The  entire  Bible.  . . 
New  Testament.  . . 
Ditto 


Italy. 

Chiefly  for  Ecclesiastics. 

In  the  Grisons  of  Switzerland. 

On  the  borders  of  the  Tyrol. 

Piedmont. 

For  the  Vaudois,  or  Waldenses. 


For  Students. 

For  the  Greek  churches. 

For  the  Greek  people  in  general. 

Province   of   Albania,    on    the 

Adriatic. 
Turkey  in  general. 
For  Greek  Christians,  using  the 

Turkish  language  with  Greek 

characters. 
For  Armenian  Christians,  using 

the    Turkish    language   with 

Armenian  characters. 
Moldavia,  Wallachia,  and  part 

of  Transylvania. 
In  Servia,  and  some   bordering 

Austrian  .States. 
Turkish  provinces,  E.  and  S.  of 

Hungary. 


512 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


V  42 


43 


Versions. 

Slavonic,  ancient  and  ec- 
clesistical  language./?. 

Huss,  Modern /?. 

Slavonic  anHModeniRuss 

(in  columns) /?. 

Doipat  Estiionian  . . .  .7?. 

Reval  Esthonian R. 

Lettish,  or  Livonian .../?. 

Karelian R. 

Zirian.  or  Sirenian . .  .R. 

Mordvinian,  or  Morduin 
R. 


Tschereviissian R. 


Tschuicaschian R. 

Orenburgh  Tartar  .  .  .R. 

Harass,  or  Turkish  Tar- 
tar (several  other  books 
ot'  the  Old  Testament 
translated) R. 

Crimean  Tartar 7?. 


RUSSIA. 

What  printed. 

The  entire  Bible.  ] 

Octateuch,  Ps.,  &  < 
\     New  Test J 

>  Newr  Testament.  . . 

Ditto  and  Psalms . .  . . 
The  entire  Bible.  . . . . 
Ditto '. 

St.  Matthew \ 

Ditto  

>  New  Testament.  < 

i 

Ditto < 

The  Gospels 

New  Testament.  . .  < 

^  Ditto  and  Psalms  ^ 

J 

Genesis 


Wliere  circulated, 
or  for  whom  designed. 

For  the  purposes  of  the  Russian 
Church. 

Russia  generally. 

Ditto. 

Southern  part  of  Esthonia. 

Northern  do.  onGulfof  Finland. 

Provinces  of  Livonia&Courland 

For  a  Finnish  tribe  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  Tver. 

Do.  in  government  of  Vologda. 

Ditto  on  the  banks  of  the  Oka 
and  Volga  in  tlie  government.s 
ofNische-Novogorod&Kasan 

For  a  Finnish  tribe  on  the  banks 
of  the  Volga  and  Kama,  in  the 
governments  of  Kasan  and 
Simbersk. 

For  a  Finnish  tribe  of  the  moun- 
tains in  Kasan,  Nische-Novo- 
gorod  and  Orenburgh. 

For  Tartars  in  the  vicinity  of 
Orenburgh. 

For  Tartars  in  the  government 
of  Astrachan. 

For  the  Caraite  Jews  of  the 
Crimea,  by  way  of  trial. 


CAUCASIAN  AND  BORDER  COUNTRIES. 


Ossitinian,,  (in  the  Rus- 
sian depot) R. 

Georgian,  (Kedvuli,  or  ec- 
clesiastical characters/?. 

Ditto,  (civil,  or  common 
characters) 

Armenian,  Ancient 

Ditto,  Modern  (with  An- 
cient in  columns) 

Ararat-  Armenian 


Trans- Caucasian  Tartar  St.  Matthew 


S  Gospels, but  never 
circulated 

J  New  Testament. 

I  Ditto  

The  entire  Bible. . . 
5  New  Testament. 
Ditto  and  Psalms  . . 


Central  regions  ofthe  Caucasus 


Georgia,  S.W.  of  the  Caucasus. 

Armenia  Proper  ;  but  also  pre- 
pared for  the  Armenians  of 
Constantinople,  Calcutta,  &c. 

Around  Mt. Ararat,  S. of  Georgia. 

Grusinia. 


SEMITIC  LANGUAGES. 


61  Hebrew 

62  Arabic 

63  Syriac 

Carshun,  (Arabic  in  Syr- 
iac characters) 

Syriac  and  Carshun,  in 
parallel  columns 

Syro-Chaldaic ;  (Syriac 
in  Nestorian  characters 


Old  and  New  Test. 
The  entire  Bible.  .. 

Ditto 

I  New  Testament. 
Ditto  


J  Gospels \ 


For  the  .Tews  and  for  Students. 

For  Mohammedans  everywhere. 

For  the  Syrian  church  in  Tra- 

vancore,  and  parts  of  Syria. 

Mesopotamia,  Aleppo,  and  other 
parts  of  Syria. 

Mosul,   Djezira,  Tolamisk,   and 
country  west  of  Kurdistan. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


513 


64 


Versions. 

Persic  (H.  Martyn) 

Ditto  (Archdeacon   Rob- 
inson)   

Ditto  (Dr.  Glen) 

Ditto  (Mirza  Ibrahim)  . . 

Ditto  (Mirza  Jaffier) 

Pushtoo,  or  Afghan .  . .  S. 

Belochee,  or  Bulochee. .  S. 


PERSIA. 

What  printed. 

New  Testament. . , 
i  Entire  Old  Testa 
\      ment   

Ditto  

Isaiah 

Genesis 

Hist.  Books,  and  N.  T 

Three  Gospels < 


Where  circulated, 
or  for  whom  designed. 

For  the  Mohammedans, Parsees, 
and  Persians  of  India. 

Persia  Proper. 

Affghanistan. 

Belochistan,  south  of  ditto,  on 
the  Arabian  Sea. 


(>  67 


Sanserif,  or  Sungskrit.  S. 

Hindustani,  or  Urdu .... 
Ditto  (Mr.  Thomason  and 

others) 

Z>i<^o(Serampore  version) 


INDIA. 

The  entire  Bible... 

New  Testament.  . . 
I  The  entire  Bible. 
Ditto  


The  sacred  and  learned  language 
of  the  Brahmins  throughout 
India. 

For  the  Mohammedans  of  India 
and  others ;  the  language  be- 
ing generally  understood  in 
all  the  larger  towns. 


NORTHERN  AND  CENTRAL  INDIA. 


69 


Bengalee S. 

Ditto,  tico  versions  (Eller- 

ton  and  Yeates) 

Ditto{\n  Rom.  characters) 
Ditto  (with  EngUsh) .... 

Maghudlia S. 


Uriya 

Hinduwee,  or  Hindooee . . 

Ditto,  [called  Hindee  by 
Ser.  'rra7is.)  both  in  the 
Nagree  and  Kythee 
characters iS. 


Dialects  of  the  Hinduwee. 
Bughelc^indee S. 

Bruj,  or  Brij-bhasa.  . .  S. 
Canoj,  or  Canyacubja . .  S. 
Kousuhi,  or Koshala . .  .S. 

Ditto  for  Central  India,  or 
Rajpoot  States. 

Harrotee S. 

Oojein,  or  OuJJuyunee.  S. 
Oodeypoora S. 

Marwar >S. 

Juyapoora >S. 

Bikaneera iS. 

Buttaneer,  or  Virat  .  . .  S. 


Sindhee S. 

Moultan,    or     Witch,     or 
Ooch S. 

Punjabee,  or  Sikh S. 


The  entire  Bible.  .. 

>  New  Testament. 

Ditto 

Ditto 


New  Testament. 

The  entire  Bible . 
Ditto , 

1 

I 

1>  Ditto 


J 

New  Testament 

Ditto 

Ditto 

St.  Matthew  . .  . 


\ 


New  Testament. 
Ditto 

St.  Matthew 


New  Testament.  . .  | 

St.  Matthew | 

New  Testament. .    < 
Ditto  


St.  Matthew 

J  New  Testament 
The  entire  Bible.  . 


\ 


Province  of  Bengal. 


Province  of  S.  Bahar,  now  part 
of  the  province  of  Bengal. 

Province  of  Orissa,  the  greater 
part  attached  to  Bengal. 

For  Hindostan,  or  the  upper 
provinces  of  the  Bengal  Presi- 
dency. 


A  district  between  the  prov- 
ince of  Bundelcund,  and  the 
sources  of  theNerbuddaRiver. 

Province  of  Agra. 

In  the  Doab  of  the  Ganges  and 
Jumna. 

Western  part  of  Oude. 


A  province  W.  of  Bundelcund. 

Province  of  Malwah. 

Province  of  Mewar.orOodeypoor 

Province  of  Joudpoor,  or  Mar- 
war,  north  of  Mewar. 

Province  of  Joy  poor,  E.  of  Mar- 
war,  and  VV.  of  Agra. 

Province  of  Bikaneer,  north  of 
Marwar. 

Prov.  of  Buttaneer,  W.  of  Delhi. 

Prov.  of  Sindh,  E.  of  the  Indus. 
N.  of  Sindh,  between  the  Indus, 
Chenaub,  and  Gharra  Rivers. 
Province  of  Lahore. 


33 


514 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


I  Versions. 

87  Dogura  or Jumboo(Moun- 

tain  Punjabee) iS. 

88  Cashmerian tS. 

Gorkha  Dialects. 

89  Nepalesse,   Kkaspoora,  or 

Parbutti  iS. 

90  Palpa S'. 

91  Kumaon iS. 

92,  G arwhal .oxSchreenagur S 


What  printed. 

\  New  Testament. 

i  Penl.,Hist.Books, 
\      and  New  Test. 

>  New  Testament. 


\  Ditto 

Ditto  . . 
Ditto  .. 


Where  circulated, 
or  fur  whom  designed. 
Mountainous,  or  nortiiern  dis- 
tricts of  Lahore. 

Caslimere,  nortli  oi"  Lahore. 

Kingdom  of  Nepaul,  about  Kat- 
manhda. 

Small  States  north  of  Oude,  be- 
low the  Himalayas. 

Prov.  of  Kumaon,  VV.  of  Palpa. 

Prov. of  GurwhaljVV. of  Kumaon. 


SOUTHERN  INDIA. 


93 


94 


MADRAS    PRKSIDENCY. 

Telinga.  or  Tdoogoo . .  S. 
Ditto  (Vizagapatam  ver- 
sion)      

Karnata,  or  Canarese  .  . . 
Z>t^/o  (Bellary  version).. 


Tamul.  or  Tamil . 


Pent,  and  NewTest. 
I  N.Test.  and  large 
\      part  of  Old  T.. 

New  Testament.  . . 
The  entire  Bible.  . . 


Malayalim   

Tulu  (Basle  Bible  Soc'y) 

BOMBAY    PRESIDENCY. 

Kunkuna /S 

Mahratta S. 

Ditto  (Bombay  version) . . 

99  Gujerattce S. 

iDUto  (Surat  version) 

100 1  Cutchee,  or  Catchee ...... 


Ditto  

Ditto   

New  Testament. 


Pent,  and  New  Test 

The  entire  Bible.  . . 

Ditto  

New  Testament...  * 

The  entire  Bible .  ..  S 
i  N.  T.  preparing;  ) 
\  some  of  it  printed  J 


101 

102 
103 


Pali  fin  Burmese  charac- 
ters)   


Cingalese 


Indo- Portuguese  ;      (Old 
Testament  preparing). 


CEYLON. 

New  Testament 


! 


The  entire  Bible.  . . 


S  Pent. .Psalms, and  \ 
New  Testament  ^ 


Northern  Circars,  Cuddapah, 
Nellore,  and  greater  part  of 
Hydrabad,  or  Telingana. 

Throughout  the  Mysore,  also  in 
the  prov.  of  Canara,  and  as 
far  north  as  the  Kistna  River. 

The  Carnatic,  and  northern 
part  of  Ceylon. 

Travancore  and  Malabar. 

Mangalore. 

The  Concan,  cliiefly  the  S.  part 
among  the  common  people. 

The  Concan.  and  throughout 
the  Mahratta  territory. 

Surat,  and  province  of  Gujerat. 

Province  of  Cutch  ;  between  the 
Gulf  of  Cutch  and  the  Indus. 


Sacred  and  learned  language 
of  Ceylon,  and  Indo-Chinese 
nations. 

S.  part  of  the  island,  from  Batty- 
cola  on  the  E.  to  the  R.Chilaw 
on  the  W.  and  in  the  interior. 

For  Portuguese  settlers  and  their 
descendants  in  Ceylon  and  va- 
rious parts  of  the  Indian  Seas. 


INDO-CHINESE  COUNTRIES. 


107 

108 

109 
110 

111 


Assarnese /S. 

Munipoora S. 

Kliassee  ;  (New  Testa- 
ment translated) 

Burmese  (by  Dr.  Judson 
for  Am.  Bible  Society). 

Siamese,  or  Thay ;  (New 
Testament  translated). 


The  entire  Bible. 
New  Testament. 


Assam,  subject  to  Bengal  Presid. 
Munipoor,  on  south  of  Assam. 
Khassu  country,  east  of  Garrow 
hills. 

Burmese  Empire,  and  Arracan. 

Cossya  Hills,  on  the  borders  of 
Siam. 


CHINESE  EMPIRE. 


Chinese  (Morrison's  vers.) 
Ditto  (Marshman's  ditto) 


Mantchou 


Buriat,  or  Eastern  Mon- 
golian   


Calmuc,  or  Western  Mon- 
golian   R- 


The  entire  Bible .  . . 
Ditto  


New  Testament. 


The  entire  Bible. 


New  Testament. 


ChinaProper  and  numerousChi- 
nese   in  Indian  Archipelago. 

Mantchuria  :  it  is  also  the  court 
language  of  Pekin. 

For  the  Buriats  about  Lake 
Baikal  in  Siberia,  and  for  the 
Kalka  tribes  of  Mongolia. 

ForCalmucs  of  theDon  &  Volga 
inRussia,  andEleuth6,Calmucs 
and  Soungars,  of  Mongolia. 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


515 


HITHER  POLYNESIA. 


112 


115 


Malay,  in  Roman  charac- 
ters   


Ditto,  in  Arabic  charac- 
ters   


Malay,  Low 

Javanese  ;  (Old  Test,  pre- 
paring by  the  Nether- 
lands Society) 

Dajak   


What  printed. 


The  entire  Bible 


■\ 


Ditto 


New  Testament. 


Ditto 


I" 

Ditto 


Where  circulated, 
or  fur  whom  designed. 

For  the  Moluccas,  and  Eastern 
part  of  the  Archipelago. 

Malay  peninsula;  sea-ports  and 
coasts  of  Sumatra,  Java,  and 
other  islands. 

Batavia  and  its  neighborhood. 

Island  of  Java. 
Borneo. 


FURTHER  POLYNESIA. 


* 
116 

117 

118 

119 

120 

121 
122 
123 


Haicaiian  (by  Am.  See.) !The  entire  Bible. 
Tahitian Ditto 


Rarotnns^a . 


Marquesan  . .  . 
Tonga  

New  Zealand . 

Malagasse  . . . . 

Samoan 

Feejean 


(  N.  Test,  and  por-  ) 
)     tionsoftheO.T.  J 

Some  portions  given,  i 
version  preparing  \ 

Ditto   

K  Pent.,  Josh.,  Ps.,  ) 
\      and  New  Test,  s 

The  entire  Bible 

New  Testament.    .  . . 

St.Matthew&St.Mark 


Sandwich  Islands. 
Georgian  and  other  islands  in 
the  South  Seas. 

Hervey  Islands,  ditto. 

Marquesan  Islands,  ditto. 

Tonga  Islands,  ditto. 

New  Zealand. 

Madagascar. 
Navigator's  Islands. 
Feejee  Islands. 


1124 
125 
126 
127 

123 
129 

130 
131 
13:2 


Coptic  (with  the  Arabic) 
Elhiopic  (Ecclesiastical). 
Amharic  (vernacular).  . . 
Berber  (Four  Gospels  & 

Genesis  translated)  .  . . 
Bulloni  (with  English).. 
Mandingo  (Four  Gospels 

translated) 

Accra 

Namacqua 

Sechuana 


133  Caffre 


AFRICA. 

Psalms  and  Gospels., 
N.  Test,  and  Psalms. 
The  entire  Bible 


Part  of  St.  Luke 

St.  Matthew 

I  Ditto  I 

St.Matthew&St.John 

St.  Luke,  &c 

New  Test,  and  Psalms 

N.  Test,  and  por-  i 

tionsoftheO.T.  \ 


For  the  Copts  of  Egypt. 

For  the  Church  in  Abyssinia. 

Abyssinia. 

TheOases  of  theAfrican  Deserts, 

from  Mount  Atlas  to  Egypt. 
.4bout  Sierra  Leone,  on VV. coast. 
Mandingo    country,    south    of 

Gambia  River. 
Gold  Coast,  Western  Africa. 
N.  of  Orange  River,  S.  Africa. 
Bechuana,  east  of  Namacqua, 
Caffraria,   eastern   coast  of  S. 

Africa. 


134 

1.35 
136 

137 

* 


138 


139 
140 


NORTH. 

Greenlandish  . . 


Esquimaux 

Mohaick  (Pentateuch  and 

Psalms  translated) . . 
Chippeway,  or  Ojibicay .  . 
Ditto,  ditto  (Am.  .Society) 
Delaware  [Am.  Society). 
Creolese  (Danish  Society) 


Negro  Dialect  of  Surinam 
Negro  Dialect  of  Curacao 
(Netherlands  Society). 
Aimara  (with  Spanish)  . 
Mexican 


AMERICA. 

i  N.Test.  and  large 

(  portion  oftheO.T, 

Gen.,Ps.,Isa,,an(lTest 

Isaiah,  St.  Luke. 

and  St.  John. . 

.St.  John 

New  Testament.  . . 
Epistles  of  St.  John 
New  Testament,  . . 

New  Test,  and  Psalms 

>  St.  Matthew . . 

St.  Luke 

Ditto 


Greenland,    for    the   Moravian 

Missions. 
Labrador,  ditto. 
Indian  nations,  west  ofthe  Falls 

of  Niagara. 

For  the  Chippeway  or  Delaware 
Indians. 

Danish  West-Indian  Islands. 


Surinam,  Dutch  Guiana. 

Island  of  Cura9ao. 

Bolivia. 
Mexico. 


516 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


RECAPITULATION. 

Of  these  140  Languages  or  Dialects,  the  Distribution,  Printing,  or  Translation  of 
the  Scriptures,  in  whole  or  in  part,  has  been  promoted  by  the  Society, 

Directly      ...     in  73  Languaifes  or  Dialects  )  -t.  ^  i    ijq 
Indirectly  ....    68     .     .     ditto    .     .     .      \        '   ' 
The  number  of  Versions  (omitting  those  which  are  printed  in  different  Character.-f 
only)  is  1G3.     Of  these  110  are  Translation.s  never  before  printed. 

The  American  Bible  Society  has  aided  in  publishing,  or  has  purchased  and  circu- 
lated copies  of  many  of  the  versions  cited  above.  It  has  also  been  at  the  sole  expense 
of  publishing  the  Ar.neno-Turkish  Bible,  and  the  Modern  Syriac,  the  Hebrew-Spanish 
Old  Testament,  and  that  of  the  Hebrew-German.  It  has  also  published  the  entire 
Hawaiian  Bible  at  the  Sandwich  Islands  and  the  Ojibwa  New  Testament,  and  the 
Choctaw  Testaaient,  in  New- York;  two  of  the  Gospels  in  the  Sioux  Dingon  tongue; 
the  books  of  Genesis  and  Isaiah  in  Mohawk;  One  of  the  Gospels  in  Seneca,  two  in 
Cherokee,  and  one  in  the  Grebo. 


EXPENDITURE  OF  THE  BRITISH  AND  FOREIGN  BIBLE  SOCIETY. 


£  s. 

During  1st  Year 619  10 

Second  1,637  17 

Third 5,053  18 

Fourth 12.-206  10 

Fifth 14,565  10 

Sixth 18,543  17 

Seventh 28  302  13 

Eighth 32  419  19 

Ninth 69,496  13 

Tenth 84,652  1 

Eleventh 81,021  12 

Twelfth 103,680  18 

Thirteenth 89,230  9 

Fourteenth 71 ,099  1 

Fifteenth 92,237  1 

Sixteenth 123  547  12 

Seventeenth 79,560  13 

Eighteenth  90,445  6 

Nineteenth 77,076  0 

Twentieth 89,493  17 

Twenty-first 94,044  3 

Twenty-second   96,014  13 

Twenty-third  69,962  12 

Total  from  the  commencement 


Twenty-fourth 86,242 

Twenty-fifth 104,132 

Twenty-sixth 81,610 

Twenty-seventh 83.002 

Twenty-eighth 98,409 

Twenty-ninth 88,676 

Thirtieth 70  404 

Thirty-first 84.249 

Thirty-second 107,483 

Thirty-third 103,171 

Thirty-lburth  91,179 

Thirty-fifth 106,509 

Thirty-sixth  110,175 

Thirty-seventh 133,934 

Thirty-eiiThth  90  968 

Thirty-ninth 86,964 

Fortieth 84  669 

Forty-first 85,817 

Forty-second   105,851 

Forty-third 128.525 

Forty-fourth 105  042 

Fortv-fifth 88,831 


s. 

d. 

9 

8 

6 

11 

13 

6 

10 

f) 

10 

9 

1 

10 

16 

/ 

13 

4 

19 

7 

5 

o 

14 

11 

6 

4 

8 

5 

18 

9 

9 

5 

10 

6 

8 

3 

15 

9 

2 

i) 

3 

3 

19 

1 

1 

1 

)f  the  Institution ^63,550,766    2     1 


COMPENDIUM  OF  BIBLE  SOCIETIES,  IN   DIFFERENT  PARTS  OF 

THE   WORLD,   DATE   OF    THEIR    ORGANIZATION,    AND 

ISSUES   OF    BIBLES   AND   TESTAMENTS. 

Copies  of 
Scriptures  issued. 

British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  instituted  in  1804 21.973,355 

American  Bible  Society,  instituted  in  1816 6,844,821 

Protestant  Bible  Society  at  Paris,  instituted  1818,  with  132  Auxiliaries.. .        219,440 
French  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  of  Paris,  instituted  1833,  with  Auxiliaries         94,295 
Strastiurgh  Bible  Society,  instituted  1815,  (chiefly  German  Bibles  and  Tes- 
taments)   66,087 

Issued  from  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society's  Depot  in  Paris,  from 
April,  1820,  2  089,211  copies. 

Icelandic  Bible  Society,  instituted  1815 10,445 

Swedish  Bible  Society,  instituted  1808,  with  Auxiliaries 504,378 

The  Agency  at  Stockholm,  formed  1832,  has  issued  231,900  copies. 

Norwegian  Bible  Society,  instituted  181G 30,995 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  517 

Copies  of 
Scriptures  issued. 
The  Agency  at  Christiania,  formed  1832,  has  issued  26,210  copies. 

Stavanger  Bible  Society,  instituted  1828 (ifiO'S 

Finnish  Bible  Society,  instituted  1812,  at  Abo,  with  many  Branches 110,501 

Danish  Bible  Society,  instituted  1814,  with  Auxiliaries 172  554 

Netherlands  Bible  Society,  with  Auxiliaries 274,738 

The  Agency  at  Amsterdam,  appointed  1843,  has  issued  47.G59  copies. 

Belgian  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  at  Brussels,  instituted  1834 7,623 

Belgian  Bible  Associations,  instituted  1839 3,903 

The  Agency  at  Brussels,  appointed  1835,  has  issued  119,585  copies. 

Antwerp  Bible  Society,  instituted  1834 439 

Ghent  Bible  Society,  instituted  1834 8,980 

Sleswick-Holstein  Bible  Society,  instituted  1815,  with  Auxiliaries 107.213 

Eutin  Bible  Society,  instituted  1817,  for  the  principality  of  Lubeck 5,296 

Lubeek  Bible  Society,  instituted  1814 11 ,472 

Hamburgh  Bible  Society,  instituted  1814,  with  branches 83,752 

Bremen  Bible  Society,  instituted  1815,  with  an  Auxiliary 20,163 

Lauenburgli-Ratzeburgh  Bible  Society,  instituted  1816 10,675 

Rostock  Bible  Society,  instituted  1816 19.154 

Hanover  Bible  Society,  instituted  1814,  with  Auxiliaries 99,229 

Lippe-Detmold  Bible  Society,  instituted  1816 3.569 

Waldeck  and  Pyrmont  Bible  Society,  instituted  1817 2,800 

Hesse-Cassel  Bible  Society,  instituted  1818 30,000 

Hanau  Bible  Society,  instituted  1818 3,316 

Marburg  Bible  Society,  instituted  1825 7,065 

Frankfort  Bible  Society,  instituted  1816 73,565 

The  Agency  at  Franklbrt,  appointed  1830,  has  issued  701,027  copies. 

Hesse-Dannstadt  Bible  Society,  instituted  1817,  with  Auxiliaries 31,484 

Duchy  of  Baden  Bible  Society  instituted  1820,  with  Auxiliaries 18  585 

Wurtemburg  Bible  Society,  instituted  1812,  with  Auxiliaries 464,576 

Bavarian  Protestant  Bible  Institution  at  Nuremburg,  instituted  1821,  with 

Auxiliaries 108,990 

Saxon  Bible  Society,  instituted  1814,  with  Auxiliaries 159,536 

Anhalt-Bernburg  Bible  Society,  instituted  1821 : 4,786 

Anhalt-Dessau  Bible  Society 3,310 

Weimar  Bible  Society,  instituted  1821 3,773 

Eisenach  Bible  Society,  instituted  1818 4,938 

Brunswick  Bible  Society,  instituted  1815 700 

Prussian  Bible  Society  at  Berlin,  instituted  1805,  with  Auxiliaries 1,271,194 

Issued  to  the  Prussian  troops  since  1830 235,916 

Basle  Bible  Society,  instituted  1804 336,184 

Schaffhausen  Bible  Society,  instituted  1813 8,382 

Zurich  Bible  Society,  instituted  1812,  with  Auxiliary  at  Winterthur 14,656 

St.  Gall  Bible  Society,  instituted  1813 34,429 

Aargovian  Bible  Society,  instituted  1815 13,802 

Berne  Bible  Society 40,841 

Neufchatel  Bible  Society,  instituted  1816 6,430 

Lausanne  Bible  Society,  instituted  1814 32,000 

Geneva  Bible  Society,  instituted  1814 36,651 

Glarus  Bible  Society,  instituted  1819 5,000 

Coire  or  Chur  Bible  Society,  instituted  1813 12,267 

Waldenses  Bible  Society  at  Tour,  instituted  1816 4,238 

Ionian  Bible  Society,  instituted  at  Corfu  in  1819,  with  three  Auxiliaries. . .  7,377 
Russian  Bible  Society,  Petersburg  previous  to  its  suspension  by  an  Imperial 

Ukase  in  182!),  had  289  Auxiliaries,  and  had  printe'd  the  Scriptures  in 

various  languages;  the  circulation  of  which  is  still  allowed 861,105 

Russian  Protestant  Bible  Society  at  St.  Petersburg,  instituted  in  1826,  with 

numerous  Auxiliaries 132,464 

Calcutta  Bible  Society,  instituted  1811,  with  various  Branches 491,567 

Serampore  Missionaries 200,000 

Madras  Bible  Society,  instituted  1820 462,505 

Bombay  Bible  Society,  instituted  1813 139,928 

Colombo  Bible  Society,  instituted  1812,  with  various  Branches  in  Ceylon.  36,114 

Jaffna  Bible  Society 62,625 

The  total  of  the  above  issue,  it  will  be  found,  is  over  thirty-two  millions  of  Bibles 
and  Testaments,  all  distributed  since  the  Bible  Society  era  in  1804. 


518  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 


THE   AMERICAN  BIBLE   SOCIETY. 


Prior  to  1816,  various  local  Bible  Societies  existed  in  different 
parts  of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  were  the  means  of 
much  good.  It  was  found,  however,  that  having  no  persons  ex- 
clusively devoted  to  the  furtherance  of  their  interests,  and  having 
generally  to  procure  books  of  private  booksellers,  they  labored  un- 
der many  disadvantages.  It  was  felt,  moreover,  that  there  was 
much  ground  even  in  our  own  country  which  none  of  these  local 
associations  reached  at  all,  and  that  no  ample  provision  was  made 
for  sending  the  blessed  Bible  to  the  destitute  abroad.  A  Conven- 
tion was  therefore  called  to  meet  in  New  York,  and  take  measures 
for  a  general  organization.  This  Convention,  composed  of  dele- 
gates from  existing  Bible  Societies,  and  other  friends  of  the  object, 
assembled  on  the  8th  of  May,  1816.  Although  Christians  of  al- 
most every  name,  and  from  different  sections  of  the  Union,  were 
brought  in  contact,  their  deliberations  were  conducted  with  the 
utmost  harmony.  On  the  11th  of  May  the  constitution  and  the 
address  to  the  public,  which  had  been  prepared  by  committees, 
were  adopted  and  sent  forth  to  the  world.  In  the  address  issued 
(drawn  up  by  the  Rev.  John  M.  Mason,  D.  D.,)  is  found  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph,  which  will  show  the  noble,  catholic  spirit  which 
actuated  those  who  laid  the  foundation  of  this  Institution.  After 
stating  the  simple,  grand  object  in  view,  and  the  happy  results 
-anticipated,  the  Convention  add — 

"  Under  such  impressions,  and  with  such  views,  fathers,  brethren, 
fellow-citizens,  the  American  Bible  Society  has  been  formed. 
Local  feelings,  party  prejudice,  sectarian  jealousies,  are  excluded 
by  its  very  nature.  Its  members  are  leagued  in  that,  and  in  that 
alone,  which  calls  up  every  hallowed,  and  puts  down  every  unhal- 
lowed principle — the  dissemination  of  the  Scriptures  in  the  received 
versions  where  they  exist,  and  in  the  most  faithful  where  they 
may  be  required.  In  such  a  work,  whatever  is  dignified,  kind, 
venerable,  true,  has  ample  scope,  while  sectarian  littleness  and 
rivalries  can  find  no  avenue  of  admission." 

The  government  of  -the  Society  is  intrusted  by  the  constitution 
to  a  Board  of  thirty-six  Managers,  all  laymen,  one-fourth  of  whom 
go  out  of  office  each  year,  but  are  re-eligible.  They  hold  a  stated 
meeting  on  the  first  Thiu'sday  of  every  month  for  the  transaction 
of  business.  Several  standing  committees  are  appointee!  by  this 
body  to  mature  business,  namely,  one  for  finance  and  the  prepara- 
tion of  books,  one  to  attend  to  their  distribution,  and  one  to  have 
charge  of  travelling  agencies.  These  committees  usually  meet 
twice  each  month,  and  lay  their  various  recommendations  before 
the  Board  on  the  first  Thursday.     In  this  Board  are  found  those 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  519 

connected  with  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the  Presbyterian, 
the  Dutch  Reformed,  the  Methodist  Episcopal,  the  Baptist,  the 
Congregational,  and  the  Society  of  Friends.  Laymen  who  are 
directors  for  hfe,  by  payment  of  $150,  and  ministers  who  are  life 
members  by  payment  of  $30,  are  authorized  to  attend  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Board,  and  the  officers  of  all  Auxiliaries  have  the 
same  privilege  at  the  meeting  of  the  Society.  The  Institution, 
therefore,  must  of  necessity  be  managed  according  to  the  will  of 
its  constituents,  and  cannot  be  made  an  instrument  to  their 
injury. 

When  the  Society  was  organized  in  1816,  it  looked  first  to  the 
supply  of  our  own  young,  growing,  destitute  country.  At  the 
same  time  it  contemplated  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  ex- 
tensively ere  long  in  foreign  lands.  Within  the  last  fifteen  or 
twenty  years  much  has  been  thus  accomplished,  in  circulating 
them  in  the  West  Indies,  in  different  parts  of  Spanish  America 
and  Brazil,  in  France,  Russia,  Greece,  Turkey,  Syria,  India,  at 
several  points  in  China,  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  and  among  five 
of  the  tribes  of  our  Aborigines.  A  portion  of  these  Scriptures 
have  been  printed  at  the  Society's  house,  and  another  portion  by 
missionaries  and  others  abroad,  from  funds  furnished  by  the  Bible 
Society. 

As  this  Society  is  composed  of  many  religious  denominations,  it 
was  taken  for  granted  by  the  Board  generally,  that  no  versions 
would  ask  for  patronage  unless  they  were  of  a  Catholic  character, 
such  as  all  the  confederated  parties  could  unite  in  using  as  they 
used  in  common  the  English  Bible. 

It  appeared,  however,  some  years  since,  that  one  of  these  united 
bodies  had  taken  a  different  view  of  the  case,  and  thought  them- 
selves at  liberty  to  take  funds  from  the  common  treasury  to  pub- 
lish versions  which  inculcated  their  own  peculiar  religious  senti- 
ments. 

This  led  the  Board  in  1836  to  express  their  views  on  this  subject 
by  the  following  Resolutions  : — 

"  By  the  Constitution  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  its  Mana- 
gers are,  in  the  circulating  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  restricted  to  such 
copies  as  are  '  without  note  or  comment ;'  and  in  the  English  lan- 
guage to  the  '  version  in  common  use.'  The  design  of  these  re- 
strictions clearly  seems  to  have  been  to  simplify  and  mark  out  the 
duties  of  the  Society,  so  that  all  religious  denominations  of  which 
it  is  composed  might  harmoniously  unite  in  performing  these 
duties. 

"  As  the  Managers  are  now  called  to  aid  extensively  in  circulat- 
ing the  sacred  Scriptures  in  languages  other  than  the  English, 
they  deem  it  their  duty,  in  conformity  with  the  obvious  spirit  of 
their  compact,  to  adopt  the  following  resolutions  as  the  rule  of  their 
conduct  in  making  appropriations  for  the  circulation  of  the  Script- 
ures in  diW foreign  tongues: 

"Resolved,  Tliat  in  appropriating  money  for  the  translating, 
printing,  or  distributing  the  sacred  Scriptures  in  foreign  languages. 


520  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

the  Managers  feel  at  liberty  to  encourage  only  such  versions  as 
conform  in  the  principles  of  their  translation  to  the  common 
English  version,  at  least  so  far  as  that  all  the  religious  denomina- 
tions represented  in  this  Society  can  consistently  use  and  circulate 
said  versions  in  their  several  schools  and  communities. 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  the  above  j)reamble  and  resolu- 
tions be  sent  to  each  of  the  Missionary  Boards  accustomed  to  re- 
ceive pecuniary  grants  from  this  Society,  with  a  request  that  the 
same  may  be  transmitted  to  their  respective  mission  stations  where 
the  Scriptures  are  in  process  of  translation,  and  also  that  the  said 
several  Missionary  Boards  be  informed  that  their  applications  for 
aid  be  accompanied  with  a  declaration  that  the  versions  which 
they  propose  to  circulate  are  executed  in  accordance  witli  the 
above  resolutions." 

It  was  not  the  design  of  the  Board  to  dictate  rules  to  any  mis- 
sion or  denomination  as  to  translations,  but  to  state  what  kinds 
alone  this  Union  Society  could  consistently  patronize,  to  wit — 
such  as  were  of  a  catholic  character. 

In  1845.  the  Board  of  Managers  were  led  by  certain  allegations 
to  make  the  following  statement  in  their  Report,  (which  will 
explain  its  object,)  in  relation  to  the  first  of  the  resolutions  above 
given. 

"Learning  that  some  appear  to  have  misapprehended  the  de- 
sign of  the  above  resolution,  inferring  from  it  that  the  English 
Bible  was  to  be  the  standard  to  which  new  versions  were  in  all 
cases  to  be  rigidly  conformed,  the  Managers  would  here  state  that 
such  is  not  their  design.  They  have  always  expected,  and  do 
still,  that  all  new  translations  will  be  carefully  made,  as  was  that, 
from  the  original  Hebrew  and  Greek,  and  yet  so  made,  in  order 
to  be  patronized  by  this  body,  that  the  different  denominations 
here  united  can  all  use  them,  as  they  use  in  common  the  English 
Bible.  They  refer  to  that  version,  because,  in  adopting  it  for 
home  distribution,  it  is  admitted  by  all  to  be  a  good  version,  made 
on  catholic  principles,  such  as  invest  be  observed,  from  its  very 
nature,  by  every  Society  of  mixed  denominations  engaged  in  pre- 
paring and  issuing  books.  But  while  the  Enghsh  version  is  thus 
referred  to,  the  last  part  of  the  above  resolution  shows,  and  was 
designed  to  show,  that  strict  conformity  to  that  model  is  not  re- 
quired, provided  versions  be  such  that  'all  religious  denominations 
represented  in  this  Society  can  consistently  use  and  circulate  said 
versions  in  their  several  schools  and  communities.'  Let  new  ver- 
sions be  made  with  care  from  the  originals  into  the  tongues  of  oiu' 
aborigines,  or  those  of  India  or  China;  let  a  few  words  of  difficult 
translation  be  transferred,  or  so  translated,  as  in  meaning  to 
satisfy  the  different  members  of  this  Bible  compact,  and  the  Board 
will  feel  at  liberty,  both  from  the  nature  of  their  union  and  from 
the  resolution  cited,  to  grant  their  patronage.  One  new  version 
has  been  aided  the  past  year,  where  some  of  the  words  referred  to 
were  translated  by  terms  satisfactory  to  missionaries  of  different 
creeds.     It  is  hoped  that  in  this  way  obstacles  which  now  seem 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE, 


521 


formidable  will  ere  long  be  removed,  and  every  land  be  blessed, 
as  our  own  so  happily  is,  with  a  common  Bible." 

The  following  table  Avill  show  the  number  of  Bibles  and  of 
Testaments  issued  by  the  American  Bible  Society,  in  each  year 
since  its  organization  : — 


Year. 

Pililes. 

Tests. 

Total. 

1  Vear. 

Bibles.  1   Tests.  |  Total,  j 

b.41U 
17,594 

23,870 

ti,41U 
17,594 
31,118 

17 

18 
19 

91,168 
110.832 
123,236 

2 
3 

34,083 
47,709 

76.749 
75  527 

7,248 

4 

20,800 

14,713 

41,513 

20 

65,974 

1.55,720 

221,694 

5 

26.772 

1G.474 

43,246 

21 

51354 

154.886 

206.240 

6 

28.910 

24.5G0 

53,470 

22 

45083 

113,215 

158,298 

7 

28,448 

213  357 

54,805 

23 

45,333 

89,604 

134937 

8 

31,590 

28,849 

60.439 

24 

54  227 

103.034 

157,261 

9 

30,094 

33  757 

63  851 

25 

64,304 

87,898 

152  202 

10 

31,154 

35.980 

67,134 

2(5 

101,416 

155,650 

257,066 

11 

35  87G 

35745 

71,621 

27 

82,912 

133  693 

216.605 

12 

75,734 

58.873 

134  607 

28 

114,766 

199,816 

314  582 

13 

91.248 

108.874 

200,122 

29 

145,970 

283,122 

429,092 

14 

130,254 

108,329 

238,583 

30 

161,974 

321,899 

483.873 

15 

171,972 

70.211 

242,183 

31 

209.416 

418,348 

627,764 

u; 

54,843 

G0.959 

115,802 

32 

232  272 

422,794 

655  066 

33 

205,307 

359,419 

564,726 

Total . 


.2.510.610  Bibles, 
3,836,530  Testaments. 

6,347,140 


The  next  table  presents  the  Annual  Receipts  of  the  American 
Bible  Society  since  its  organization  : — 


Year.  | 

Receipts. 

1   Year. 

Receipts.    | 

Year. 

Receipts. 

1816 

$35,877.46 

1827 

$75,879.93 

1838 

$95,128.26 

1817 

36,564.30 

1828 

143.184.33 

1839 

97,365.09 

1818 

53.223.94 

1829 

170,067.55 

1840 

118.860.41 

1819 

41,361.97 

1830 

125.316.79 

1841 

134,357.08 

1820 

47.009.20 

1831 

107.059.00 

1842 

126.448.77 

1821 

40.682.34 

1832 

84.935.48 

1843 

154,440.08 

1822 

52,021.75 

1833 

88.600.82 

1844 

166,652.00 

1823 

42,416.95 

1834 

100.806.26 

1845 

197,367.98 

1824 

49.693.08 

1835 

104.899.45 

1846 

205,068.23 

1825 

56,115.49 

1836 

90578.89 

1847 

254,377.18 

1826 

65,192.88 

1837 

85,676.83 

1848 

251,870.16 

CONCLUSIONS  DRAWN  FROM  THE  PRECEDING  HISTORY. 


Considered  in  the  light  of  a  conspicuous  public  undertaking, 
if  there  be  anything  in  the  tnagnitude  of  an  object  fiited  to  attract 
or  interest  and  fix  the  mind,  it  is  found  here.  The  cause  of  Divine 
Revelation  admits  of  no  superior  authority  in  any  land  ;  but  in  ours, 
it  has  assumed  an  appearance  visible  to  any,  if  not  to  every  eye. 
As  such,  this  cause  has  reached  a  height  more  than  sufficient  to 


522  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

silence  any  opponent.  Of  infinite  importance  in  itself,  and  at  the 
same  time  by  far  the  largest  movement  in  our  day,  possessing  all 
the  attributes  of  a  fixed  or  invincible  Divine  purpose,  the  difficulty 
lies  in  duly  apprehending  or  grasping  it.  In  casting  our  eye  upon 
only  one  of  these  millions  of  volumes,  every  page  of  which  is  the 
voice  of  God  to  man,  and  every  man  is  interested  in  its  meaning, 
it  would  here  be  out  of  place  to  dwell  upon  the  Scriptures  them- 
selves— upon  the  majesty  of  their  style — the  solemnity  of  their 
matter — their  comprehensiveness — their  correspondency  to  the 
spirit  of  man,  whether  as  corrupt  and  depraved,  or  regenerated  and 
renewed — 0!i  their  peculiar  efficacy,  or  obvious  design.  By  all 
wlio  duly  prize  them  they  are  confessed  and  regarded  to  be  the 
only  standard  of  unerring  wisdom — the  only  means  of  rousing 
effiictuallv  the  human  mind — containing  the  only  ground  of  hope 
before  his  Maker  for  the  burdened  or  wounded  spirit — the  unfailing 
source  of  solid  comfort,  peace,  and  joy — the  only  eflectual  medium 
of  strength  for  sustaining  the  trials,  or  performing  the  duties  of 
life.  Nor  let  it  ever  be  forgotten,  that  this  Sacred  Record,  in  our 
vernacular  tongue,  wherever  it  be  found,  near  or  afar  off,  at  home 
or  at  tiie  ends  of  the  earth,  enjoys  this  unspeakably  glorious  privi- 
lege— there  its  divine  Author  is  present^  specially  present  wi^th.  it ! 

Whatever  imperfections  may  be  detected  in  the  preceding  pages, 
there  is  a  peculiarity  of  character  belonging  to  the  history  as  a 
whole,  of  wiiich  it  is  not  likely  ever  to  be  bereaved.  This  feature 
of  distinction  is  now  visible  in  a  long  and  uninterrupted  series  of 
provable  events.  Whether  any  importance  will  be  attached  to  the 
disclosure  and  proof  remains  to  be  seen  ;  but  as  there  was  a  com- 
mencement made,  in  spite  of  all  human  sanction  at  first,  and  an 
unceasing  progress  in  superiority  to  all  human  control  ever  since, 
it  seems  as  if  there  were  still  some  special  homage  to  be  paid  to 
the  Sacred  Volume  ;  and  more,  much  more,  than  there  has  ever 
yet  been.  The  very  imperfect  and  scattered  notices  hitherto  given 
of  the  English  Bible,  have  been  too  often  bloated  with  unwarrant- 
able assertions  of  a  species  of  interference,  direction,  and  control, 
which  the  authentic  history  disowns. 

We  have  seen  that  the  history  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  as 
printed  in  the  English  language,  for  more  than  three  hundred 
years,  has  a  character  of  its  own,  and  such  a  one,  as  even  common 
reverence  suggvists,  ought  to  be  observed  and  studied  by  itself. 
Hitherto  it  has  been  considered  by  historians  as  a  theme  which 
scarcely  came  in  their  way,  and  when  it  did,  it  has  either  been 
loosely  glanced  at,  or  treated  as  a  subject  with  which  they  had  little 
or  nothing  to  do.  On  the  contrary,  we  have  looked  upon  the  first 
entrance,  and  singularly  continued  possession,  of  these  Scriptures, 
as  involving  by  far  the  highest  point  of  national  interest  and  re- 
sponsibility, while  the  history  itself  seems  to  invite,  or  rather  de- 
mand, attention  and  lemembrance,  both  as  to  its  commencem,ent 
and  its  continuance. 

Resolutely  bent  on  the  execution  of  his  purpose,  we  beheld 
Tyndale  leave  his  native  country,  never  to  return  ;  and  sometime 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  523 

after,  we  saw  his  earliest  production,  the  New  Testament  in  Eng- 
lish, arrive  on  these  shores.  We  had  heard  the  bitter  foreign 
enemy  of  divine  truth,  in  every  vernacular  tongue,  Cochlaius, 
forewarning  Wolsey  and  his  Royal  Master  to  stop  every  inlet,  to 
lay  an  embargo  on  every  seaport,  and  prevent  its  entrance :  yet. 
liave  we  not  observed  it,  coming  to  our  ancestors  across  the  sea, 
before  there  was  any  fixed  form  of  opinion,  save  that  of  hostility, 
eitlier  in  England  or  Scotland?  And  long  before  there  was  an 
Institution  of  any  name,  professing  to  bow  to  its  authority  ?  Yes, 
come  it  did,  and  with  powerful  effect ;  but  what  was  its  reception 
from  many,  and  especially  from  men  of  authority,  for  Jiiore  than 
ten  years '!  Can  any  other  Nation  be  now  specified  that  discovered 
equal,  or  such  per^vering,  hostility  ?  And  if  in  this  hostility 
Britain  stood  pre-eminent,  so  much  the  more  ought  never  to  be 
forgotten  the  first  presentation  of  the  Divine  Record.  It  is  a  fea- 
ture in  her  national  history,  which  so  enhances  the  self-moved 
goodness  of  God,  as  to  render  all  that  has  occurred  since,  worthy 
of  the  profoundest  adoration.  We  have  witnessed,  very  distinctly, 
that  the  most  deadly  opponents  were  men  who  had  arrogated  to 
themselves,  exclusively  and  by  way  of  eminence,  the  title  of  "  the 
spirituality."  Have  we  not  beheld  those  individuals,  moved  with 
mingled  terror  and  indignation  ;  and  united,  as  one  man,  from 
their  Primate  downwards,  however  vainly,  to  purchase,  and  then 
destroy  the  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,  because  it 
was  in  the  language  of  our  common  country  ?  In  their  heartfelt 
alarm,  have  we  not  observed  them  apply  to  a  civilian,  the  phoenix 
of  his  age,  that  he  might  put  forth  all  his  strength,  and  his  power 
of  sarcasm,  in  opposition  ?  In  the  north  as  well  as  the  south,  a 
common  sense  of  danger  had  prevailed.  A  general  call  to  arms 
was,  as  it  were,  the  order  of  the  day.  The  masses,  with  their 
leaders,  were  banded  together  in  hostility.  But  still,  month  after 
month,  nav,  year  after  year,  we  have  seen  the  dreaded  Book  ar- 
rive, in  many  ways,  though  by  channels  inexplicable,  and  then 
brave  every  species  of  opposition.  Authority  could  not  command 
it  away.  Neither  could  skill  devise  an  antidote,  nor  power  banish 
it  from  the  land.  Terror  proved  itself  to  be  impotent,  and  all  the 
threatenings  of  vengeance  were  in  vain.  Surely  this  strange 
commencement,  this  early  and  emphatic  page  in  the  history  of 
our  own  English  Bible,  is  never  to  be  forgotten,  much  less,  con- 
signed to  oblivion. 

The  reader  may  have  perused  Foster's  powerful  Essay  on 
Decision  of  Character,  at  the  close  of  which  he  has  said — "  I  am 
sorry,  and  I  attribute  it  to  defect  of  memory,  that  a  greater  propor- 
tion of  the  illustrations  which  I  have  introduced  are  not  as  con- 
spicuous for  goodness  as  for  power.^'  Martin  Luther  abroad,  and 
John  Howard  at  home,  are  there  indeed  not  forgotten,  and  let 
them  ever  enjoy  deservedly  their  own  high  place  ;  but  let  Eng- 
land, at  last,  do  justice  to  one  of  her  own  sons  !  For  goodness 
and  power  united,  now  that  his  history  is  better  known,  we  may 
be  permitted  to  hesitate,  whether  this  country  ever  produced,  or 


524  HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

even  Europe  at  the  moment,  a  more  valuable,  because  influential 
instance  of  decision  of  character,  than  that  of  William  Tyndale, 
who  died  in  triumph  at  the  stake,  above  nine  years  before  Luther 
expired  on  his  bed  !  Luther,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  never 
expatriated,  never  from  under  the  kind  protection  of  his  Elector  ; 
and  in  his  literary  undertakings  he  ever  enjoyed  the  benefit  or 
assistance  of  scholars,  at  least  equal  to  himself  He  had  Melanc- 
thon,  Justus  Jonas,  and  others,  with  whom  to  consult  and  advise. 
Tyndale  stood  alone,  literally  alone,  whether  at  the  outset,  or  at 
the  close  of  his  career.  Generally  speaking,  he  was  destitute  of 
every  support  or  encouragement.  "  The  lonely  individual  was 
placed  in  the  alternative  of  becoming  the  victim  or  the  antagonist 
of  the  power  of  the  empire."  He  never  had  a  patron,  and  when 
hunted  by  English  spies,  or  English  ambassadors,  he  had  no  Elect- 
oral authority  to  shield  him  from  his  Monarch's  wrath,  or  the  ven- 
geance of  his  Ministers.  His  Melancthon  was  taken  from  him, 
and  slain  upon  the  high  places  in  England,  when  he  might  indeed 
lament  over  him,  as  David  did  over  Jonathan  ;  yet  still  he  must 
plough  through  the  deep  as  before,  or  fight  on — and  live — and  die 
alone  !  Though  one  of  the  noblest  of  mankind,  he  expired  at  a 
stake,  as  an  outcast  from  all  human  society.  The  Avorld  was  not 
his  friend,  nor  the  world's  law.  Leaving,  however,  his  labors  to  be 
gathered  up  into  the  Bible  of  1.537,  he  had  effectually  laid  the 
foundation  of  all  future  versions  or  editions  of  the  English  Script- 
ures ;  and  these  ten  long  years,  from  1526  to  1536,  now  appear  to 
be  unquestionably  among  the  most  important,  as  influential,  in 
the  subsequent  history  of  this  Island. 

But  if  these  j^ears  stand  distinguished  by  a  commencement  and 
early  progress  altogether  irresistible  ;  an  extended  course  began, 
not  less  worthy  of  observation,  when  the  Bible  entire  arrived. 
Tyndale  and  his  translations,  whether  of  the  New,  or  of  the  Old 
Testament,  had  been  bitterly  opposed,  though  in  vain.  The  hos- 
tility was  distinctly  and  frequently  expressed  by  the  King  and 
Cardinal,  by  the  Vice-Gerent  or  Vicar-General,  by  Primate  and 
Bishop,  with  all  their  underlings,  by  his  Majesty  in  person,  by  his 
Privy  Council  as  a  body  :  but  now,  though  the  Translator  be  gone 
to  his  reward,  his  labors  having  been  preserved,  incorporated  into 
a  folio  volume,  and  imported  into  his  native  land,  it  was  meet  that 
all  these  adverse  authorities,  without  exception,  should  be  signally 
overruled.  The  course  thus  begun  was  never  to  be  abandoned. 
Intermeddling  there  was.  A  show  of  nominal  Royal  authority, 
though  never  of  any  other,  might  and  did  occur ;  but,  substan- 
tially, all  parties  must  eitiier  stand  aloof,  or  be  overruled,  down  to 
the  present  da)^  Henry  VIII.,  indeed,  might  waver,  but  not 
until  as  many  Bibles  had  been  printed,  as  might  serve,  somewhat 
like  Joseph's  corn  in  Egypt,  during  the  famine.  His  adverse 
policy,  too,  then  had  but  little  power,  nay,  the  capriciousness  dis- 
played was  only  calculated  to  whet  curiosity.  Every  one  can 
now  see  that  a  book  half  interdicted,  must  have  been  looked  at 
with  the  keener  avidity  in  private.     The  King  talked  of  his  power 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  525 

to  give  and  to  restrain  the  Scriptures,  but  these  were  only  vain 
words.  He  confessed  his  impotence  before  he  died,  and  tliis  was 
the  only  department  in  which  Henry  ever  did  so.  In  the  reign  of 
Edward  VI.,  however  friendly  in  his  own  person,  as  neither  the 
Convocation  or  Parliament  of  the  father  had  ever  been  permitted 
to  banish  the  book  entirely,  so  here  they  must  not  interfere  at  all. 
Divine  truth  having  free  course  was  glorified;  and  though  Mary 
succeeded  with  her  husband  Philip,  we  have  seen  that  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other  were  ever  allowed  to  issue  any  official  denunci- 
ation of  the  book  of  God.  No  doubt  the  Scriptures  were  then 
consumed,  as  they  had  been  under  the  father  of  the  Queen,  but 
the  great  majority  seem  to  have  been  preserved.  Many  were  car- 
ried away  ;  many  were  concealed,  and  even  built  up,  till  a  better 
day.  Besides,  these  few  years  were  the  season  appointed  for  re- 
vising the  translation,  and  once  revised,  the  English  monarch  was 
once  more  to  be  still  more  signally  overruled.  Elizabeth,  who 
ruled  over  everything  else,  in  every  other  department,  must  yield 
here,  and  never,  throughout  her  long  reign,  speak  one  word  to  the 
contrary.  Her  own  patent  printer,  too,  shall  be  the  instrument 
for  supplying  the  people  with  that  version  of  the  Bible  for  which 
they  called,  and  which  they  continued  to  read,  both  in  England 
and  Scotland,  long  after  her  successor,  James  VI.,  was  in  his 
grave.  To  the  proposal  of  our  present  version  that  monarch  had 
acceded,  at  an  anomalous  conference,  with  a  few  men,  before  he 
was  recognized  by  Parliament  as  King ;  but  though  fond,  even  to 
ostentation,  of  proclamations,  as  he  then  never  issued  one  respect- 
ing the  Bible,  and  did  not  live  to  witness  its  general  adoption,  nor 
his  son  either,  the  same  character  for  independence  is  stamped 
upon  the  version  ever  since  in  use.  That  version,  as  already  no- 
ticed, only  became  the  Bible  of  this  island  entire,  at  a  period  of 
all  others  the  most  impressive  and  significant,  as  to  all  the  author- 
ity residing  in  poor  human  nature.  It  was  when  there  was  no 
king  within  our  borders,  and  many  other  authorities  were  for  the 
time  extinct ;  but  the  Sovereign  Disposer  of  all  events,  the  Unseen 
Ruler,- was  there.  King  and  Convocation,  Lords  and  Commons, 
for  the  moment  set  aside  or  laid  low,  surely  He  intended  that  his 
hand  and  power  should  have  been  then  observed,  nay,  and  re- 
membered, from  that  time  forward.  And,  finally,  to  come  down 
to  our  day,  when  so  much  has  been  done,  and  so  much  said,  re- 
specting the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures,  it  has  not  been  at  the 
bidding  of  any  human  authority  whatever,  whether  civil,  or  what 
is  called  ecclesiastical.  At  a  period  when  combination,  or  associ- 
ation under  patronage  has  been  all  the  rage,  and  the  highest  that 
could  possibly  be  procured  has  been  aimed  at,  as  a  great  aifair ; 
still,  of  the  Bible  Society,  out  of  four  Sovereigns  in  succession,  on 
the  throne,  not  one  of  them  has  been  a  member,  nor  has  any 
Primate,  or  Prince  of  the  Blood,  ever  presided  at  its  annual  meet- 
ing. It  has  been  a  movement  of  the  people,  as  the  people,  irre- 
spective of  all  their  divisions ;  and  yet,  on  the  whole,  God  has 
been  accomplishing  far  more  by  men  separately  than  by  men  com- 


526  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

bined  :  more  in  the  customary  course  of  his  kind  Providence  than 
by  what  has  been  called  the  Bible  Society. 

With  regard  to  legislation,  it  is  true,  that  as  Britain  has  been 
charged  with  excess  of  interference,  in  almost  everything,  succes- 
sive attempts  we  have  witnessed,  even  here  ;  and  there  have  been 
patents  for  printing,  but  still,  all  along,  the  integrity  of  the  his- 
tory of  the  English  Bible  has  been  most  singnlarl}^  preserved,  and 
the  distinct  line  of  an  overruling  Providence  has  been  quite  visi- 
ble, from  first  to  last.  In  holding  on,  throughout  its  entire  course, 
ever  independent  of  all  associated  bodies,  as  such,  even  the  his- 
tory of  our  Sacred  Volume  comes  clothed  with  a  prerogative,  or 
sovereign  authority,  above  everything  else,  in  the  shape  of  relig- 
ious history. 

Irrespective  of  all  reference  to  internal  evidence  in  the  Script- 
ures, we  point  simply  to  the  providential  history  of  the  book  itself. 
It  has  been  kept  distinct,  or,  as  it  were,  above,  3'et  among,  this 
people,  for  more  than  three  hundred  years ;  and  never  was  the 
highest  favor  which  God  has  bestowed  so  long,  more  conspicuous 
and  abundant,  than  at  the  present  moment.  If,  at  such  a  time, 
there  should  be  any,  or  too  many  who  seem  to  be  wholly  engrossed, 
whether  by  ecclesiastical  self-righteousness,  or  mere  party  spirit ; 
still,  it  is  altogether  in  vain  for  any  community,  as  such,  within 
the  shores  of  Britain,  to  talk  of  its  superior  importance  here.  All 
other  questions,  are  absolutely  local,  and  subordinate.  All  com- 
munities offer  to  the  eye  but  a  section  of  the  people,  or  an  infe- 
rior circle.  Every  one  of  them  is  here  not  only  spoken  to  direct, 
but  all  alike  are  here  providentially  over-arched.  Not  one,  with- 
out exception,  can  rise  and  lay  claim  to  the  glory  of  that  boio  in 
the  clouds. 

Changes  in  sublunary  things,  there  have  been  many  ;  divisions 
and  sub-divisions  as  to  its  meaning,  but  never  has  it  been  per- 
mitted to  fall  under  the  power,  much  less  into  the  keeping  of  any 
one  circle.  Never  has  it  been  allowed  to  become  the  badge,  or 
the  partizan  of  a  single  party.  Not  one  could  ever  address  an- 
other in  the  style  of  the  Venetians  to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  and  say 
— that  Book  is  ours.  An  historical  event,  therefore,  extending 
over  three  countries,  with  immediate  reference  to  our  vernacular 
Bible,  may  certainly  be  presumed  to  carried  so?ns  significance 
beyond  the  external  fact.  But  if  so,  that  cannot  be  anything  of 
trivial  moment,  which  speaks  to  all  alike,  and  for  so  long  a 
period.  It  is  true,  only  one  simple  principle  may  be  all  that  is 
involved,  though  it  must  be  one  worthy  of  this  high  and  long- 
continued  course  of  procedure.  After  all  this  then,  some,  if  not 
every  intelligent  observer,  may  now  be  disposed  to  pause  a  little, 
having  verified  this  anomaly  in  our  national  history.  The  boon 
bestowed  he  has  long  felt  to  the  Britaht's  best  hope,  though 
never  before  presented  exactly  in  this  light;  and  if  the  peace  and' 
tranquillity  of  his  country  has  been  supposed  to  depend  upon  the 
harmony  and  stability  of  the  Institutions  within  her  shores,  he 
may  begin  to  apprehend  that  season,  if  not  past,  may  be  passing 


HISTORY    OP    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  527 

away.  But  again  he  turns  to  the  highest  gift  bestowed  on  all 
alike.  In  its  history  it  now  appears  as  if  it  had  been  uninter- 
ruptedly calling  upon  every  circle,  without  exception,  to  look  up 
for  superior  light ;  or  in  waiting  for  its  own  peculiar  place  in  the 
wide  community  below — waiting  for  a  supremacy  to  which  it  has 
been  all  along  entitled. 

Why  then  should  not  such  a  long  and  patient  suspension  of 
this  Sacred  Record,  held  beyond  the  grasp,  or  above  the  head  of 
a  whole  community  still  divided  in  opinion,  not  now  lead  to  a 
more  thoughtful  consideration  of  that  place  which  Infinite  Wis- 
dom seems  to  be  determined  it  shall  one  day  occupy  ?  This  might 
prove  to  be  an  end  worthy  of  the  long  loay  to  it ;  since,  in  the 
sufficiency  and  explicitness  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  the  sovereignty 
of  God  is  alike  involved.  Beyond  all  question,  a  writing  is  capa- 
ble of  being  so  complete,  that  it  needs  no  addition,  and  shall  this 
completeness  be  any  longer  denied  even  to  the  Divine  Record  ? 
One  man  in  this  country,  it  is  granted,  has  long  and  frequently 
been  lauded  as  immortal,  simply  because  of  his  having  said,  that 
"  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  alone,  was  his  religion."  But  from  his 
lips,  as  well  as  from  thousands  who  have  quoted  him,  what  has 
this  been  more  than  a  mere  saying?  Or  more  than  a  proof  that 
even  thousands  may  be  governed,  in  speculation,  by  a  theory, 
which  in  practice  they  reject?  It  is  quite  possible  that  here  may 
have  lain  the  real  secret  of  our  Sacred  Volume  ha.ving  been  so 
long  locked  up,  in  what  is  called  a  Patent.  Perhaps  we  have  not 
been  trusted  with  it,  and  are  not  to  be,  till  we  are  able  duly  to 
estimate  its  character  and  value  as  a  perfect  standard  of  faith  and 
practice. 

It  has  indeed  been  frequenlly  said,  that  the  Christians  of  Britain 
can  never  be  one  people,  till  they  become  a  people  of  only  one 
Book.  But  unquestionably,  if  they  do  insist  upon  having  two 
centre-points  in  a  circle,  all  the  lines  draw^n  from  both,  must  of 
necessity  cross  each  other.  And  so  it  ever  must  be  till  the  day 
when,  as  one  man,  they  contend  for  the  Sacred  Scriptures  as  the 
common  centre  against  all  antiquity. 

We  are  now,  however,  able  to  account  historically  for  the  ma- 
jestic height,  or  the  magnitude  of  this  cause.  That  Sovereign 
Book,  in  addition  to  the  supreme  authority  of  its  contents,  has 
become  visibly  the  Sovereign  also,  even  in  point  of  number  and 
dispersion  ;  an  event,  which  may  never  have  been  sufficiently  re- 
o-arded,  as  containing  in  itself  some  distinct  and  verv  significant 
meaning  to  all  who  read  this  version,  whether  at  home  or  abroad. 

Three  hundred  years  ago,  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  but  par- 
ticularly in  this  country,  both  in  England  and  Scotland,  t!ie  high 
and  keen  dispute  was,  whether  what  they  called  the  Church,  or 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  were  uppermost,  or  which  was  to  be  regard- 
ed as  supreme  in  point  of  authority.  For  ages  preceding,  it  had 
seemed  to  be  the  former.  At  least,  a  body,  usurping  that  name, 
had  long  wantonly  reigned  over  them ;  and  the  use  they  made  of 
that  daring  assumption  is  well  known.     It  brought  on  that  night 


528  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

of  pitchy  darkness  which  so  long  brooded  over  Europe.  They 
had  taken  away  the  key  of  knowledge,  and  substituted  other  keys. 
They  had  not  only  closed  or  contenuied  the  Sacred  Volume ;  they 
denied  to  the  people  at  large  the  use  or  even  the  possession  of  it. 
But  the  time  to  favor  Zion,  the  set  time,  was  come.  The  Almighty 
vindicated  his  own  cause  in  this  our  native  land,  by  way  of  emi- 
jience ;  and  after  a  peculiar  manner,  by  the  power  of  iiis  own 
word,  rescued  it  out  of  the  hands  of  those,  the  profane  rulers  of 
darkness.  This  was  His  first  note  of  interpretation,  which,  for 
illustration's  sake,  we  ventured  to  compare  to  the  key-note  in  mu- 
sic; and  it  itsally  seems  to  vibrate  in  the  ear  now,  as  distinctly  as 
it  did  in  August  1537. 

Now,  in  this  kingdom,  where  so  much  has  been  said  about  the 
Church,  ever  since,  perhaps  more  than  in  all  the  world  besides,  at 
present  it  becomes  worthy  of  universal  observation,  that  God,  by 
his  high  providence,  has  all  along,  never  permitted  his  Word,  in  a 
single  instance,  to  fall  into,  much  less  under,  the  power  of  any 
Church,  so  called,  of  whatever  form,  or  whatever  name.  The 
supreme  authority  of  the  Scriptures  he  has  visibly  demonstrated, 
before  the  eyes  of  the  nation  at  large,  by  carrying  them,  in  point 
of  numbers  and  dispersion,  far,  very  far  above  the  capacity,  and 
beyond  the  narrow  bounds,  of  any  Church  so  named,  or  of  any 
single  connnunity  within  our  shores.  The  supremacy  of  the 
Divine  Word,  though  still  far  from  being  understood  even  on  Brit- 
ish ground,  a  watchful  Providence  has  not  left  to  expositors  to 
spell  out  or  explain.  God  has  been  his  own  interpreter,  and  he 
has  made  it  plain.  This  is  one  great  lesson,  which  the  Sovereign 
Ruler  has  been  reading  to  this  kingdom  entire,  for  more  than  three 
hundred  years. 

Hence  it  is,  at  the  present  most  eventful  crisis,  whatever  may 
betide  the  country  as  a  whole,  or  whatever  may  await  any  of  its 
more  limited  interests,  that  His  own  cause  stands  out  before  us, 
healthy  and  strong,  and  in  vigorous  operation ;  far  more  vigorous 
than  at  any  previous  period,  and  by  far  the  highest  undertaking 
of  our  day.  Forming,  therefore,  as  it  does,  such  a  commanding 
providential  event,  or  a  voice  so  significant  and  so  loud ;  there 
may  be  impending  danger  to  all  subordinate  interests  throughout 
the  land,  in  disregarding  it  any  longer,  or  in  its  not  occupying  that 
high  place  in  the  national  mind  to  which  it  is  entitled. 

We  need  not  to  be  informed,  that,  under  the  influence  of  the 
present  low  estimation  in  which  some  appear  to  hold  the  Script- 
ures themselves,  they  may  reply — ^"  But  what  is  all  this  array  at 
the  best,  save  an  array  of  means  ?"  It  is  even  so,  though  we 
might  first  say  ;  but  look  again  and  consider ;  it  is  such  an  array, 
and  of  such  means !  After  perusing  such  a  history  of  the  past, 
let  us  have  a  care  how  we  estimate  the  divine  provision  for  mill- 
ions. Substitute  or  exchange  all  these  volumes  for  men,  right- 
hearted,  and  what  are  styled  able  tnen^  and  then  point  out  the  dif- 
ference. What  would  they  be,  though  full  in  view,  but  an  array 
of  means  ?     Or  before  God,  only  so  many  ciphers,  without  an  unit, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  529 

or  the  root  of  numbers  before  them  ?"  "  For  who  is  Pavl,  or  who 
Apollos,  but  ministers  by  whom  ye  believed,  even  as  the  Lord 
gave  to  each  of  us  7  I  have  planted,  Apollos  v-atered,  but  God 
gave  the  increase — These  things,  brethren,  I  have  applied  to  my- 
self and  to  Apollos  for  your  sakes ;  that  ye  might  learn  in  us, 
not  to  esteem,  any  one,  any  teacher,  above  what  hath  been  writteny 
No,  everything  is  beautiful  in  its  own  time  and  place.  The  min- 
ister of  truth  is  never  to  be  undervalued;  but  the  Word  of  God  is 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit,  and  that  is  a  sword,  which  is  only  to  be 
wielded  with  effect,  by  the  arm  of  conscious  weakness.  In  both 
instances,  whether  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  or  the  man  of  God,  the 
life-giving  Spirit  is  all  in  all. 

The  facts  here  gathered  respecting  the  operations  of  the  Ameri- 
can Bible  Society,  are  incorporated  from  the  latest  reports  of  that 
Institution,  and  perhaps  we  cannot  bring  this  work  to  a  close  more 
appropriately  than  by  copying  the  closing  passages  from  its  report 
for  1849,  exhibiting  the  greatness  of  the  work  in  which  the  society 
is  engaged  in  the  United  States  of  America,  and  in  foreign  lands. 

Every  successive  year,  says  the  report,  affords  accumulating 
testimony  to  the  importance  of  Bible  distribution,  and  that  too, 
systematical,  thorough,  and  repeated.  A  population  equal  to  that 
required  for  the  admission  of  ten  new  States  to  the  Union,  is 
added  to  our  population  every  year ;  and  to  keep  this  multitude 
supplied  with  the  Bible  is  a  work  of  mighty  magnitude  and  of  in- 
finite interest. 

We  are  struck  with  grateful  astonishment  at  the  desire  among 
the  destitute  for  the  bread  of  Life,  and  the  eagerness  with  which 
it  is  received.  This  is  manifested  in  all  parts  of  our  own  country, 
in  Spanish  America,  in  Europe  especially,  in  Syria  and  India. 
God  in  his  providence  and  in  his  grace  has  gone  before  us,  not 
only  to  prepare  the  way  for  the  free  course  of  his  Word,  but  to 
awaken  in  the  hearts  of  men  a  desire  to  have  the  Bible.  The 
wonderful  facilities  of  communication  with  distant  parts  of  the 
world  have  made  the  nations  more  familiar  with  each  other ;  and 
this  has  naturally  induced  the  people  of  those  nations  where  the 
Bible  is  not  diffused,  to  identify  the  superior  liberty  and  happiness 
of  other  nations  with  their  enjoyment  of  this  book.  The  rights  of 
man  as  well  as  the  duties,  are  taught  in  the  Bible,  and  hence  the  peo- 
ple, galled  by  the  yoke  of  tyranny  and  superstition,  hail  the  entrance 
of  a  book  that  proclaims  deliverance  to  them  that  are  bound.  In  Ro- 
man Catholic  and  Pagan  communities,  the  people  are  willing  and 
anxious  to  receive  and  search  the  Scriptures,  rarely  refusing  them, 
unless  at  the  dictation  of  the  priesthood  ;  and  in  many  cases,  even 
this  power  has  not  been  sufficient  to  restrain  the  inquirer  from 
seeking  and  finding  the  precious  truth  of  God.  What  power  the 
diffusion  of  the  Bible  has  exerted  among  those  nations  which  have 
been  struggling  for  freedom  during  the  last  year,  we  do  not  know, 
but  we  ai-e  sure  that  the  seed  is  the  Word — the  seed  of  liberty,  of 
order,  of  virtue,  of  hfe  and  salvation :  we  are  sure  that  the  en- 
trance of  this  Word  giveth  light  to  Papal  and  Pagan  minds,  and 

34 


530  HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE. 

that  everywhere  and  always,  the  Bible  is  dangerous  to  every  form 
of  despotism  on  the  human  soul. 

In  this  wide-spread  desire  for  the  Bible,  and  grateful  eagerness 
in  its  reception,  we  find  both  our  encouragement  and  our  responsi- 
bility. If  the  destitute  are  anxious  to  have  the  Word  of  God,  we 
not  only  may,  but  we  must  give  it.  No  longer  are  we  hindered 
by  the  resistance  of  popery,  or  infidelity,  or  heathenism :  the  hu- 
man family  is  waiting  for  the  law  of  God,  and  it  is  in  the  power 
of  our  hands  to  spread  its  knowledge  abroad  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth. 

We  are  also  painfully  and  deeply  impressed  with  tlie  truth,  that 
while  a  benighted,  suffering,  dying  world  is  ready  to  receive  the 
Word  of  Life,  and  must,  or  perish,  there  is  a  mournful  want  of 
sympathy  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  it,  with  those  who  have 
it  not.  Professing  to  love  the  Bible,  and  to  value  it  more  than 
rubies — drawing  from  it  as  from  a  fountain  of  living  water,  the 
principles  on  which  we  found  our  civil  and  religious  institutions — 
tracing  to  its  influence  all  that  is  sacred  and  endearing  in  the 
social  and  domestic  relations  of  life — and  above  and  beyond  all, 
rejoicing  in  it  as  the  source  and  strength  of  our  hopes  of  heaven 
through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord — we  are,  notwithstanding,  com- 
paratively indiflferent  to  its  diffusion.  We  know  that  when  we 
give  the  Bible,  we  give  all  these  unspeakably  precious  and  price- 
less blessings.  We  know  that  giving  it  does  not  impoverish  us, 
nor  withholding  enrich  us.  But  how  small  is  our  donation  com- 
pared with  our  estimate  of  the  work,  with  our  value  of  the  book, 
with  our  actual  ability  to  give!  With  n^eans  of  printing  and 
pubhshing  almost  without  limit,  with  facilities  for  distribution  that 
will  convey  the  Word  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  with  resources  of 
wealth  commensurate  with  the  call  that  is  made,  the  Bible  cause 
is  thrust  aside  with  a  miserable  pittance  from  many  of  its  count- 
less friends.  Humbling  and  painful  as  the  fact  must  appear,  it  is 
true  that  of  those  who  embrace  the  Bible  as  the  word  and  will  of 
their  God  and  Saviour,  read  it,  and  pray  over  it  daily,  go  to  it  for 
counsel  in  doubt,  for  strength  in  weakness,  for  consolation  in  sor- 
row, and  expect  its  support  in  death,  multitudes  have  not,  during 
the  past  year,  given  a  line  of  it  to  those  on  whose  eyes  its  light 
has  never  shone  ! 

Still,  we  believe  there  is  a  deepening  and  advancing  interest  in 
this  specific  cause.  Its  fundamental  relations  to  the  world's  con- 
version are  more  generally  understood,  and  more  sacredly  felt.  To 
spead  the  Bible  is  to  fill  the  world  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Lord. 
Those  who  are  often  saying,  "  O  how  I  love  thy  law,"  will  admit 
the  obligation,  and  rejoice  in  the  opportunity  to  give  it  to  the  des- 
titute. Long  has  Zion  been  praying,  "  0  send  out  thy  light  and 
thy  truth  :  let  them  lead  me,"  and  now  she  will  hear  the  voice 
that  saith  to  her,  "Arise,  shine,  for  thy  light  has  come." 

The  religion  of  the  Bible  is  the  only  religion  that  can  become 
universal.  Other  forms,  of  varied  names  and  natures,  are  dead 
or  dying :  this  only  is  living,  growing,  strengthening  with  age, 


HISTORY    OF    THE    ENGLISH    BIBLE.  531 

and  stretching  its  arms  to  gather  the  world  in  its  bosom.  This 
only  unites  all  good  men  in  its  support.  This  only  has  God  for 
its  author,  and  his  Word  as  the  pledge  of  its  perpetuity  and  suc- 
cess. It  has  pleased  Him  to  give  unto  us  his  lively  oracles,  that 
we  may  give  them  to  those  who  are  sitting  in  great  darkness. 
Accepting  the  trust,  with  gratitude  recognizing  the  obligation,  and 
confessing  that  when  we  shall  have  given  the  Bible  to  the  world, 
we  shall  yet  be  infinite  debtors  to  him  who  has  honored  us  in  en- 
trusting such  a  work  to  our  hands,  we  would  hear  the  voice  of 
Providence  and  the  Spirit,  and  publish  abroad  the  word  of  our 
God.  Already  the  tidings  have  come  to  us  of  the  triumph  of  the 
truth  in  the  midst  of  heathen  lands,  "  so  mightily  grew  the  word 
of  the  Lord  and  prevailed,"  where  the  Shasters  and  the  Koran 
have  hitherto  held  dominion  over  the  minds  of  men.  Now  the 
Bible  is  glorified  among  them  even  as  it  is  among  us  ;  and  in  per- 
severing faith  we  trust  the  day  is  not  far  off,  when  it  may  be  said 
of  the  voice  of  the  Most  High  in  his  printed  word,  "  The  mighty 
God,  even  Jehovah,  hath  spoken,  and  called  the  earth,  from  the 
rising  of  the  sun,  unto  the  going  down  thereof." 


CHRONOLOGICAL   LIST 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS, 

WITH    CERTAIN 
PUBLIC  LIBRARIES  AND  INDIVIDUAL  PROPRIETORS  IN  POSSESSION  OF  COPIES. 


In  the  following  pages  Ty.  denotes  the  translation  of  Tyndale — Co.  that  of  Cover- 
dale — Ma.  that  of  Rogers,  alias  Matthew,  or  that  of  Tyndale's,  left  for  publication — 
Cr.  denotes  Cranmer's — Ta.  that  ofTavernor's — Ge.  the  Genevan  version — Bps.  that 
of  the  Bishops,  and  To.  that  of  Laurence  Torason. 


PRINTER.  PLACE. 


HENRY    THE    EIGHTH. 

FIFXY-FOUR    EDITIONS,  VIZ.,  THIRTY-NINE    OF    THE    NEW  TESTAMENT,  AND  FIFTEEN 

OF    THE    KIBLE. 

Printed  in  twenty-two  years,  or  from  1525  to  the  28th  January,  1547. 

DESCRIPTION. 

Matthew  and  Mark — printed  "  as  writ- 
ten by  the  Evangelists,  '  with  marginal 
notes,  stitched  together  and  separately. 

1.  T.  The  New  Test,  with  glosses  and  a  pro- 

logue,—  only  one  fragment  remains,  and 
that  not  discovered  till  1834.  Now  in 
the  Library  of  the  Right  Hon.  Thomas 
Grenville.  Ty. 

2.  T.  The   New  Test,  wanting  only  the  title, 

and  the  only  copy  in  this  state  now 
known.  Bequeathed,  with  many  other 
volumes,  by  Dr.  And.  Gilford,  to  the 
Bristol  Museum. 

3.  T.  The  New  Test.,  the  first  surrep.  ed.,  of 

which  no  copy  has  yet  been  properly 
identified  in  any  collection.  Ty. 

4.  T.  The  New  Test.,  the  second  surreptitious 

edition.  Ty. 

5.  T.  The  New  Test.,  the  third  surreptitious 

edition.  Ty. 

f).  T.  The  New  Test.,  supposed  reprint  by 
Tyndale  himself,  with  his  prologue  to 
the  Romans.  Ty. 

Genksis,   Deuteronomy,   in   separate 

books.  Ty. 

Pentateuch,  with  a  general  preface,  and 

a  second  edition  of  Genesis,  dated  17th 

Jan.  1530,  i.  e.  1531.     A  perfect  copy 

in  the   Grenville  Lib.    Imp.     British 

Mus.    Bristol  Mus.  Ty. 

7.  T.  "  The  New  Test,  as  it  was  written,"  &c., 
altered  by  Geo.  Joye,  with  only  the  Vul- 


Hamburgh  1 524 


P.  Quentall  Cologne 

P.  Schoeffer  Worms  4o.  1525 


Ty.  P.  Schoeffer  Worms        18o. 

Endhoven  Antioerp  152G 
Ruremund  Antioerp  1527 
Antwerp           1528-9 

Hans  Luft  Marburg?  1530 
Hans  Lufl      Marburg  


Various  Different 

printers  places  1531 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS. 


533 


DESCRIPTION. 

gate  before  him,  dated  "M.ccccc.xxxiiii., 

in  August."     The  only  copy  certainly  Ty. 

known  to  exist  is  in  the  Grenville  Lib. 

8.  T.  The  New  Test,  dylygently  corrected  and 

compared  with  the  Greke,  by  Willyam 
Tindale,— fynished  in  md.xxxiiu.,  in 
Nov.  British  Muscuvi.  St.  Pauls. 
Bj-istol  Museum.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 
Chr.  Anderson.  Ty. 

9.  T.  Unique  copy  on  vellum.      '  Anna  Regi- 

na  Angliae."     Simply  the   sacred   text. 
British  Museum,. 
Jonah  with  a  prologue. 

10.  T.  New  Test,  anno  md.xxxiiu.  surrept.  p. 

415.  E.of  Pembroke.  Ty. 

11.  T.  New  Test,  anno  md.xxxiiu.  sur.  p.  415. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty. 

12.  T.  New  Test,  dated  on  the  back  1534,  p. 

415.  Bristol  Museum.  Ty. 

Pentateuch,   corrected.       St.    Paul's. 

Bristol  Museum.  Ty. 

13.  T.  New  Test,  from  Tyndale's  corrected  ed. 

p.  455.  Bodleian  Lib.  Ty. 

14.  T.  "  The  New  Testament  dylygently  cor- 

rected,"— peculiar  orthography,  p.  455- 
456.  Perfect.  Camb.  Un.  Lib.  Imp. 
Ex.  Col.  Ox.  Ty. 

15.  T.  The  Newe  Test.— but  imperfect— date 

wanting.     Cotton's  list.  Ty. 

1.  B.  BiBLiA.  The  Bible,  that  is,  the 
holy  Scripture  of  the  Okie  and  New 
Testament,  faithfully  and  truly  trans- 
lated out  of  Douche  and  Latyn  in  to 
English.  Earl  of  Leicester's — title 
1535.  Bodleian.  British  Museum. 
Cambridge  University  Library.  Bris- 
tol Museum.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Earl 
of  Jersey's,  dated  1536.  Co. 

16.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  yet  once  again 

corrected."    Fine  copy.     Duke  of  New- 
castle's, 1G76,  Earl  Spencer.     Lea  Wil- 
son, Esq.  Ty. 
The  Newe  Testament,  in  many  points 
similar,  but  quite  distinct.     The  second 
title  is  MD. XXXVI.          Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty. 
The  Newe  Testament,  also  similar,  but 
evidently  on  collation  a  different  edition 
— same  year.                 Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty. 
The  Newe  Test.,  quite  distinct  from  the 
three  last.                        Bristol  Museum.  Ty. 
"  The  Newe  Testament,  yet  once  agayne 
corrected   by    William   Tyndale.      Lea 
Wilson,  Esq.                                                 Ty. 
"  The  Newe  Testament  yet  once  agayne 
corrected," — longer  paper  and  distinct 
edition.                           Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty. 
"The  Newe  Testament  yet" — a  block 
in  the  cut  of  the  Apostle  Paul,  preceding 
the  Epistles,  is  only  one  distinguishing 
mark  of  these  three  editions.     Lea  Wil- 
son, Esq. 
23.  T.  New  Test.,  by  W.  Tindale.     A  thick 
pocket  vol.,  smaller  than  any  of  the  pre- 
ceding— a    fragment  possessed   by    G. 
Ofor,  Esq.  Ty. 


PRINTER.  PLACE.  YEAR. 

Widowe  of 

Christoffel      Antwerp      16o.  1534 

of  Endhoue. 


Marten 
Emperowr      Antwerp      12o. 


Ty.  Emperowr     Antwerp      12o. 


G.  H.  1  Antwerp      12o. 

1  Antwerp      12o. 

1  Antwerp        4o. 

Marburg     12o. 

1  Antwerp  12o.  1535 


•?          Antwerp?    12o. 
fol. 


Not  Zurich 
Frankfort  ? 
Cologne  ? 
Lubec?  fol.  1535 


17. 

T. 

18. 

T. 

19. 

T. 

20. 

T. 

21. 

T. 

22. 

T. 

Antwerp  12o.  1536 

Antwerp      12o. 

Antwerp      l2o. 

Antwerp      12o. 

Vosterman  1  Antwerp       4o. 

Vostermanl  Antwerp       4o. 


Ty.  Vosterman  1  Antwerp       4o. 


Antwerp  ?  12o. 


534 


CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF 


DESCRIPTION. 


24.  T. 


25.  T. 


Ty. 


26.  T. 

27.  T. 

28.  T. 

29.  T, 

30.  T. 

31.  T. 

32.  T. 


"  The  Newe  Test,  yet  once  agayne 
corrected  by  W.  Tyndale,"  &c.  Tliis  is 
from  the  last  corrected  edit.,  and  the  first 
Sacred  Volume  printed  on  Enghsh 
ground.  Bodleian  Lib.  John  Fenwick, 
Esq. 

The  Newe  Testament,  with  Tyndale's 
prologue  to  the  Romans  only,  but  Cov- 
erdale's  version.  The  first  edition  sepa- 
rate from  the  Bible  1    Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Co. 

2.  B.  "  The  Byble  that  is,  the  Holye 
Scrypture  of  the  Olde  and  New  Tes- 
tamente,  faythfully  translated  in  Eng- 
lysh,  and  newly  ouersene  and  cor- 
recte,  mv.xxxvii."  Dedicated  "to 
Henry  VIII.  and  his  Q,ueen  Jane." — 
"  Myles  Couerdale  unto  Christen 
reader."  Correcting  p.  565.  Earl 
Spencer.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

3.  B.  "  The  Byble,  that  is,  the  oulde  and 
newe  Testamet,  faithfully  Trauns- 
lated  into  English,  and  newly  ouer- 
seen  and  corrected,  md.xxxvii."  Ded- 
icated as  before,  and  both  •'  Sett  forth 
with  the  Ky  nges  most  gracious  license. 
Bristol  Museum.     Lincoln  Cathedral. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Co. 

4.  B.  "  The  Bible,  which  is  the  Holy 
Scripture,  in  which  are  contayned 

THE    Ol.DE    AND    NeWE     TESTAMENT, 
TRULY  AND  PURELY  TRANSLATED  INTO 

Englysh.      By  Thomas   Matthew." 
Dedicated  to  Henry  VIII.    "  Set  forth 
with   the   Kinge's   most   gracious   li- 
cense."    The  basis  of  all  subsequent 
editions.    British  Mus.    Lambeth  Lib. 
Bodleian.      British  Mus.      Earl   of 
Pembroke.     On   yellow   paper,  Earl  Ty. 
of  Bridgewater.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.      Ma, 
In  Latin  after  Erasmus,  and  in  English 
after  Matthew,  "  under  the  King's  most 
gracious  license."       Royal  Institution. 
Exeter  Coll.  O.von. 

New  Test,  of  Coverdale,  but  with  all 
Tyndale's  prologues,  by  Crom  or  Cromer. 
Bristol  Museum.  St.  Paul's  Library, 
"  of  our  Sauioure  .Tesu  Christe, — in  to 
Englysshe."  Library  of  the  late  Duke 
of  Sussex.  Mr.  G.  Mason. 
"  The  newe  Testament,  both  Latin  and 
Englyshe,  after  the  vulgar  texte,  by 
Myles  Couerdale."  Bodleian.  Lea 
Wilson,  Esq. 
"  The  newe  testament  both  in  Latine 
and  Englyslie" — ■  Faythfuliye  trans- 
lated by  Johan  Hollybushe.     St.  PauVs. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Chr.  Anderson.  Co, 
"  The  New  Testament  both  in  Latin 
and  English,"— title  red  and  black.  Ded- 
icated to  Lord  Crumwell,  by  Couerdale. 
St.  Paid's.  Bristol  Museum.  Lea  Wil- 
son, Esq. 

"  The  New  Testament" — with  a  true 
concordance  in  the  Margent — printed 
in  the  yeare  of  our  Lorde  mcccccxxxviii. 

Herbert,  p.  1549.  Co. 


PRINTER.  PLACE. 


T.  Berthelet 

Printer  to       London        fol.  1536 

the  King. 


Antwerp  ?    12o. 


Co.  J.  Nycolson  Southwarke    4o. 


J.  Nycolson  Southwarke   fol.  153') 


Ma. 


Co. 


Ma, 


Grafton  Antwerp? 

and  Lubec  ?  fol. 

Whitchurch  Hamboro  ? 


Redman        London  4o.  1538 

M.  Cromer    Antwerp       12o. 

Treveris        Southwark    4o. 


Co.  Nicolson        Southwarke  4o. 


Nicolson         Southwarke  4o. 


Co.  Regnault        Parts  So. 


London  ?    16o. 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS. 


535 


DESCRIPTION. 

33.  T.  The  Paris  edit,  with  Ded.  and  new  title. 

C.  C.  College,  Oxford.  Co. 

34.  T.   '■  of  our  sauiour  .lesu  Chryst — for  Tho- 

mas Berthelet,  p.  82.        St..  PauPs  Lib.  Ta. 

35.  T.   "  after  the  Greeke  Exemplar"— lor  T. 

Berthelet.  Herbert,  p.  5b3,  1550.  Ta. 

36.  T.  Rep.   of  1538.  very  incor.     Herbert,  p. 

IbiO,  1550.      '  Co. 

5.  B.  '•  The  Byhle" — an  undertaking  of 
Crumwell's,   with  Coverdale   as  cor- 
rector   of    the     press.       British   Mu- 
seum.   St.  Paul's.    Lambeth  Library. 
Bristol  Museum.   Perfect  copy.  Ma. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

6.  B.  "  The  most  sacred  Bible,"  by  Ta- 
verner.  British  Mus.  St.  PauVs. 
Bristol  Mus.  Cambridge  Un.  Lib. 
Balliol  Col.  O.von.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ta. 

7.  B.  ■'  The  most  sacred  Bible,"  by  Ta- 
verner.  But  no  third  edit,  by  Nycol- 
son,  as  stated  by  Herbert  and  Dibdin. 
See  Bible,  No.  Cotton's  List. 

8.  B.  "  The  Byble  in  Englyshe"—  '  Fyn- 
isshed  in  Apryll  mcccccxl."  The  first 
of  Crannier's.  Vellum.  British  Mu- 
seum. Perfectcopy.  Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Cr 

9.  B.  "The  Byble  in  Englyshe"—"  Fin- 
isshyed  in  Apryll,  anno  mcccccxl." 
Reprint  of  1539,  correcting  p.  131. 
British  Museum.  Emman.  Coll, 
Camb.     Lea.  Wilson,  Esq.  Ma 

10.  B.  "  The  Byble  in  Englyshe"—"  Fyn- 
ished  in  .Tuly,  anno  mcccccxl."  The 
second  of  Cranmer's,  a  perfect  copy. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.   Cr. 

11.  B.  The  Bible,  in  five  parts  or  volumes 
— nowhere  complete 

37.  T.  The  Newe  Testament  in  English,  as  in 

Cranmer,  though  said  to  be   from  the 
Latin  of  Erasmus.     Lambeth  Library. 

On  yellow  paper,  in  the  Bodleian.  Cr. 

38,  T.  The  Newe  Testament  of  Taverner's  ver- 

sion.    See  Ames,  499,  Cotton's  List.  p.  7. 

Introduction  to  Luke  omitted.  Bodleian  Ta. 

12  B.  "  The  Byble  in  Englyshe,"— 
"  Fynyshed  in  Nouember,  Anno 
MCCCCCXL.  not  pub.  till  1541.  Over- 
seen and  perused  at  Henry's  com- 
mand, by  Tunstaland  Heath.  Edin. 
Univ.  Lib. 

perfectcopy — Lea  Wilson,  Esq.     Tu. 

13.  B.  "The  Byble  in  Englysh,"— "Fin- 
ished the  xxviii  daye  of  Maye,  Anno 
DOMINI   MDXLi.     Third  of  Cranmer. 

perfect  copy — Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr. 

14.  B.  '  The  Byble  in  Englyshe,— 
Fynyshed  in  Nouember,  anno 
MCCCCCXLL,"  tlie  second  with  Tun- 
stal  and  Heath's  names  on  the  title, 
and  Cranmer's  prologue  in  both  edits. 

perfect  copy — Lea  Wilson,  Esq.    Tu. 

15  B.  "  The  Byble  in  Englyshe,  An.  do. 

MDXL.  —  Finyshed      in      December 

MCCCccxLi.      A    domino    factum    est 

istud.     This  is  the  Lordes   doynge." 

perfect — Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr. 


PRINTER. 

PLACE. 

YEAR 

London ? 

8o.  1539 

T.  Petyt 

London 

4o. 

T.  Petyt 

London 

8o. 

Cromer 

Antwerp 

8o. 

Gra  fton            Paris 

and                and 

Whitchurch'  London 

fol. 

.1.  Byddell      London  fol. 

Ta.  J.  Byddell      London  4o. 

Edward 

Whyt-  London  fol.  1540 

churche. 


Petyt  and 

Redman        London 


Richard 
Grafton 


Ma.  Redman 


London 
London 


Graflon  and 
Whitchurch  London 


London 


Edward 
Whitchurch  London 


Edwarde 
Whitchurch  London 


Richard 
Grafton 


Richard 
Grafton 


London 


London 


fol.  1540 

fol. 

I6o. 

4o. 

4o  

fol.  1541 
fol. 

fol. 

fol. 


536  CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OP 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  PLACE.  TEAR. 

39.  T.  The  New  Test.,  with  wood-cuts  in  the 
Gospels,  Acts  and  Revelations.  Hur- 
leian  Cat.  No.  428,  imperf. 

hta  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  Van  Loe  1     Antwerp       32o.  1544 


EDWARD  THE  SIXTH. 

FORTY-NINE    EDITIONS,    VIZ.,    THIRTY-FIVE    OF     THE     NEW    TESTAMENT    AND 
FOURTEEN    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

Issued  in  the  course  of  six  years  and  a  lialf,  or  from  '20th  Jan.,  1547,  to  6th  July.  1553. 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  YEAR. 

40.  T.  The  Newe  Testament  according  to  Cranmer's 

edits.     Dated  "  the  ix  day  of  October  mdxlvi." 

Bristol  Museum.  Cr.  R.  Grafton  12o.  154G 

41.  T.  The  Newe  Testament  in  Englishe  (Matthew) 

and   Latin,  according  to  Erasmus — a  reprint 

of  edit.  1538.       St.  Paul's.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ma.  W.  Powell  4o.  1547 

42.  T.  "The    new    Testament   in    Englyshe,"  —  of 

Cranmer's  version,  known  by  a  noted  omission 

in  the  text  of  Rev.  i.  9,  20.        Geo.  Offor.  Esq.  Cr.  E.  Whitchurch         8o. 

43.  T.  The  New  Testament,— the  English  of  his  edit. 

last  year.  Lambeth  Ma.  W.  Powell  4o.  1548 

44.  T.  "  The  newe  Testamente  in  Englyssh,  accord- 

ing to  the  translation  of  the  great  Byble." 
"  Londini.  —  Ex  officina  Johann  Hertbrdise, 
Anno  Domini  MDxlyiii."         Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr.  J.  Herford  24o. 

45.  T.  "  The  New  Testament  of  our  Saviour  Christ, 

after  the  bestcopie  of  William  Tindale's  Trans- 
lation," with  the  notes  of  Mattliew  and  others. 

Eton  College.  Ty.  Day  and  Seres      16o. 

46.  T.  The  New  Testament,  similar  to  the  last. 

Cottons  List.  Ty.  Day  and  Seres       4o. 

47.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 

Christ."     35  lines  in    a  page.     Perfect  copy, 

Sussex  sale  £50.     Imperfect.- — Chr.  Anderson.   Ty.  R.  Jugge  24o.  

48.  T.  "  The  newe  Testament  of  the  last  translation 

by  William  Tyndale,  with  prologes  and  Anno- 
tacyons  in  the  Margent."  34  lines  in  a  page. 
Herbert,  p.  556.  Lincoln  College,  O.vford.  Ty.  T.  Petit  4o. 

49.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  in  Englishe   and    in 

Latin.  Novvm  Testamentvm  Anglice  et  La- 
tine,  Anno  Dni  1548."  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  W.  Powell  4o. 

50.  T.  The  newe  Testament  of  the  last  Translation 

by   William   Tyndale.      Printed    for    Thomas 

Berthelet,  without  date.  Herbert,  p.  55G.  Ty.  T.  Petit  16o.  

51.  T.  "The  new  Testamente  by  William  Tindale, 

with  the  Annotations  of  Thomas  Matthew."  In 

olack  letter,  with  wood-cuts.     Geo.  Offbr,  Esq.  Ty,  8o. 

52.  T.  The    Newe    Testament,    a    rare    edit,  imper. 

"  Vvillia  Tindal  vnto  the  Chrystyan  Reader," 
with  wood-cuts  in  Revelations. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  Day  and  Seres  1    18o. 

53.  T.  The   New   Testament,   with    Erasmus'  para- 

phrase, vol.  i.     Bodleian.     Neie  College,  Oxon. 

Bristol  Museum,  var.  Whitchurch  fol. 

— -,  the  same, — the  Epistles, 

vol.    ii.  Sion  College.     New  College,  Oxon. 

Bristol  Museum,  var.  Whitchurch  fol.  1549 

54.  T.  "  The  New  Testament  of  our  Saviour  Christ — 

after  the  best  Copie  of  William  Tindale's  trans. 

with  notes  of  Matthew's."  Bristol  Mas.  Ty.  Jhon  Day  16o. 

55.  T.  The  Newe  Testament  by  William  Tyndale. 

Cotton's  List.  Ty.  W.  Seres  8o. 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS.  537 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  YCAR. 

56.  T.  "  The  new  Testamente  of  our  Sauyoure  Christ, 

set  forth  by  Willyam  Tyndale,  with  the  anna- 
tacion  of  T.  Matthew,"  23  of  Maye. 

British  Museum.     Bristol  Museum.  Ty.  Wm.  Copland  8o.  1549 

57.  T.  "The  newe  Testament  of  the  last  translacion. 

By  WyUiam  Tyndale."  Colophon  dated  also 
1548.  This  is  not  Coverdale's  Translation,  as 
stated  in  Herbert,  p.  764.         Bristol  Museum. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  Wm.  Tylle  4o. 

58.  T.  "  The  newe  Testament,  by  Miles  Coverdale, 

and  conferred  with  the  translacion  of  Willyam 
Tyndale."     Wood-cuts.  Lambeth  Library. 

Bristol  Musewn.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Co.  R.  Wolfe  12o. 

59.  T.  '  The  Newe  Testament,"  as  in  1547,  but  the 

Latin  here  in  Roman  type.  "  Imprinted 
MCCCCCXLix.    God  save  the  Kynge.    St.  Paul's. 

Earl  of  Bridgexcater.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ma.  W.  Powell  4o. 

60.  T.  "The  Newe  Testament  of  oure  Saueour  Jesus 

Christ,  by  M.  Wil.  Tindall."  an  earlier  foreign 
print,  though  now  only  put  forth. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  Day  and  Seres      12o. 

61.  T.  The  New  Test,  similar  to  the  Bible  following. 

Lambeth  and  Cotton  Lists.  Cr.    Cawood  4o. 

62.  T.  '■  The  Newe  Testamente,"  similar  to  Bible  fol- 

lowing. Lownde's  List.  Ty.  Day  and  Seres       fol. 

16.  B.  "  The  Byble,  that  is  to  say  all  the  holy 
Scripture,"  not  Taverner's,  but  very  slightly 
varied  from  Matthews,  by  Ed.  Becke.  Ded. 
to  Ed.  VI.  "  17  day  August."  Bodleian. 
Cambridge  University  Library.      Lambeth. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.     Chr.  Anderson.    Ma.  Day  and  Seres       fol. 

17.  B. "  The  Byble,  which  is  all  the  Holy  Script- 
ure,"— reprint  of  Matthews  1537,  but  very 
faulty  in  composition, — "  finyshed  the  laste 
daye  of  Octobre."     St.  Paul's.     Exeter  Col. 

Oxon.     Lambeth.  Bristol  Museum.  Hyll  and 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ma.  Reynaldes  fol. 

18.  B.  "The  Byble  in  Englishe,  after  the  trans- 
lacion appoynted  to  bee  read  in  the  church- 
es," dated  the  29th  day  of  December  mdxlix. 

Bodleian.     Exeter  Coll.  Oxon.  yellow  paper.  Grafton  or 

Bristol  Museum.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Cr.    Whitchurch  fol. 

19.  B.  The  Byble,  after  Cranmer's  version. 

Lambeth  and  Cotton  List.  Cr.    Cawood  4o. 

20.  B.  The  Byble  in  Englishe,  a  reprint  of  1541. 
Being  a  joint  concern,  some  titles  have 
"  Grafton  and  Whitchurch." 

Bristol  Museum.  Cr.  Grafton  4o. 

21.  B.  in  five  vols,  dated  1549,  15.50,  1551. 
"  Printed  in  sundry  partes  for  these  pore — 
that  they  which  ar  not  able  to  bie  the  hole, 
may  bie  a  part."     This  copy  wants  only  the 

first  volume.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ta.  Day  and  Seres      12o.  

63.  T.  The   Newe    Testament,  "  Imprinted    the   xii. 

Daye  of  January.  A.ntno  Do.  mcccccl.  At 
worceter  by  Jhon  Osvven,"  Cum  gratia,  &c. 

Balliol  College,  O.von.     Lea  Wdson,  Esq.  Ty.  Oswen  4o.  1550 

64.  T.  "  The  New  Testament  of  our  Sauiour  Christ, — 

after  the  best  Copie  of  William  Tindale's  Trans- 
lation— the  VI.  day  of  February."  All  Souls 
College,  Oxon.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  -Day  and  Seres      12o. 

65.  T.  "The  Newe  Testament,— by  Miles  Couerdale, 

conferred  with  the  translacion  of  Willyam  Tyn- 
dale," dated  "  anno  1530,  in  June." 

Lambeth  Library.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Co.  R.  Wolfe  12o. 


538 


CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF 


DESCRIPTION'.  PRINTER.  TEAR. 

66.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Sauiour  Jesus 

Christ."  Should  have  a  port,  of  Ell  w.  VI.  A 
full  page  31  lines.  St.  Paul's  Library. 

A  copy  imperfect.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Ty.  R.  Jugge  24o.  1550 

67.  T.  "  The  newe  Testament  faytht'ully  translated  by 

Miles  Coverdal,  anno.  1550."  First  so  '■  Im- 
prynted  at  Zurich,  by  ChristolTel  Froschouer" — 
by  unaccountable  mistake  for  William  Tyndale. 
British  Museum.  Zurich  Library.  Bristol 
Museum.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  Froschover  18o. 

68.  T.  "  The  new  Testament  in  Englishe   after  the 

greeke  translation,"  &c.     Red  and  black  title, 

"  in  ofRcina  Thomffi  Gaultier  pro  I.  C."  i.  e.  for 

John  Cawood.     '•  Pridie  Kalendas  Decembris 

anno    mdl."      Lambeth.      Bodleian.      Bristol  • 

Museum.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr.l  Gualtier  8o. 

22.  B.  "The  Bible  in  Englishe — the  translacion 
that  is  appointed  to  be  rede  in  the  churches." 

St.  JPaul's  Library.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Cr.   Whytchurche  4o.  

23.  B.  ='  The  whole  Byble,— by  3Tayst.  Thomas 
Mathewe!"  First  so  "  Imprinted  in  Zurych 
by  Chrystoffer  froschower" — finished  ••  the 
XVI  daye  in  the  moneth  of  August."  by 
strange  mistake  for  Coverdale.     The  correct 

London  title,  "  Prynted  for  Andrewe  Hester.  Froschover 

British  Mas.    Bodleian.    St.  Paul's.    Bristol  Co.         and  4o. 

Museum-.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  A.  Hester 

69.  T.  The   New  Testament,   with    Erasmus'   para- 

phrase, i.  volume.     Sion  College.     All  Souls 

College,  Oxon.  var.  Whitchurch  fol.  1551 

70.  T.  The  Newe  Testament,  by  William  Tyndale. 

Bristol  Museum.  Ty.  Day  and  Seres      12o. 

71.  T.  "The  Newe  Testament,  with  certayne  Notes 

folowynge  the  chapters."    Preface  by  Tyndale, 

and  margin  references,  mdli.     St.  Paid's  Lib.  Ty.  J.  Daye  fol.  

24.  B.  '•  The  Byble,  that  is  to  saye  all  the  holy 
Scripture," — Printed  by  Nicolas  Hyll,  vr. 
May  MDi.i.  and  for  eight  "  honest  menne." 

Besides  the  issues   here      Bristol  Museum.  Ma.  Jo.  Wyghte  fol.  

identified,  there  are  other  Ma.  Wm.  Bonham         fol. 

couples  in  the  BritishMu-     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ma.  Th.  Petyt  fol. 

seum.    St.  Paul's.   Lam-  Ma.  T.  Raynalde  fol. 

beth.  Trinity  College  and  Ma.  R.  Kele  fol. 

All  Souls   College,    0.v-      Bristol  Museum.  Ma.  J.  Walley  fol.  

ford.      Christ's   Church,      Bristol  Museum.  Ma.  Ab.  Veale  fol. 

Canterbury.  Bristol  Museum.  Ma.  Ro.  Toye  fol.  

25.  B.  "  The  Byble,  that  is  to  say  al  the  holy 
Scripture."  Revised  by  Becke.  'Mostly  Tav- 
erner's,  with  the  New  Testament  of  Tyndale, 
dated   xxiii.  of  Maye  mdli.     British  Mu-  Ta. 

seum.    Lambeth  Library.    St.  Paul's.    Bod-  Jhon  Day  fol.  

leian.     Bristol  Museum.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty. 

72.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Sauiour  Jesu 

Christe."  Port,  of  Edw.  and  large  wood-cuts, 
with  a  license,  dated  10  June,  forbidding  others 
to  print.  British  Museum.  Lambeth.  St. 
Paul's.  Wadham  C,  Oxon.  Bristol  Muse- 
um.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  R.  Jutrcre  4o.  1552 

73.  T.  The  Newe  Test,  in  Englyshe, — sep.  copies  of 

the  following  Bible,—  Cr.    Nich.  Hyll  4o. 

2G.  B.  The  Byble,  &c.    "  London,  by  Nycholas 

Hyll,    for   Abraham   Veale,    anno,   mdljj."  • 

Has  been  ascribed  to  Nicolson  of  Southwark 

by  mistake.     See  Dibdin's  Ames.  vol.  iii.,  p. 

57.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr.   Nich.  Hyll  4o. 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS.  539 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  YEAR. 

74.  T.  "  The  newe  Testament  of  oure  Sauiour  Jesus 
Christe."  This  and  the  edition  of  1552  fixed 
by  the  King  to  be  sold  for  2'2d.  =22s.  now. 
J3ritish  Museum.    St.  Paul's.    Bristol  Museum. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  R.  Jugge  4o.  1553 

27.  B.  "  The  byble  in  English— the  translacio 
— to  be  read  in  churches,  mdliii."  St. 
Paul's.      Worcester    Col..    O.ron.      Earl    of 

Bridgewater.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr.    Whytchurche  fol. 

28.  B.  '•  The  whole  Byble,"  by  Coverdale, — a 
new  issue  of  the  Zurich  edition,  with  new 

title.     SI.  Paul's.     Ball iol  College  and  Exe-  Froschover 

ter  College,  O.von.     Bristol  Museum.  Co.   Ri.  Jugge  4o. 

29.  B.  "  The  Bible  in  Englishe.  according  to 
the  translacion  of  the  great  Byble."  Very 
small  skeleton  Saxon  letter.  Some  copies 
have  Grafton  and  Whitchurch.     St.  Paul's 

Library.  Bristol  Museum.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr.    Grafton  4o. 


QUEEN  MARY. 

ONE    EDITION    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT,  PRINTED    ABROAD. 

Under  this  reign  of  five  years  and  four  months,  from  July  19,  1553  to  Nov.  17,  1558. 

75.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Lord  Jesus,CIirist." 

10  June.     The  translation  of  William  VVhit- 

tingham,  in  exile  at  Geneva.    British  Museum.  Geneva 

Lambeth  Lib.   Bodleian.    Bristol  Mus.    Balliol  by 

College,  O.iford.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq.     Chr.  An-  Conrad  18o.  1557 

derson.  Badius 

QUEEN  ELIZABETH. 

ONE  HUNDRED  AND    FORY-TWO  EDITIONS,  VIZ.,  FORTY-EIGHT  OF  THE  NEW 
TESTAMENT  AND  NINETY-FOUR  OF  THE  BIBLE. 

Printed  during  forty  four  years  and  four  months,  from  llth  November  1558  to 
2ith  March,  1603. 

30.  B.  "  The  Bible  and  Holy  Scriptvres."  The 
first  Genevan,  the  first  in  Roman  letter,  and 
first  Bible  in  verses,  10th  April,  15G0.  Ded. 
to  the  Queen,  and  addressed  to  "  the  breth- 
ren of  ExGL.iND,  Scotland,  and  Irkl.^nd." 
Lambeth.    Balliol  College,  O.von.     Rev.  Dr. 

Cotton.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Ge.  Rou.  Hall  4o.  1560 

76.  T.  The  New  Testament — the  same  version.     No 

printer's  name.  Lambeth.  Ge.  Geneva  16o. 

77.  T.  "The  newe  Testament,  Faythfully  translated 

out  of  the  Greke."  Dedicated  to  Edward  VI. 
forbidding  all  others  to  print,  and  by  his  former 
privilege  still !  All  Souls.  O.von.  Lambeth. 
Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  R.  Jugge  12o.  1561 

78.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament."  same  version,  but  per- 

fectly distinct  dated  edition.  Both  books  per- 
haps kept  up  in  safety  during  Mary's  reign. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  R.  Jugge  12o. 

79.  T.  The  New  Test,  without  license — fined  8s.    See 

Herb.  883.  Cotton's  List.  Cr.    R.  Harrison  4o. 

31.  B.  "The  Bible."  Second  Genevan.  Dedi- 
cated as  before,  but  dated  10th  April  1561. 
The  New  Test,  in  1561,  the  first  title  1562, 
Bodley's  edition,  Roman.  Brazen  Nose  Col- 
lege, 'O.rford.     Geo.  OJor,  Esq.     Lea  Wil- 

S071,  Esq.  Ge.  No  name  fol. 


540 


CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF 


Cr. 

Hamillon 

fol. 

Cr. 

R.  Grafton 

80. 

Ge. 

J.  Crespin 

4o.  1568 

Ge. 

J.  Crispin 

4o. 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER,  TEAK. 

32.  B. "  The  Bible,"  in  small  black  letter.  "  Im- 
printed at  London,  in  Povvles  Churche- 
yarde,  by  Jhon  Cawoode.  Prynter  to  the 
Q,uenes  Maiestie,  Anno  mdlxj.  Cum  priui- 
legio  Regiae  Maiestatis."     British  Museum. 

Lambeth.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Cr.   J.  Cawoode  4o.  1561 

33.  B.  "  The  bible  in  Englishe — apointed  to  be 
read  in  churches."  Imprinted  at  London, 
in  white  crosse  strete,  by  Richarde  Harrison, 
Anno  Domi.  I.5.G.2."— Roman.  Bristol  Mu- 
seum.    Earl  nf  Bridgewater.     Lea  Wilson, 

Esq.  Cr.   Harrison  fol.  1562 

80.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Sauiour,"  in 

red  and  black.  Still  forbidding  others  to  print. 
Balliol   College,   Oxford.     Bristol  Museum. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ty.  R.  Jugge  4o.  1566 

34.  B.  The  Byble  in  Englyshe— "  At  Roven, 
(Rouen,)  at  the  coste  and  charges  of  Richard 
Carmarden,"  by  Hamillon.  British  Muse- 
um. Bodleian.  Lambeth.  Worcester  Col- 
lege, Oxford.  Bristol  Museum.  Lea  Wil- 
son, Esq. 

35.  B.  The  Bible  "In  officina  R.  Grafton." 
The  first  edit,  in  one  vol.  8vo.  and  the  last 
he  printed,  probably  sent  to  Ireland. 

Herbert,  p.  538. 

36.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  third  edit,  printed  at  Ge- 
neva, by  John  Crispin.  See  Herbert's  Ames, 
p.  1624. 

81.  T.  The  Newe  Test.,  printed  to  sell  separately. 

Bodleian.     Geo.  Offor,  Esq. 

37.  B.  "  The. holie.  Bible. conteyning  the  olde 
Testament  and  the  newe."  The  first  edit, 
of  Parker's,  with  143  cuts  and  engravings. 
British  Museum.  Bodleian.  Bristol  Mas. 
St.  PauVs.      Cambridge  University  Library. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

38.  B.  The  Bible,  by  R.  Jugge  and  J.  Cawood. 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  All  Souls  Col- 
lege, Oxon. 

39.  B.  "  The  Bible  in  Englyshe.  Imprinted— 
Cum  privilegio  Regise  Majestatis."  Lambeth. 
Bristol  Museum.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

40.  B.  The  Bible, — another  edit.  It  may  be  dis- 
tinguished by  "THE  NEWE  TEStament 
in  English." — ■'  Cum  priuilegio." 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

41.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Entirely  distinct  edition, 
though  the  same  year.  Like  an  effort  to 
uphold  Cranmer's  version. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

42.  B.  "  The  holi  Bible."  Portrait  of  Elizabeth, 
and  the  archbishop  below,  preaching.  See 
Strype's  Annals  and  Lewis,  p.  254.  In  two 
columns,  the  verses  intermingled  with  the 
text.     Late   Duke   of  Sussex  Library.      T. 

Thorpe,  Esq.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  R.  Jugge  4o.  ^^— 

43.  B.  '•  The  Bible  and  Holy  Scriptvres  con- 
teyned." — "  At  Geneva,  printed  by  John 
Crispin,  mdlxix."     The  New  Testament  is 

MDLXviii. — Roman.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  Crispin  4o. 

44.  B.  The  very  same  book  as  the  last,  though 
styled  second  edition.  It  was,  however,  a 
second  or  fresh  issue  this  year. — Roman. 

Bodleian.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  Crispin  4o.  Ibid- 


Bps.  R.  Jugge 

fol. 

Cr.   Jo.  Cawood 

4o. 

Cr.    Cawood 

4o.  1569 

Cr.    Cawood 

4o. 

Cr.    Cawood 

4o. 

ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS. 


541 


DESCRIPTION. 

45.  B.  "  The  Holie  Bible," — second  edition  in 
quarto  of  the  Bishops'  version.  Once  in 
Herbert's  collection,  but  at  present  we  know- 
not  where. 

82.  T.  The  New  Testament,  very  similar  to  Nos.  77, 

78,  but  a  different  edit.,  evident  from  the  wood- 
cuts in  the  Revelation,  and  other  marks, — black 
letter.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

83.  T.  The    New    Testament, — title    wanting, — ex- 

tremely small  black  letter, — not  paged.  The 
letter-press  measures  two  inches  by  three  and 
a  quarter.     Printed  in  1570  or  1571. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

46.  B.  "  The  Holie  Bible.  Second  folio  edit., 
with  only  30  cuts  and  engravings,  many 
ornamental  initials,  wildly  taken  from  Ovid's 
Metamorphoses'  A  double  version  of  the 
Psalms.  British  Mus.  Bodleian.  Exeter 
College,  Oxon.  Bristol  Mus.  Lea  Wilson, 
Esq. 

47.  B.  "  The  Holie  Bible."  The  third  in  quarto. 
A  splendid  copy,  bound  in  five  volumes,  is  in 
Lambeth  Library. 

St.  Paulas.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

48.  B.  "  The  Holy  Byble,  conteyning  the  olde 
Testament  and  the  newe.  Set  forth  by  auc- 
thoritie,"  i.  e.  of  the  bishops.  The  third  folio, 
with  cuts,  dated  "  the  fifth  of  .July  1574." 
Bristol  Museuvi.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Chr. 
Anderson. 

84.  T.  "  The  Newe   Testament,"    Genevan   version, 

with  Epistle  of  Calvin,  as  in  the  edit,  of  1557. 
Imprinted  at  London,  by  Tho,  Vautroullier,  for 
Christopher  Barkar.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

85.  T.  The  Newe  Testament,"  the  same,  in  quarto. 

Herbert,  p.  10;j7. 

49.  B.  "The  Holy  Byble,  conteyning,"  &c. 
"  Set  fourth  by  aucthoritie,"  i.  e.,  of  the  bish- 
ops. 1575.  Thin  paper,  and  not  well  print- 
ed, as  if  he  needed  capital.  Hence  the  next 
edition.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

50.  B.  "  The  holy  Byble,  conteyning,  &c.  Set 
foorth  by  aucthoritie,"  as  before,  "  finished 
the  xxiiii.  day  of  Nouember."  For  Jive 
others,  besides  himself.  Earl  Spencer. 

The  same,  but  titled,  "  Imprinted  at  London, 

by  Richard  Kele."  The  Bodleian. 

The  same, "  Imprinted  at  London, 

Lucas  Harrison."  Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

The  same, "  Imprinted  at  London, 

by  JoH.v  Walley."  King's  Coll.  Camb. 

The  same, "  Imprinted  at  London, 

by  John  Judson."  Mr.  Herbert. 

The  same, •■  Imprinted  at  London, 

by  Wilijam  Norton."        Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

51.  B.  "The  Bible."  Genevan.  The^rs^  printed 
on  English  ground,  and  by  Tho.  Vautroul- 
lier, for  Christopher  Barkar.       Bristol  Mus. 

52.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  of  the  same  version,  for 
the  same,  in  small  size. 

8G.  T.  The  New  Test,  of  the  Bishops'  version. — no 
date.  St.  Paul's  Library. 

87.  T.  "  The  New  Testament,"  the  first  edition  said 
to  be  from  Beza,  but  simply  a  revision  of  the 
Genevan  version,  with  Notes  by  Beza,  Came- 
rarius,  &c.,  by  Laurence  Tomson,  under  secre- 


Bps.  R.  Jugge 
Ty.  R.  Jugge 

Bps.  R.  Jugge 

Bps.  R.  Jugge 
Bps.  R.  Jugge 


4o.  1570 


12o. 


24o.  1571 


fol.  1572 


4o.  1573 


Bps. 

R.  Jugge 

fol.  1574 

Ge. 

Vautroullier 

12o.  1575 

Ge. 

Vautroullier 

4o. 

Bps.  R.  Jugge 
Bps.  R.  Jugge 


4o. 


fol 


Ge.  Vautroullier 
Ge.  Vautroullier 
Bps.  R.  Jugge 


642  CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  TEAR. 

taiy  to   Sir  Francis  Walsing-ham,  differing  in 
some  parts  from  subsequent  edits.     Dr.  Cotton. 
Sion  College.      Wadham  Col.  Oxon. 
Lea  Wilson.  Esq.      Chr.  Anderson.  To.    C.  Barkar  80.  1576 

53.  B.  "  The  Bible."  The  text  iti  long  primer, 
Roman,  the  arguments  in  Italic  letter.  '•  Im- 
printed at  London,  by  Christopher  Barkar — 
Cum  priuilegio.     In  the  late  Sassc.v  Library. 

The  EarlqfBridgeirater.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq.   Ge.    C.  Barkar  fol. 

54.  B.  "  The  Holy  Byble,  conteyning."  In  a 
very  small  type,  very  well  printed,  and  on  a 
thick  fine  paper,  running  title  Roman,  con- 
tents ill  Italic.     Not  Craiimer's,  as  has  been 

stated.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  R.  Jugge  4o. 

55.  B.  The  Bible.  Genevan  version,  neatly 
printed,  in  long  primer  Roman  and  Italic 
arguments.     Herbert  ^.\Q11.     Cotton's  List.   Ge.    C.  Barkar 

88.  T.  "  The  Nevve  Testament  of  our  Saviovr  Jesvs 

Christe."     Small  quarto.         Lea  Wilson,  Esq.   Bps.  R.  Jugge 

89.  T.  "  The  New   Testament  of  ovr  Lonl."     Tom- 

son's  version.   G.  Offor.  Esq.  Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  To.    C.  Barkar 

56.  B.  '■  The  Bible.  That  is,  the  Holy  Script- 
vrcs  conteined,''  &c.  Deilicated  and  Ad- 
dressed to '•  the  Brethren,"  &c.  Lea  Wilson, 
Esq.  Oriel  College,  O.vford.  William  Pick- 
ering, Esq.  The  last  is  the  copy  presented 
to  Q,.  Eliz.,  once  in  the  Sus.^e.v  Lib.  Ge.    C.  Barkar  fol. 

57.  B.  '•  The  Holie  Bible,"  the  last  printed  by 
him,  in  large  8vo.  St.  Paul's  Library. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  R.  Jugge  80. 

90.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Sauiour. — Cum 

privilegio — solum,"  between  the  privilege  of 
Jugge,  and  the  patent  of  Barker.  Not  in  1(300, 
as  in  Herbert,  nor  15G5,  as  in  Cotton. 

Cambridge  Univ.  Lib.  Bps.  Ri.  Watkins 

91.  T.  "The  Nevve  Testament  of  our  Sauiour,"  in 

black   and   red,  same  version.     Rich.  Jugge, 

now  deceased.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  Vautroullier 

92.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  ovr  Lorde.''     Ex- 

tremely small  type,  by  Barker,  now  printer  to 

the  Q,ueen.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.    C.  Barker 

58.  B.  "The  Bible."  Two  versions  of  the 
Psalms.  Gen.  and  the  Bps'.  Ded.  to  Eliz. 
and  the  address  now  "  to  the  diligent  and 
Christian  reader."  The  verses  by  Greshop, 
in  many  editions,  here  first  appeared, — 
'■  Here  is  the  spring  where  waters  flowe." 

British  Museum.     Bodleian.     Lambeth 

Bristol  Museum.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Ge.    C.  Barker  fol. 

59.  B.  "The  Holy  Bible,  conteyning,"  &c. 
"  Imprinted— by  the  assignement  of  Chris- 
topher Barker,  printer  to  the  Q,ueenes  Ma- 
jestie,  1578,"  Merton  College. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  C.  Barker 

93.  T.  "The  Newe  Testament."  The  Bishops' version. 

Earl  Spencer.  Bps.  C.  Barker 

60.  B.  "The  Bible,"  with  double  Psalms  again. 
"  Imprinted  at  London,  by  Christopher  Bar- 
ker, Printer  to  the  Q,ueenes  most  excellent 
Majestie." 

The  Zurich  Library.     Ijea  Wihon,  Esq.  Ge.    C.  Barker  4o. 

61.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Entirely  different  edit. 
The  New  Test,  and  last  leaf  are  dated  1580, 
besides  other  distinctions.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.    C.  Barker  4o. 

62.  B.  "  The  Bible  and  Holy  Scriptvres,  con- 
teined,"  &c.     Thejirst  Bible  printed  in  Scot- 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS. 


543 


DESCRIPTION. 


94.  T, 

95.  T 


land.  Roman  letter.  Finished  at  press  in 
July  this  year.  Earl  of  Morton.  Advocate's 
Library,  Edinburgh.  Earl  Spencer.  Lea 
Wilson,  Esq. 
'The  Newe Testament." 


■  The  Newe  Testament." 


90.  T. 
97.  T, 


66.  B.  "  The  Bible. 


67.  B. 

68.  B.  "  The  Bible,' 
four  vols. 


98.  T, 


99.  T. 

100.  T. 

101.  T. 

102.  T 

103.  T. 


Tomson's  revision. 
Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  To. 
The  same  version. 
Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  To. 

63.  B.  "The  Bible,"  with  Dedication,  and  the 
address  "  To  the  Christian  Reader."  Large 
paper.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge. 

64.  B.  The  Bible,  no  Dedication,  and  a  dis- 
tinct edit.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge. 

65.  B.  "  The  Bible."     The  Genevan  version. 

Cotton's  List.  Ge. 
The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Sauiour  Jesus 
Christ."     A  clean  black  letter.  Italic  contents, 
notes  in  Roman.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.   Bps. 

"The  Newe  Testament,"  of  Tomson's  revis. 

Herbert.     Cotton's  List.  To. 
Genevan  version. 
Geo.  Offor,  Esq.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge. 
The  Bible,"  of  the  same  version. 

Cotton's  List.  Ge. 
the  same,  bound  in 

Earl  Spencer.  Ge. 
"  The  Newe  Testament   of  our   Lord  Jesus 
Christ."     Tomson's  revision. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.     Earl  of  Bridgewater.  To. 

69.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Genevan  version,  with 
the  customary  Dedication  to  Q,ueen  Eliza- 
beth, and  once  more  still — '■  To  the  brethren 
of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland," 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge. 

70.  B.  "  The  Bible."    The  Genevan  version. 

Geo.  Ofor,Esq.  Ge. 

71.  B.  "The  Bible."     The  same  version.  Ge. 
"  The  Newe  Testament."     Tomson's  revision, 
best  edition,  with  the  royal   arms,  large  4o. 
E.veter   College,   O.rford.     Rev.  Dr.  Cotton's 
is  yellow  paper.                       Lea  Wilson,  E.sq.  To. 
"  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Sauiour.     In 
the  late  Susse.r  Library.                                         Bps. 
"The  Newe  Testament."     Tomson's  revis.  1. 
4o.                                               Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  To. 
The  New  Testament.     Genevan  version. 

Herbert.      Cotton's  List.   Ge. 
The  New  Testament.     Tomson's  revision. 

St.  Paul's  Library.  Ge. 

72.  B.  Portion,  entitled  "the  third  part  of  the 
Bible."  St.  Paul's  Library.  Ge. 

73.  B.  "  The  Bible  and  Holy  Seriptvre,"  in 
red  and  black,  splendidly  printed  in  large 
folio,  margin  nearly  three  inches  broad,  and 
paper  emulating  vellum.  Bodleian.  Lam- 
beth. St.  John's  College,  O.von.  Pembroke 
College,  Oxon.  Bristol  Museum.  Lea  Wil- 
son, Esq.  Ge. 

74.  B.  "  The  Bible  and  Holy  Scripture."  The 
same  version.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge. 

75.  B.  "The  Holy  Bible,  conteining  the  Okie 
Testament  and  the  Newe,"  in  a  fine  new 
black  letter:  contents  in  Roman.  Fre- 
quently mistaken  for  the  Genevan  version. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps. 

76.  B.  "The  Holy  Bible."     This  and  the  last 


FRINTER. 

YEAR. 

Bassenden 

and 
Arbuthnot 

fol.  1579 

C.  Barker 

8o.  1580 

C.  Barker 

24o.  

C.  Barker 

4o. 

C.  Barker 

4o. 

C.  Barker 

fol. 

C.  Barker 

12o.  1581 

C.  Barker 

12o. 

C.  Barker 

4o. 

C.  Barker 

fol. 

C.  Barker 

8o. 

C.  Barker 

8o.  1582 

C.  Barker 

fol. 

C.  Barker 
C.  Barker 

4o.  

8o. 

C.  Barker 

4o.  1583 

Bynneman 

4o. 

C.  Barker 

4o. 

C.  Barker 

12o. 

C.  Barker 

32o. 

C.  Barker 

16o. 

C.  Barker 
C.  Barker 

C.  Barker 


fol. 

4o. 

fol.  1584 


544  CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OP 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  TBA.R. 

edition  contain  the  Psalms  of  Cranmer's 
version,  "to  be  sung  or  said  in  churches." 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  C.  Baricer  4o.  1584 

77.  B.  "  The  Holy  Bible."  This  and  the  last 
edition,  "a  bigger  and  a  less,"  printed  by 
order  of  VVhitgift,  as  the  translation  -'au- 
thorized by  the  Synod  of  Bishops."  Lam- 
beth.     Sion   College.      Bristol  Mies.     Earl 

Spencer.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Bps.  C.  Barker  fol.  1535 

78.  B.  '=  The  Bible  and  Holy  Scripture."  Ge- 
nevan version.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.   Ge.   C.  Barker  4o.  

104.  T.  The  Newe  Testament.     Tomson's  revision. 

Cotton's  List.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  To.  C.  Barker  12o.  1586 

79.  B.  "The  Bible."  Genevan  version.  Exe- 
ter College,  O.rford.     Lea  Wi'son,  Esq.         Ge.  C.  Barker  4o.  

80.  B.  "  The   Bible."     Same    version.     King 

of  Wurtemberg.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge,  C.  Barker  8o.  

81.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Same.  Roman.  With 
Tomson's  New  Testament. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  C.  Barker  4o.  1587 

82.  B."  The  Holy  Bible."  Black  and  red 
title,  the  first  "  Imprinted  by  the  Deputies 
of  Christopher  Barker,"  or  G.  Bishop  and 

R.  Newbery.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  D.  of  Barker  fol.  1588 

83.  B.  "  The  Bible."     Genevan. 

Geo.  Offor,  Esq.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  4o. 

105.  T.  '•  The  Newr  Testament."     Theirs/  printed  at 

Cambridge ;  and  by  John  Legate,  son-in-law 
of  C.  Barker,  and  printer  to  the  University, 
from  2d  Nov.  1588. 

Cotton's  List.     Mr.  T.  Bradley.  Ge.  J.  Legate  24o.  1589 

106.  T.  The  New  Testament.     Genevan  version. 

Lamb etk  Library.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  12o.  

107.  T.  The  New  Testament,  the  Bishops'  and  Rhem- 

ish  version,  in  columns,  by  \V.  Fulke.   Christ's 

Church  College,  Oxon.     Bristol  Museum.  Bps.  D.  of  Barker  fol.  

84.  B.  "The  Bible."     The  Genevan  version. 

Lownde's  List.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  fol.  

85.  B.  "  The  Bible."     The  same  version. 

Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  4o. 

86.  B.  "The  Bible."     Same  version,  distinct 

edit.  Geo.  Offor,  Esq.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  4o. 

108.  T.  "  The  Newe  Testament  of  our  Lord   Jesus 

Christ."     Roman  pearl  type,   at    Cambridge 

again.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  J.  Legate  48o.  1590 

109.  T.  The  Newe  Testament.     Genevan,  in  8vo. 

Cotton's  List.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  8o.  

87.  B.  "  The  Bible."  On  yellow  paper.  Im- 
perfect. Sussex  Library.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  4o.  

110  T.  Tne  New  Testament.     Genevan  version. 

Cotton's  List.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  12o.  1591 

88.  B.  "  The  Holy  Bible."     Large  folio. 

Sion  College.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bps.  D.  of  Barker  fol. 

89.  B.  "The  Bible:  thatis.  the  Holv  Scriptvres 
—Anno  do.  1591,  Maij.29."  The  first  Bible 
known  to  have  been  printed  at  Cavibridge, 
and  in  a  beautiful  Roman  letter. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.   Ge.  J.  Legate  8o, 

90.  B.  "The  Bible,"  of  the  Genevan  version, 
with  Tomson's  revision  of  New  Testament. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  fol.  1592 

91.  B.  "The  Bible."  Genevan  version  through- 
out.    There  is  said  to  be  a  copy  of  this  at 

Stuttgard.  King  of  Wurtemberg.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  4o. 

111.  T.  The  New  Testament  of  the  same  version. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lee.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker  4o.  1593 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS. 


545 


DESCRIPTION. 

112.  T.  The  New  Testament.  Cotton's  List. 

92.  B.  "  The  Bible."     Genevan  version. 

Hev.  Dr.  Lee. 

93.  B.  "  The  Bible."     Gen.  ver. 

Geo.  Offer,  Esq.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

113.  T.  The  New  Testament.     Same  version. 

Brazen  Nose  College,  Oxford. 

94.  B.  "  The  Bible."     Same  version. 

Cotton  s  List.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

114.  T.  The  New  Testament. 

Library  of  the  late  Granville  Sharp.  Esq. 

95.  B.  "  The  Holie  Bible."  British  Museum. 
Lambeth  Library.  St.  John's  College,  Ox- 
ford.     Lea   Wilson,  Esq. 

9G.  B.  ^' The  Bible."     Lambeth.     Balliol  Col, 

Oxford.     Lea  Wdson,  Esq. 
97.  B.  The    Bible,    with    Tomson's    revision. 

Roman  letter.     Brazen  Nose  College,  Ox- 

ford.     Lea  JVllson,  Esq. 

115.  T.  "The  Newe  Testament,"  of  Tomson's  revis- 

ion.    Lambeth.     Bristol  Museum.     Lea  Wil- 
son, Esq. 

116.  T.  The  New  Testament.    Same  versio-n.    Printed 

abroad.  Cotton's  List. 

9«.  B.  ■■  The  Bible."     Genevan  version.     St. 

PauVs     Library.     Bristol    Museinn.     Lea 

Wdson,  Esq. 

117.  T.  The   Newe   Testament.     Tomson's   revision. 

Roman  letter.  Pembroke  College,  O.rford. 

118.  T.  The  Newe  Testament,  of  the  same  version. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq, 

99.  B.  "The  Bible,"  printed  at  Middleburffh. 

Geo.  Offor.  Esq, 

100.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  with  Tomson's  revision 
of  N.  T.,  but  even  this  has  the  Ded.  and 
address — "  To  the  brethren  of  England, 
Scotland,  Ireland,  &c."     British  Museum. 

All  Souls,  Oxon.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

101.  B,  "The Bible."  Gen.  ver.  entire.  Roman 
type.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

The  Bible,  printed  by  R.  Field,  son-in-law 
and  successor  of  Vautrouillier,  in  Cotton's 
List,  was  the  "  Biblia  Sacra." 

119.  T.  The    New    Testament.      Printed    by    John 

Windet,  for  the  assignees  of  Richard  Day. 

Sir  John  Hawkins.     Cotton's  List. 

120.  T.  The  Newe  Test.     Genevan  version. 

Cotton's  List.      Geo.  OJfor,  Esq. 

102.  B."  The  Holy  Bible."  Harleian  Lib., 
No.  184.     Cotton's  List. 

103.  B.  "The  Bible."    Genevan  ver.     Roman 
Geo.  Ofor,  Esq. 

with  Tomson's  revision 
Pembroke   College,  Ox- 
Esq. 
Genevan  version. 

Geo.  Offor,  Esq. 
Genevan  version. 
Bodleian.     Lambeth.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq. 

107.  B.  "The  Bible,"  with  Tomson's  revision 
of  New  Testament.  This  edition  may  be 
distinguished  by  a  black  line  round  the 
page.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.      Chr.  Andersnn. 

108.  B.  Six  other  distinct  edit,  exist,  dated,  i.e. 

109.  B.  antedated,  1599,  though  printed  above 

110.  B.  f/iu-^y  years  later!  The  Colophon  of  one 

35 


PRINTER. 

YEAR. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

24o. 

1593 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

4o. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

8o. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

4o. 

1594 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

4o. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

8o. 

1595 

Bps 

.  D.  of  Barker 

fol. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

fol. 



Ge.  EX.  of  Barker 

To.  D.  of  Barker 
To.  Holland  1 

Ge.  D.  of  Barker 
To.  D.  of  Barker 
To.  D.  of  Barker 
Ge.  Schilders 

Ge.  D.  of  Barker 
Ge.  D.  of  Barker 


letter. 
104.  B.  "The  Bible," 

of  the  New  Test. 

ford.     Lea  Wdson, 
103.  B.  "The  Bible." 

106.  B.  "  The  Bible." 


4o. 

4o.  1596 
foL 

4o. 

4o.  1597 

12o. 

8o, 

fol 

4o. 


Ge.' 

?  J.  Windet 

24o. 

1598 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

4o. 

Bps 

.  D.  of  Barker 

fol. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

4o. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

4o. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

8o. 

Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 

4o. 

1599 

Ge. 
Ge. 
Ge. 
Ge. 

D.  of  Barker 
D.  of  Barker 
D.  of  Barker 
D.  of  Barker 

4o. 
4o. 
4o. 
4o. 

546 


CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF 


DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER. 

111.  B. — '' Amsterdam,  {oT  Thomas  Crafoorth,  Ge.  D.  of  Barker 

112.  B.  1633,"    with    our   History,    solve   the  Ge.  D.  of  Barker 

113.  B.  mystery.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  D.  of  Barker 

114.  B.  "The  Bible,"  as  before,  without  date, 
place,  or  printer's  name.  Figure  of  a  goose 
on  the  title  of  the  psalms.  Supposed  from 
the  Dort  press.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  Dort 

115.  B.  "The  Bible."  Genevan  version.  C. 
Barker,  now  dead,  after  printing  by  deputies 
for  twelve  years.  His  son's  name  first  ap- 
pears. 

King  of  Wurtemherg.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

121.  T.  The   New   Testament.     The    Bishops'    and 

Rhemish  versions,  by  W.  Fulke.  Lincoln, 
Worcester,  Queen's  Coll.  Oxon.  Bristol  Mu- 
seum. 

116.  B.  The  Genevan  version,  with  Tomson's 
revision  of  New  Testament. 

King  of  Wurtemberg.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

117.  B.  The  Genevan  version  entire,  black 
letter. 

118.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  of  the  Genevan  version. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

119.  B."  The  Bible,"  of  the  same  version, 
"  Imprinted  by  Isaac  Canin,  at  the  expenses 
of  the  aires  of  Henrie  Charteris  and  An- 
drew Hart  in  Edinburgh."       Bcv.  Dr.  Lee. 

122.  T.  The  Newe  Testament.     Genevan  version. 

Cotton's  List. 

123.  T.  The  Newe  Testament,  of  Tomson's  revision. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

'The  Bible,"    with  Tomson's   revis- 
Roman  type. 

liof/leian.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 
•  The  Bible."     In  Roman  type.     Ge- 
nevan version. 

King  of  Wurtemherg.    Lea  Wilson,  Esq. 

122.  B.  "The  Bible,"  of  the  same  version. 
King  of  Wurtemberg. 

123.  B.  "The  Holy  Bible."  Christ's  Church 
Col.  Trinity  Cul.  Worcester  Col.  Q,ueen's 
Col.  Oxford.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Bodleian. 
This  last  has  MS.  corrections  in  reference 
to  the  intended  revision  of  the  Sacred  text, 
forming  our  present  version.  Bps.  R.  Barker  fol. 


YEAR. 

4o.  1599 

4o. 

4o. 


120.  B. 
ion. 


121.  B. 


lo.  16001 


Ge.  R.  Barker 

4o. 

Bps.  R.  Barker 

fol.  1601 

Ge.  R.  Barker 

lo. 

Ge.  R.  Barker 

4o. 

Ge.  R.  Barker 

8o. 

I.  Canin 

Ge.  at  Dort 

So. 

Ge.  R.  Barker 

4o.  1602 

To.  R.  Barker 

8o. 

Ge.  R.  Barker 

fol. 

Ge.  R.  Barker 

4o. 

Ge.  R.  Barker 

8o. 

KING  JAMES. 


THIRTY-TWO    EDITIONS,    VIZ.,    EIGHT    OF    THE    NEW    TESTAMENT    AND    TWENTY- 
FOUR    OF    THE    BIBLE. 

Printed  from  1G03  to  the  year  of  our  present  version,  1611. 

124.  T.  "  The  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  Tomson's  revision.  "  At  Dort,  printed 
by  Isaac  Canin,  1(J03." 

Duke  of  Wurtemberg.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  To.  J.  Canin  i2o.  1630 

N.  B.— The  New  Test,  by  Simon  (Strafford) 
Stafford,  in  the  Cotton  List,  seems  to  be 
the  British  or  Welsh  New  Testament,  cor- 
rected by  Morgan,  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph. 
124.  B."  The    Bible."      Genevan.       Cotton's 

List.    Tho.  Harris,  Esq.    Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  4o. 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS.  547 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  YEARk 

125.  B.  The  same,  with  Tomson's  revision  of 

New  Testament.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  4o.  1630 

126.  B."  The  Bible."  Genevan  version,  en- 
tire. Geo.  Offer,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  4o. 

127  B.  "  The  Bible."  The  same,  in  Roman 
letter. 

Canterbury  Library.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  8o.  — 

125.  T.  The  New  Test,  of  Tyndale,  as  by  Jugge,  with 

port,  of  Edward  VI.  printed  by  the  assignee 

of  Robert  Barker.  St.  Paul's  Library.  Bps.  D.  of  Barker 

128.  B.  "  The  Bible."     Genevan  version. 
King  of  Wurtcmberg.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

129.  B.  "  The  Holy  Bible."  The  Bishops'  ver- 
sion. Late  Sussex  Library.  Bps.  R.  Barker 

130.  B.  "  The  Bible."     The  Genevan  version. 

Late  Sussex  Library.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

131.  B.  "The  Bible."     Genevan  version. 
King  of  Wurtemberg.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

132.  B.  "The  Bible,"  with  Tomson's  revision. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

133.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Genevan  version,  en- 
tire. Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

134.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Roman  type.  Tomson's 
revision  of  New  Test.  Oriel  College,  Ox- 
ford.    Sion  College.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.        Ge.  R.  Barker 

135.  B.  "The  Bible."     The  Genevan,  entire. 

Cotton's  List.     Lea  Wilson.  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

136.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Genevan.  Distinct 
edit.  Geo.  Offor,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

137.  B.  "  The  Bible."     Genevan  version. 

Balliol  College,  Oxford.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

126.  T.  The  New  Testament.     Bishops'  version. 

Cotton's  List.  Bps.  R.  Barker 

127.  T.  The  New  Testament.     Genevan  version. 

Rev.  Dr.  Lee.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

138.  B.  The  Bible.  The  Genevan.  Balliol 
College,  Oxford.  Bristol  Museum.  Lea 
Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

139.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  with  Tomson's  revision 
of  the  New  Testament.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

140.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  of  the  Genevan,  entire. 
Roman.  Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

128.  T.  The  New  Testament,  Genevan,  this  year,  but 

dated  also  at  the  end  1610. 

Cotton's  List.     Earl  of  Bridgewater.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

129.  T.  The  New  Testament.     Tomson's  revision. 

King  of  Wurtemberg.  To.  R.  Barker 

141.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Roman  letter,  with 
Tomson's  revision  of  New  Testament. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker 

130.  T.  The  New  Te.stament.     Tomson's  revision. 

British  Museum.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  To.  R.  Barker 

142.  B.  "  The  Bible.  That  is,  the  Holy  Script- 
vres.  At  Edinburgh,  Printed  by  Andro 
Hart,  and  are  to  be  sold  at  his  Builh,  on  the 
North  side  of  the  gate,  a  little  beneath  the 
Crosse."     Roman.     Queen's  Col.  Oxford. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  A.  Hart  fol.  1610 

131.  T.  The  New  Test,  of  this  edit,  sold  separately  1 

Geo.  Chalmers,  Esq.  Ge.  A.  Hart  fol. 

143.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  with  Tomson's  revision. 

Earl  of  Bridgewater.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  fol. 

144.  B.  "  The  Bible."  Roman  type,  but  the 
same  version.  All  Soul's  Col.  Oxford. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  4o, • 


548  CHRONOLOGICAL    LIST    OF 

DESCRIPTION.  PRINTER.  YEAR. 

145.  B.  "  The  Bible,"  of  the  Genevan,  entire. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  80.  1610 

146.  B.    "The  Bible."    The  Genevan,  with 
Tomson's  revision  of  the  New  Testament. 
Bodleian.      Lambeth.      Sion    College.     All 

Soul's  College,  Oxford.     Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker.  fol.  1611 

147.  B.  "  The  Bible."     The  Genevan  version, 
entire.  British  Museum.     Lambeth. 

Lea  Wilson,  Esq.  Ge.  R.  Barker  4o. 


In  the  preceding  List,  it  may  have  been  observed,  there  are  no  questionable  books, 
and  yet  in  the  course  of  eighty-six  years,  or  up  to  the  period  in  which  our  present  Ver- 
sion was  first  published,  there  had  been  278  editions  of  Bibles  and  New  Testaments 
separately.  This  gives  an  average  of  more  than  thi-ee  editions  annually.  Could, 
however,  all  the  editions,  particularly  of  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  be  verified,  of 
which,  to  a  certainty,  a  number  exist,  still  unascertained,  we  are  now  fully  persuaded 
that  the  average  would,  at  the  least,  amount  to  four  editions  every  year.  All  the  vol- 
umes preceding  the  year  1560,  must  be  contemplated  as  one  would  so  many  ancient 
Warriors,  after'a  long  and  severe  conflict.  Even  their  mutilated  remains  are  to  be 
venerated,  atler  having  in  their  own  day  and  generation,  proved  so  many  witnesses  for 
the  truth ;  but  having  sustained  the  loss  of  their  title  page,  or  colophon,  they  could  not 
be  called  up  to  the  present  muster.  Though,  therefore,  we  have,  with  some  research, 
brought  about  an  hundred  more  into  the  fiel-d  than  ever  were  before,  their  number  may 
yet  be  increased. 

An  average,  however,  is  not  the  only  view  which  should  Ije  taken  of  the  entire  period. 
Each  reign  is  considered  by  the  historian  as  having  a  character  of  its  own.  Thus,  in 
the  reign^of //e/);-y,  from  15-25  to  1541,  after  which  he  began  to  frown,  the  average  of 
publication  was  fully  three  editions  annually.  Before  ever  he  listened,  or  before  he 
was  overruled,  of  the  New  Testament  there  had  been  at  least  24  editions!  During 
the  long  reign  of  Elizabeth,  the  average  was  about  the  same,  or  above  three  issues 
annualfy.  The  brightest  period  was  that  oi'  Edward  VI.,  when  there  were  about  eight 
editions  for  every  year  he  reigned. 

We  have  ascertained  a  larger  number  of  the  Bishops'  Version  than  has  ever  before 
been  mentioned,  or  32  distinct  issues.  But  it  may  now  be  observed,  that  instead  of 
thirty  editions  in  folio,  quarto,  and  octavo,  of  the  Genevan  Version,  printed  from  15G0 
to  1616,  as  Lkwis  reported,  and  Newcome,  with  many  others,  have  repeated  down  to 
this  day,  we  may  now  very  safely  assert  that  by  that  year  there  had  been  at  least  one 
hundred  and  fifty  editions  of  Bibles  and  New  Testaments,  of  which  the  reader  has  the 
proof  before  him  of  one  hundred  and  twenty-nine  editions,  even  by  the  year  1611. 

The  Bible  of  Parker,  or  the  Bishops'  Version,  was  never  again  printed  after  that 
year,  though  of  the  New  Testament  there  were  editions  by  Barker  in  1614,  1615,  1617, 
and  1618.  But  the  Genevan  Bible  still  continued  to  be  issued,  and  by  the  King's 
printer,  as  well  as  at  Edinburgh  and  Amsterdam.  Thus,  besides  four  editions  of  the 
New  Testament,  we  have  the  Genevan  version  in  4tO'.  reprinted  in  1613  both  at  Lon- 
don and  Edinburgh.  Again  at  London,  in  1614,  and  two  editions  in  1615.  Again  in 
folio,  and  by  Barker  still,  in  1616.  In  quarto,  at  Amsterdam,  in  1633,  and  six  other 
editions,  all  antedated,  as  if  in  London,  and  in  1599.  Again  in  folio,  at  Amsterdam, 
1640,  and  two  editions  in  1644.  In  1649  the  -present  Version  was  printed  with  the 
Genevan  notes  by  way  of  pushing  it  into  favor,  but  about  this  period  it  prevailed,  and 
took  the  place  it  has  occupied  ever  since. 

THE  FIRST  EDITION  OF  OUR  PRESENT  VERSION. 

B.  "The  Holy  Bible,  Conteyning  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  New:  Newly  Trans- 
lated out  of  the  Originall  tongues:  and  with  the  former  Translations  diligently 
compared  and  revised,  by  his  Maiesties  speciall  Comandement.  Appointed  to  be 
read  in  churches.  Imprinted  at  London  by  Robert  Barker,  Printer  to  the  Kings 
most  Excellent  Maiestie.  Anno  Dom.  161 1." — N.  B.  It  has  been  said  that  the 
British  Museum  has  two  editions  of  this  year;  but  this  is  a  mistake.  The  title  of 
1611  has  been  affixed  to  the  editions  of  1613,  1617,  1634,  and  even  1640,  to  make 
apparently  five  copies  of  the  first,  but  there  certainly  was  no  second  edition  in  1611. 

T.  "The  New  Testament  of  our  Lord  and  Sauiour  Jesvs  Christ.  Newly  translated," 
&c.    Our  present  version  in  the  same  year,  very  rare.     An.  1611.     12mo. 


ENGLISH    BIBLES    AND    NEW    TESTAMENTS.  549 

THE   TRANSLATORS   TO  THE   READER. 

"  We  are  so  far  off  from  condemning  any  of  their  labours  that  tra veiled  before  us  in 
this  kind,  either  in  this  land,  or  beyond  sea,  either  in  King  Henry's  time — or  Q.ueen 
Elizabeth's — that  we  acknowledge  them  to  have  been  raised  up  of  God,  for  the  build- 
ing and  furnishing  of  His  Church,  and  they  deserve  to  be  had  of  us,  and  of  posterity 
in  everlasting  remembrance." 

Of  the  preceding  volumes,  the  Reader  may  now  trace  above  two  hundred  editions 
as  having  been  translations  of  men  who  had  fled  beyond  sea,  remaining  in  exile  from 
their  country,  and  the  rest  to  those  who  were  resident  in  this  land. 

"  Therefore,  blessed  be  they,  and  honoured  be  their  name,  that  brake  the  ice,  and 
gave  the  onset  upon  that  which  helpeth  forward  to  the  saving  of  souls  !  Now,  what 
can  be  more  available  thereto,  than  to  deliver  God's  book  unto  God's  people  in  a 
tongue  which  they  understand." 

"Truly,  goo<l  Christian  Reader,  we  never  thought  from  the  beginning,  that  we  should 
need  to  make  a  new  Translation,  nor  yet  to  make  of  a  bad  one  a  good,  but  to  make  a 
good  one  better ;  or  out  of  many  good  ones,  one  principal  good  one,  not  justly  to  be 
accepted  against;  that  hath  been  our  endeavour,  that  our  mark.  To  that  purpose 
there  were  many  chosen,  that  were  greater  in  other  men's  eyes  than  their  own,  and 
that  sought  the  truth,  rather  than  their  own  praise." 

It  is  well  that  these  translators  so  expressed  themselves,  as  they  could  not  consistently 
have  spoken  otherwise.  For  whatever  were  the  instructions  given  to  them,  such  was^ 
their  adherence  to  the  language  of  the  tbrmer  Versions,  that,  very  happily,  the  transla- 
tion is  not  in  their  own  style.  It  is  not  the  language  of  their  own  preface,  nor  of  the 
reign  of  James  I.  The  style  they  tbund  in  their  prototypes,  the  diction  and  phrase- 
ology they  adoj^ted  from  their  predecessors  in  translation. 


THE    END. 


CATALOGUE    OF   BOOKS 


PUBLISHED    BT 


ROBERT    CARTER    &    BROTHERS 

286  BROADWAY,   NEW  YORK. 


*^*  All  the  Books  in  this  list  are  hound  in  fine  English   cloth,  unless  where 
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A  BE  EL— MEMOIR  OF  THE  REV.  DAVID  ABEEL,  D.D.,  late  Missionary  to  China. 

By  his  Nephew,  Rev.  G.  R.  Williamson.     $1.00. 
"  This  is  a  delightful  Biography  of  a  most  devoted  Missionary.    It  is  particularly  deserving  of  the  attention 
of  Students  of  Divinity,  and  Ministers  of  the  Gospel." — The  Preacher. 

ABERCROMBIE— THE  CONTEST  AND  THE  ARMOR;  to  which  is  added, 
THINK  ON  THESE  THINGS.  By  John  Abercrombie,  M.D.,  F.R.S.E.  32mo.,  gilt 
edges.     25  cents. 

ADAMS— THE  THREE  DIVINE  SISTERS;  or,  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity.  •  By  Tho- 
mas Adams.     With  an  Introduction  by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Stowell,  Rotherham.     60  cents. 
"  With  the  eye  of  a  poet,  the  heart  of  a  saint,  and  the  tongue  of  an  orator,  he  gives  substance  to  abstractions, 
personifies  the  virtues,  paints  the  beauties  of  holiness,  and  brings  to  the  ear  the  voices  of  the  distant  and 
the  dead." 

ADVICE  TO  A  YOUNG  OH  R  I  SX I  AN,  on  the  Importance  of  aiming  at  an 
elevated  standard  of  piety.  By  a  Village  Pastor.  With  an  Introductory  Essay  by  the 
Rev.  Dr.  Alexander,  of  Princeton,  N.  J.     18mo.     30  cents. 

ALLEINE— GOSPEL  PROMISES.  Being  a  short  view  of  the  great  and  precious 
promises  of  the  Gospel.  By  the  Rev.  Joseph  Alleine,  author  of  "  An  Alarm  to  the 
Unconverted,"  &c.     18mo.     30  cents. 

—  LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  THE  REV.  JOSEPH  ALLEINE.     60  cents. 

ALEXANDER— COUNSELS  OF  THE  AGED  TO  THE  YOUNG.  By  the  Rev.  A. 
Alexander,  D.D.  To  which  is  added,  "Early  Piety,"  by  the  Rev.  Richard  Cecil.  32mo. 
gilt.     2.5  cents. 

ANCIENT  H  I  STORY— Containing  The  History  of  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians, 
Chaldeans,  Medes,  Lydians,  Carthaginians,  Persians,  Macedonians,  the  Selucids  iu 
Syria,  and  Parthians.  From  Rollin,  and  other  authentic  sources,  both  Ancient  and  Mo- 
dern. Reprinted  from  the  Work  of  the  London  Religious  Tract  Society.  In  4  vols. 
12mo.,  cloth  or  sheep.     $2. 

"  This  history  is  not  a  servile  copy  from  any  other,  but  has  a  delightful  freshness  about  it,  the  borrowed  parts 
being  rewritten,  and  cast  into  a  new  form,  on  such  principles  of  selection  and  arrangement,  as  favor  perspi- 
cuity, and  assist  the  memory.  Instead  of  being  lost  in  a  chaos  of  materials,  the  reader  is  carried  along  in 
a  plain  path  through  well-assorted  and  happily  adjusted  facts,  cheered  by  a  vivacity  which  keeps  him  inter- 
ested. God  is  not  excluded  from  the  woold  which  hfi  created,  nor  is  his  interposition  in  the  affairs  of  men 
overloolced.  For  common  nse,  we  think  it  deserves  to  supersede  all  that  have  gone  before  it." — Portland 
Christ.  Mirror. 

AU  STR  ALI  A — A  Narrative  of  the  Loss  of  the  Brig  Australia,  by  Fire,  on  her  voyage 
from  Leith  to  Sydney,  With  an  account  of  the  Sufferings,  Religious  Exercises,  and  final 
rescue  of  the  Crew  and  Passengers.  Edited  by  the  Rev.  James  R.  McGavin.  18mo. 
25  cents. 

1 


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BAGSXER— THE  GENUINENESS,  AUTHENTICITY,  AND  INSPIRATION  OF 
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60  cents. 

"  The  study  of  this  work  will  be  profitable  to  every  man  who  will  expose  his  mind  to  its  arguments,  and  we 
trust  that  its  publication  will  be  in  a  high  degree  useful.  A  synoptical  table  of  contents  prefixed,  directs 
the  student  immediately  to  the  point  on  which  light  is  wanted ;  and  every  scholar,  learned  or  simple,  will  be 

able  to  appreciate  its  reasonings." 

=<AXTER— THE  SAINTS'  EVERLASTING  REST,  By  the  Rev.  Richard  Baxter 
12mo.,  large  type.     60  cents. 

A  CALL  TO  THE  UNCONVERTED;  and  other  Essays.     18mo.     30  cents. 

CHOICE  AVORKS— comprising   Making   Light  of  Christ  and  Salvation   too  oft  the 

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Work  of  a  Believer — his  passing  prayer,  recommending  his  departing  spirit  to  Christ, 
to  be  received  by  him  ;  On  the  Shedding  Abroad  of  God's  Love  in  the  Heart  by  the 
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BIBLE  EXPO  S  I  TO  R— Confirmations  of  the  Truth  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  from  the 
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BOSTON— HUMAN  NATURE  in  its  Fourfold  State  of  Primitive  Integrity,  Entire 
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